If you have a pre-existing medical condition and are looking at private health insurance, the question underneath every search is whether a policy will cover the thing you already have. For most conditions the honest answer is no: a new policy will exclude it, and shopping between insurers does not change that. What shopping does change is how the exclusion is written, whether it can ever lift, and what else the policy still pays for, and those are the decisions this page is about. It quotes the policy wording we hold rather than describing underwriting from memory, and says so wherever it has to describe the market in general. What no website can tell you is how an insurer would underwrite your particular history; that is what an adviser is for, and a broker can put the same history to several insurers in one conversation. Fill in the form on this page to be put in touch with one. It is free and takes a few minutes.
Private medical insurance, private health insurance and healthcare insurance are three names for the same product, and nothing on this page is a premium: we hold no price data and will not invent any.
What this page answers
Why a condition you already have is usually excluded, in the insurers' own words. What moratorium and full medical underwriting are, and, more carefully, what the wording we hold does and does not say about each. What a policy still covers when a condition is excluded. Where the answer can differ: company schemes, switching, and old injuries. And the questions to ask before you buy. It does not recommend an insurer, because there is no insurer that is best for pre-existing conditions in general; there is only the one whose underwriting treats your particular history least badly, and that cannot be read off a website.
The straight answer: a new policy will usually exclude the condition you already have
As a rule, private health insurance in the UK covers acute conditions that start after the policy does. A condition you had before it started — the wording calls it pre-existing — is excluded unless the insurer agrees otherwise, and the two clauses we hold on the point both say so. Shopping does not change that for the condition itself. It can change three other things: the period the insurer looks back over, whether and when an exclusion can lift, and how much of the rest of your health the policy covers.
So if the condition you are worried about is the reason you want cover, a new personal policy is unlikely to be the answer, and a page that implies otherwise is selling you a policy that will not pay for the thing you bought it for. If what you want is cover for everything else, a policy is still worth considering, and the question becomes how your existing condition is written into it.
What the policy wording says
Three clauses from three insurers' own documents, quoted as they stand. On this subject the gaps matter as much as the words, so the table after them sets out what each leaves open.
Bupa: pre-existing and moratorium conditions "aren't usually covered"
"Any conditions, special conditions, pre-existing conditions, moratorium conditions, conditions or symptoms, illnesses or injuries you had before your policy started aren't usually covered. If a special condition applies, we'll send a confirmation of special conditions to the main member"
— Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide (BINS 14718, 2024), page 11, read 4 September 2026.
Two things in that sentence are easy to miss. It reaches "symptoms" and "injuries" as well as diagnosed conditions, so something you saw a GP about but never had a name for can count, and an old injury counts. And it names "moratorium conditions" as a category of their own, which this extract does not define.
Freedom Health Insurance: an explicit five-year look-back
"A pre-existing condition is a medical condition you had before your cover under this policy started. We will not cover a medical condition, or a related condition, you had within the five-year period before your cover with us started unless we have agreed to cover that condition."
— Freedom Health Insurance, Freedom Elite Policyholder's Guide to Cover (April 2025), page 8, read 4 September 2026.
This is the only clause we hold that puts a number on the look-back: five years. "Or a related condition" means the exclusion reaches whatever the insurer considers related to your diagnosis, and the extract does not define "related". "Unless we have agreed to cover that condition" means the door exists, but Freedom's agreement opens it, not your assumption. Nothing here describes an exclusion lifting, and we have not established whether Freedom's does.
AXA Health: four underwriting routes on one product
"(full medical underwriting) Continuing medical exclusions Medical history disregarded Moratorium. In the following panels, we've explained how each of these work"
— AXA Health, Personal Health membership handbook (October 2024), page 14, read 4 September 2026. The copy we read is hosted in an intermediary's document library rather than on AXA's own site; the handbook that came with any policy is the one that binds.
