Life insurance for pre-existing conditions

Can you get life insurance if you have a pre-existing condition?

Having a pre-existing condition isn't necessarily a barrier to purchasing life insurance. You can still access level term, decreasing term, increasing term or whole-of-life cover. 

The main issue for many customers is usually price. Because insurers may consider you high risk, it could mean your premium is more expensive and they may want a medical exam before covering you. 

And while smoking or vaping doesn’t count as a pre-existing condition, providers will also usually push up costs for policyholders who have a history of this habit.

Here, we focus on two common pre-existing conditions which can affect life cover: cancer and diabetes. We also explain what to do if you are a smoker.

• Find out How does life insurance work?

Can you get life insurance if you have cancer?

Whether someone already diagnosed with cancer can get life insurance depends on their specific circumstances, including the severity, treatment and prognosis provided by the doctors who are treating them. 

Life insurers cover the risk of you dying during the term of the policy. If the medical prognosis is that you will die in that time, then there's no longer a risk, only a certainty. Insurers cannot cover certainties – so they're legally entitled to refuse you cover in those circumstances.

People who've had cancer and recovered may be asked by their insurer to provide detailed medical information and attend a medical examination before taking out a new policy. You may also have higher premiums and be restricted as to how much the sum insured can be.

While there are some specialist, non-medically-screened policies that offer guaranteed cover for anyone, these are often more expensive and for lower sums insured. The length of term for which you will be able buy life insurance, or the total sum insured, may also be limited. 

If you already have an existing policy, however, there’s often no need to tell your life insurer if you develop cancer. Once a policy is in place, the premiums cannot be increased. And, as long as you make full and honest disclosures on your application and continue paying the premiums, the policy cannot be cancelled.

• Find out more: Whole-of-life insurance explained

Does life insurance pay out if you have cancer?

Life insurance usually only pays out when you die. So if you're diagnosed with cancer, your policy won’t automatically pay you anything. Many policies do have a terminal illness clause, however, which means they will pay out in full if you are given less than 12 months to live. 

If you want cover that pays out while you're still alive, you should consider taking out critical illness cover. This is separate from life insurance. It pays you a lump sum if you're diagnosed with a serious illness, including many types of cancer. You can use this money to pay your mortgage, cover bills, or pay for treatment. Our guide to critical illness cover explains more.

Many life insurance policies also include terminal illness benefit. This means the policy could pay out early if a doctor says you have less than 12 months to live. This is different from critical illness cover. Not all policies include terminal illness benefit, so it’s worth checking your documents or asking your insurer.

Can you be denied life insurance if you have cancer?

Insurers can refuse to offer life insurance cover at any price to those who have been diagnosed with cancer. 

Life insurers cover the risk of you dying during the term of the policy. If the medical prognosis is that you will die in that time, then there's no longer a risk, only a certainty. Insurers cannot cover certainties – so they're legally entitled to refuse you cover in those circumstances.

Many insurers choose not to cover other categories of risk, such as motorcyclists or people who take part in dangerous sports, heavy smokers and people with other medical conditions.

• Find out more: Can you have two life insurance policies?

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Can you get life insurance if you have diabetes?

People with diabetes are more likely to die at an early age, which makes getting life insurance more of a challenge. You should seek professional advice and you will likely need to buy a policy from a specialist provider. Also, it may take longer and require more information from your doctor, or even a medical examination, so make sure you apply in plenty of time.

You’ll also face higher premiums because of the increased risk of premature death, but the price will depend on the severity of your condition, how you're responding to treatment, and your doctor’s prognosis for your future. Some life insurers know that many people with diabetes live long and fulfilling lives, so will quote competitively. 

When applying for a new life insurance policy, you will need to provide full details of when you were first diagnosed with diabetes, your medical history plus the specifics of your treatment and medication. 

