What is a pre-existing condition?

When thinking about buying health insurance, it’s normal to wonder how any past or ongoing health issues might affect your cover. Here, we explain what we mean by a pre-existing condition, and how we approach them at The Exeter.

What is a pre-existing condition?

We class a pre-existing condition as something you’ve had symptoms of or medication, advice, treatment or tests for before taking out health insurance. It could be any illness, injury, or disease. Even if you haven’t spoken to a medical professional or received a diagnosis yet, it can still count as a pre-existing condition.  

Being open and honest about your health history means we can make sure your cover is clear from the start. 

Examples of common pre-existing conditions:

There are many types of pre-existing conditions, and your financial adviser can help you understand which ones apply to you when you’re applying for health insurance. Here are some of the most common we see: 

Physical:

• Back ache
• Joint pain
• Migraines

Long-term:

• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Diabetes (type 1 & 2)
• Arthritis

Can I still get health insurance for a pre-existing condition?

You might be able to get cover for some conditions, or for conditions that you’ve been symptom free from for a period of time. It all depends on how your policy is set up.

We use a process called underwriting to help understand your situation and the level of cover we can offer. There are two types of underwriting when taking out a new health insurance policy. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be covered for new, eligible conditions that arise after your policy starts. The main difference is how each one deals with any health conditions you already have.

Full medical underwriting 

With full medical underwriting, we’ll ask you about your medical history when you apply, so you’ll know from the start what is and isn’t covered. 

When you apply, you’ll fill out a questionnaire about your medical history. Based on this, we’ll confirm what can be covered under your policy.  

Because you’ve already shared your medical information, the claims process is often quicker. 

Standard moratorium underwriting. 

With a moratorium, we won’t ask you about your medical history when you apply. Instead, we’ll look at your medical history each time you claim to see if it’s a pre-existing condition or something you can be covered for.

If you choose moratorium underwriting, pre-existing conditions won’t be covered at first, but they may be covered later if you’ve been symptom and treatment free for a continuous two-year period after the start of your policy.

Something missing from here you’d like to know about? 

You can find more detail about what is and isn’t covered in the Health+ Policy Document. 

We’d always recommend speaking to your financial adviser to discuss your specific circumstances.
Don’t have a financial adviser? Find out how to get one here.