A list of headings, but it establishes what the other two clauses do not: on one personal product, how a pre-existing condition is treated depends on which of four routes the policy was set up under. The panels that explain each route are not in our extract, so this page will not tell you what AXA says a moratorium is. Ask which route your quote is on, and read the panel for it before you sign.
| Clause | What it establishes | What our extract leaves open |
|---|---|---|
| Bupa, policy guide, page 11 | Pre-existing and moratorium conditions are separate categories, both "not usually covered"; symptoms and injuries count; specific exclusions are confirmed in writing. | The definition of either category, any look-back period, and whether an exclusion can lift. |
| Freedom, guide to cover, page 8 | A five-year look-back; "related" conditions are caught; cover of a condition needs Freedom's agreement. | What "related" means, and whether an exclusion ever lifts. |
| AXA Health, handbook, page 14 | Four underwriting routes exist on one product, and the route decides how a pre-existing condition is treated. | What each route does. |
Each gap in the right-hand column is a question for an insurer: what is your look-back, what counts as related, does the exclusion ever lift, and which route is this quote on. A broker can put those four questions to several insurers for your own history; the form on this page is how to reach one, and there is no charge for the conversation.
Moratorium or full medical underwriting: what we can and cannot tell you
A reader who misunderstands which of these they have bought can find a claim refused for a condition they believed was covered. The wording we hold names both routes and defines neither, so what follows is the general shape of the market, labelled as such; the policy wording, not this page, decides what your policy does.
In general terms, full medical underwriting means you give your medical history when you apply, and the insurer decides before cover starts what it will exclude and tells you in writing. Bupa's "confirmation of special conditions" is what that looks like on the one wording we hold. You know the exclusion before you pay.
In general terms, a moratorium means you are not asked for a full history at the start. Anything you had in a look-back period before joining is excluded automatically, and the wording sets whether that exclusion can lift once you have gone a defined period without symptoms, treatment, medication or advice for it. Whether a particular condition was caught is decided when you claim, by looking at your records then. That is the difference that matters: under full medical underwriting you find out what is excluded before you buy; under a moratorium you may find out when you need the policy.
Three things we will not print, because no clause we hold says them: a "standard" look-back period, since the only one in our evidence is Freedom's five years, in a clause that does not use the word moratorium; a "standard" clear period after which a moratorium exclusion lifts; and what counts as "clear", because whether a routine check-up, a repeat prescription or a monitoring appointment restarts the clock is something each wording defines for itself.
A condition that has been clear for some years
This is where the route genuinely changes the answer. Still in general terms: if the condition falls outside the insurer's look-back period and you have had no symptoms, treatment or advice for it since, then on a moratorium it may not be excluded at all; Freedom's wording, for example, reaches back five years, not for ever. If it falls inside the look-back, a moratorium may exclude it only until a clear period has run, while a fully underwritten policy may write the exclusion in for the life of the policy, or may not exclude it at all once the insurer has seen the history. Which applies to you turns on the dates, the wording, and how the insurer reads "advice" and "related". Ask, in writing, before you buy, and keep the answer with the policy.
What is still covered
An excluded condition is not an excluded person. On the wording we hold, what is excluded is the condition, and on Freedom's clause the conditions related to it, not the policy. A new, unrelated illness or injury that starts after cover begins is what the policy is for, and it is the reason a policy can still be worth buying with an exclusion written into it.
Two cautions, both general rather than quoted. "Related" does the work in that sentence: an exclusion for a back condition may reach further than the back if the insurer treats a later problem as connected to it, and only the wording and the insurer's reading of it decide where the line falls. And private medical insurance in the UK is generally written for acute conditions, ones that can be treated and resolved, so a long-term condition that is managed rather than cured is generally outside it under any underwriting route, as a separate matter from whether it is pre-existing. We hold no clause defining "chronic" on this page; if your condition is managed over time, ask how the wording defines it.
In practice, a policy bought with a pre-existing condition is a policy for the rest of your health; if the condition is the whole reason you want cover, no personal policy we hold wording for is written to give it to you. What such a policy still pays for is set out in more detail on our page on what is covered with a pre-existing condition.
Company schemes, switching and old injuries: where the answer can differ
Does group or company health insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Sometimes: this is the one place a pre-existing condition may genuinely be covered, but it depends on the basis the scheme was set up on, not on its being a company scheme. AXA's handbook lists "medical history disregarded" as one of its four routes; in general terms that is the route under which a member's history is not used to exclude anything, and it is most often found on employer-paid schemes rather than offered to an individual. A company scheme can equally be written on a moratorium or with full medical underwriting, and then it can exclude a pre-existing condition like any other policy. We hold no group scheme wording, so ask your employer or the scheme's insurer which basis the scheme is on, and ask to see the members' handbook for it.