You must tell the insurer: 

• whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or a rarer form
• your HbA1c average blood glucose (sugar) level test results 
• any hospitalisations or significant developments
• changes to your treatment/management of your diabetes
• any complications you have experienced. 

You can also explain significant lifestyle changes you've made, such as losing weight. That can help lower your premiums.

Note that if you already have life insurance and are subsequently diagnosed with diabetes, you do not have to tell your insurer or pay higher premiums.

• Find out more: Critical illness insurance

What are the types of life insurance available to people with diabetes?

People with diabetes can buy most forms of life insurance. The two main types are level term and decreasing term. 

• Level term means the amount paid out stays the same throughout the term of the policy, providing an agreed lump sum on death. 
• Decreasing term means the amount paid out decreases over the life of the policy – this is usually to match a decreasing debt, such as a repayment mortgage. 

It is possible to get both these policies on your own or in joint names, either paying out when the first person dies (joint life insurance) or once both have died (called either dual life insurance, or joint second-death life insurance). 

It should be possible to get lump sum policies and family income policies, where a monthly payment is paid to replace the income of the deceased. 

Although it may also be possible to get whole-of-life cover – which guarantees to pay out at whatever age the insured person dies – the price may be prohibitive.

Diabetes is not considered a critical illness as treatment and condition management mean many people with diabetes live a long and fulfilling life. You therefore won’t be eligible to take out critical illness cover. 

• Find out more: Multiple life insurance policies explained

Can you get life insurance if you smoke?

Smokers and vapers can still buy life insurance. But because it increases the risk of dying early, the habit will push up the price of premiums.

You must tell your life insurer if you smoke or vape using nicotine products, even if you only do so occasionally. You will be asked to detail how much and how often you smoke. This will be verified when requesting medical information from your GP. 

If you lie about your smoking and get a cheaper premium as a result, you will have committed fraud. If your family later needs to claim, your policy may be declared void and any payout refused. 

Even if you recently gave up smoking, life insurers will consider you still to be a smoker and charge higher premiums. There’s no rule on how long you must have given up smoking to no longer be considered a higher risk. For some insurers, it's a year, but many want two, five or even 10 years nicotine-free. 

Note that insurers weight premiums for people who use vapes, gum, and patches the same as for those who smoke cigarettes.

How much more does life insurance cost for smokers?

In most cases, life insurance costs significantly more if you smoke.

To show how much more, we went to Legal & General’s website on 19 May 2026 and ran a quote for a 35-year-old applying for £300,000 of level-term life insurance over 34 years. 

In this case, a smoker would pay almost double that of a non-smoker in monthly premiums, and almost £6,000 more over the life of the policy.

Will quitting smoking lower your premiums?

It is possible to get cheaper life insurance if you quit smoking, either by applying for a new policy or amending your existing insurance. 

Some insurers only require you to have quit for a year (others for two, five or even 10 years). 

A few insurers enable you to sign a declaration that you have given up smoking after this period and will reduce your premiums. However, most insurers won’t discount an existing policy. 

Instead, you can get quotes again as a non-smoker and see if the premiums are cheaper for the same policies. 

However, if you gave up smoking 10 years into a 25-year life insurance term, by the time you applied for new life insurance you will be 10 years older, and age is a significant factor in raising premiums. 

You may also have developed other medical conditions, such high blood pressure, weight problems or heart disease. These added factors may make a new non-smoking policy more expensive than sticking with your existing cover.

'Always check your medical report'

Insurers will request a medical report from your doctor. It's best to opt to see this first, because in some practices the person completing these forms may not be the GP treating you and may have missed something important. 

Make sure your GP’s medical report is accurate before it is sent to the insurer. Correcting errors afterwards can take months or years and may require complaining about the insurer to the Financial Ombudsman Service. In the meantime, you will have paid over the odds in higher premiums. 

Full transparency is the best policy. In complex cases, you may be required to have a medical examination. These days, insurers will often send a specialist nurse to your home for this.