Different types of health insurance

If you had a pre-existing condition in the five years before you take out cover, you'll only be covered for it once you've been free from medication, treatment, diagnostic tests or advice for the condition for two continuous years after your cover started.

Full medical underwriting is a type of underwriting method that requires you to disclose your medical history to your insurer at the point of application.

When you apply for health insurance, you will be asked a series of questions about your medical history and you have to give information about any medical conditions that you suffer from or had in the past. If you apply for more than one person, for example your family, you will need to provide their medical history too. In some cases, we may need to ask your GP for further information (with your permission).

Switch underwriting is designed for patients who are already insured but wish to transfer with pre-existing conditions subject to a few questions. It is sometimes more expensive due to the greater risks for the insurer. 

There are also various specialist policies available, such as those for over-55s or ones that focus on particular diseases. Others only provide cover if you are forced to wait longer than six weeks to receive treatment from the NHS. 

Policy exclusions are the conditions that the policy will not cover. 

– Some insurance policies do not cover treatment of certain diseases in the first year but do cover them after a waiting period. 

– The exclusions in the policy may differ from one insurer to another, therefore being aware of these exclusions is equally important as that will help you decide which policy to buy. 

Important exclusions 

PMI generally does not cover emergencies or chronic conditions. For example, if you suffer chest pains requiring an urgent admission to hospital, your PMI provider may not cover it.

Some PMI policies will not cover care in all private medical facilities in the UK or for treatment outside the UK, so it is very important that you know before travelling what is covered. 

USA 

This is important everywhere, but particularly if you are thinking about going to the United States, where you may need separate, additional cover because insurers are wary of the high costs of treatment in the USA. 

EU 

Other considerations include, understanding the situation within the EU and the situation in those countries where there is a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the United Kingdom.