Switching insurer with a pre-existing condition
In general terms a new insurer underwrites you afresh, so a condition that arose while your current policy was running is likely to be pre-existing under the next one. AXA's list includes "continuing medical exclusions", a route whose name suggests exclusions carried over from previous cover, but we hold the name and not AXA's description of it. Ask whether the new insurer will take you on without re-underwriting and what it needs from your current insurer, and do not let the old policy lapse until the new terms are confirmed in writing.
An old injury
Bupa's clause reaches "illnesses or injuries you had before your policy started", so on that wording a pre-existing injury is treated the same way as a pre-existing illness, and Freedom's "related condition" would catch a later problem the insurer connects to it. Whether a healed injury from years ago is caught at all turns on the look-back period and on whether you have had treatment or advice for it since.
What to ask before you buy
Each of these is a gap in the wording we hold, and each is one the insurer can answer in writing. Keep the answers with the policy, and treat a quote that cannot answer them as not yet a quote.
- Which underwriting route is this quote on? Moratorium, full medical underwriting, or something else; AXA's handbook shows one product can be sold on four. Ask for the section of the wording that describes that route.
- What is the look-back period? Freedom's is five years on the clause we hold. Ask for the number in your wording, not for "typical".
- Can an exclusion lift, after what, and what restarts the clock? Whether a check-up, a repeat prescription or a monitoring appointment counts as treatment or advice is what decides whether a condition clear for some years is still excluded.
- What does "related" cover for my condition? Ask for examples, in writing, of what the insurer would and would not treat as related to the condition you have.
- Will the exclusion be confirmed in writing before I pay? Bupa's wording says a special condition is confirmed to the main member. Ask every insurer for the same, and do not start cover until you have seen it.
- If I am switching, will you take me on my existing terms, and what do you need from my current insurer? Ask before cancelling anything.
Underwriting is the one part of buying cover that a website cannot do for you, and it is exactly what a broker is for. A broker cannot get a pre-existing condition covered where the wording excludes it, and nobody can, but a broker can put your history, with dates, to several insurers in one conversation and come back with how each would actually treat it. The form on this page puts you in touch, and it costs you nothing.
Common questions
Can I get private health insurance with a pre-existing condition in the UK?
Usually, yes: what is excluded is the condition, not you. Both clauses we hold describe excluding the condition, and neither describes turning the applicant away; whether a particular history would lead an insurer to decline cover altogether is an underwriting decision we cannot establish from documents.
Does private health insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Not usually. Bupa's wording says pre-existing and moratorium conditions "aren't usually covered", and Freedom's says it "will not cover" a condition from the five years before cover started "unless we have agreed to cover that condition", which is the insurer's agreement, given before cover starts, not a loophole.
Can health insurance refuse to pay for a pre-existing condition?
Yes; that is what the exclusion is, and a claim for the excluded condition, or on Freedom's wording a related one, can be declined on that basis. A fully underwritten policy generally tells you the exclusion before you buy and a moratorium applies it when you claim, which is why the route you are on matters.
Is there an insurer that accepts pre-existing conditions?
"Accepts" and "covers" are different words. In general an insurer will accept you as a member with a pre-existing condition and exclude the condition; covering it is what is rare, and on the wording we hold it needs the insurer's prior agreement or a scheme on a medical-history-disregarded basis.
Which is the best health insurance company for pre-existing conditions?
There is no league table, and we do not rank insurers. The answer depends on how each insurer's look-back period, clear period and reading of "related" fall against your own dates, which is a comparison a broker can make by putting the same history to several insurers.
Is there private health insurance with no waiting period for pre-existing conditions?
A waiting period and a pre-existing exclusion are different things: a waiting period is a fixed time after joining before a benefit starts, while an exclusion for a pre-existing condition is tied to your history and does not expire on a date. We hold no clause that offers immediate cover of a condition you already have.
Does the NHS still treat my condition if I take out private cover?
Yes. A private policy does not change your entitlement to NHS care, and for a condition the policy excludes, the NHS remains your route to treatment; private cover sits alongside it for the conditions the policy does cover.
The next step
The condition you already have is usually excluded, the route you buy on decides when you find that out and whether it can ever change, and the policy still covers the rest of your health. What you cannot know from this page is how any insurer would actually write the exclusion for your history, because that is an underwriting decision taken on your dates and your records. Fill in the form on this page and an FCA-authorised broker will call you back, put your history to several insurers, and ask each how it would treat your condition before you commit to any of them. There is no charge and no obligation.