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Are you thinking about purchasing international health insurance, but you’re worried about a pre-existing condition? We look at everything you need to know, from what counts as a pre-existing condition, to what your policy will and will not cover.
Lee Doran
Underwriting Manager
The information on this page refers to health insurance policies starting in 2025. We have a different approach to pre-existing medical conditions if you’re a resident of the UAE. Please contact us for more details.
A pre-existing medical condition is any disease, illness, or injury that you’ve experienced during your lifetime.
It could be something serious, like cancer or cardiac issues; or it could be something less serious, like asthma or an arm you fractured in your childhood.
It could also be something undiagnosed, like a knee complaint that’s troubled you for years, but for which you’ve never sought medical treatment or the advice of a doctor.
A related condition is any disease, illness, or injury that’s caused by a pre-existing medical condition, or that results from the same underlying cause as a pre-existing medical condition.
The following conditions are examples of possible pre-existing medical conditions. Please note it’s not an exhaustive list!
Minor injuries and common and short-term illnesses such as colds and flus do not count as pre-existing medical conditions. You don’t need to declare these on your application for a policy. Similarly, COVID-19 doesn’t count as a pre-existing medical condition, unless you have experienced long-term complications (i.e., ‘long COVID’).
In short, no. Your health insurance policy won’t cover you for investigations, treatment, or medication relating to pre-existing medical conditions or related conditions—unless you tell us about them in your application, and we agree to cover them.
However, there are some nuances. These depend on your policy’s underwriting type. Underwriting is the process we use to assess the risk of insuring you when you apply for a policy.
With full medical underwriting, your policy won’t cover pre-existing medical conditions and related conditions unless you told us about them and we agreed to cover them.
When you apply, we ask you questions about your medical history. Based on your responses, we decide the terms on which we can accept your application for a policy. If you’re generally fit and healthy with no pre-existing medical conditions, we’re likely to accept your application with standard terms.
If you do have pre-existing medical conditions, we might exclude cover for certain conditions and/or increase your premium.
With moratorium underwriting, your health insurance policy may cover your pre-existing medical conditions if you haven’t consulted a doctor about them, taken medication for them, or experienced symptoms for two years after your policy starts.
Here’s how it works:
These moratorium underwriting terms only apply to health insurance policies starting after June 2024 with moratorium as the underwriting type.
Switch underwriting, also known as Continued Personal Medical Exclusions (CPME), is when you transfer the terms of your policy with your previous health insurance provider to your new policy with William Russell.
Health insurance is designed to cover the costs of your private treatment for eligible medical conditions that first arise during the policy term. Under the terms of your health insurance policy with us, you have cover for medical conditions that first arise after your policy start date and for as long as you renew your policy. We won’t re-underwrite your policy each time you renew it.
Insurance is about covering the risk of future events; it’s not about covering the consequences of events that have already happened.
If we covered pre-existing medical conditions, the amount of money we would pay out in claims for medical treatment would make our insurance premiums unaffordable for everyone.
If we agree to cover a pre-existing medical condition that you disclose in your application, we may increase your premium. If eligible, you can also choose moratorium underwriting for your policy. A policy with moratorium is more expensive than our standard underwriting type (full medical underwriting), but it may give you cover for some pre-existing medical conditions after 2 years of continuous cover.
If we exclude a pre-existing medical condition that you disclose in your application, you cannot ‘buy out’ the exclusion.
If your application asks you questions about your medical history, you must make a full disclosure of all pre-existing conditions and related conditions that you’re aware of.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition that you don’t disclose in your application, or which we have not explicitly agreed to cover under the terms of your policy, we won’t pay out claims related to that condition.
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The quickest way to reach us is by email.
We want to provide you with a health insurance policy you can rely on, so it is important that you fully understand the scope of the cover we provide. Answers to the most common questions on pre-existing medical conditions for health insurance can be found here, but feel free to get in touch and speak to our award-winning team. We’ll be glad to help.
We define a pre-existing medical condition as any disease, illness, or injury for which you’ve received medication, advice, or treatment, or for which you have experienced symptoms, at any point before the start date of your policy. We do not count as ‘pre-existing’ any medical conditions that you don’t know about, for which you’ve never experienced symptoms, or for which you’ve never received medical advice or treatment.
We treat conditions related to a pre-existing medical condition in the same way that we treat pre-existing medical conditions.
Most health insurance providers share our approach to pre-existing medical conditions.
If you do have pre-existing medical conditions and you’re struggling to get insurance cover, an insurance broker can give you free, impartial, and professional advice. Search for “broker for international health insurance”.
Lucky you! Your application for a policy won’t take long, and we won’t add any non-standard exclusions to your cover.
You are required to take reasonable care to provide accurate and complete information when completing an application for a policy and/or when disclosing details of pre-existing medical conditions. Lying on your application for a policy, or failing to disclose details of a pre-existing medical condition, are examples of fraud.
When you apply for a health insurance policy, it’s crucial that you declare any pre-existing medical conditions and provide a full disclosure of diagnoses, medical examinations, past treatments received, and medication you take.
If you fail to declare, or provide inaccurate or insufficient details about a pre-existing medical condition on your application that later affects your health or well-being, we may take one or more of the following actions:
This can leave you with expensive medical bills to pay from your own pocket. If we cancel your policy, you may not be able to purchase a policy from a different insurance provider.
At William Russell, we have over 30 years’ experience of helping expatriates move abroad and settle into their new lives overseas by providing world-class international health insurance.
Joe Holden Global Relationship Manager
If you’re ready to see prices for health insurance, click on ‘Get a Quote’ below to head on over to our online quote tool.
We’ll ask you a few details (your age, your location), and then we’ll show you prices—it only takes a few minutes!
A couple of days after you’ve received you quote, Joe will email or call you to find out how we can help you further. Joe won’t bug you, and you can opt out at any time.
It’s filled with handy information and tips for expats.
We were one of the first insurance providers to cover people living abroad, and we’ve earned a reputation for our wonderful customer service.
The insurer behind our policies is part of the Allianz group
We’re proud of our award-winning service and our members rate it highly
You will get your own dedicated adviser when you join
If you’re not happy with your health insurance policy or the service we provide, and you haven’t yet made a claim, then we’ll refund the premium you’ve paid—no questions asked.
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