Switching health insurance

Switching private health insurance does not automatically preserve your cover. Continued personal medical exclusions, or CPME, carries existing personal exclusions to a new insurer if it accepts the switch under its rules. Keep your current policy until the new insurer confirms your cover and start date.

What changes when you switch health insurance

Switching means taking out a policy with another insurer. Review your options at renewal if the cost or cover no longer suits you. You can also ask your current insurer to change your policy.

Increasing benefits with your current insurer may involve separate underwriting or waiting periods. Check the effect on your existing terms before accepting changes.

A new policy has its own terms. A treatment covered now might have a different limit. Check whether your preferred hospital is included, even if the policies use similar names for their benefits.

Check cover for conditions that developed after your original policy began. If covered now, they could be treated as pre-existing and excluded under fresh underwriting.

MoneyHelper explains why switching can affect existing cover. Look beyond the amount you would pay.

What continued personal medical exclusions means

CPME carries forward your existing personal medical exclusions, subject to the new insurer’s acceptance. It is usually relevant to fully medically underwritten policies or those already on CPME terms.

A personal medical exclusion applies specifically to someone insured under the policy. General exclusions apply across the policy. CPME concerns personal exclusions. The new policy’s general exclusions and benefit limits still apply.

What CPME can preserve

With an accepted switch on suitable terms, CPME can preserve cover for conditions that arose after your original policy started. Changing insurer alone does not make every existing condition a new pre-existing condition.

This does not mean every existing condition is covered. Existing exclusions normally remain. The new insurer may add restrictions or refuse the requested switch terms.

What still needs checking

Eligibility rules vary. Current treatment or investigations can affect the terms available. Ask the specialist to explain the insurer’s requirements and the effect on continuity of cover.

Get accepted underwriting terms in writing. A quote alone does not confirm the new insurer’s agreement to carry your exclusions across.

Your current insurer’s treatment approval does not automatically transfer when you switch.

How moratorium and fresh underwriting differ

CPME is one switching route. The route to consider depends partly on how your current policy was underwritten.

Continued moratorium may be available with existing moratorium cover. It preserves the original start date and time counted towards meeting its requirements, subject to the new insurer’s terms. Check how its wording treats the original qualifying period.

A moratorium excludes certain pre-existing conditions unless its requirements are met over a specified period. Time passing alone is not enough if other requirements apply. The exact rules determine eligibility for cover.

Fresh underwriting assesses pre-existing conditions under new terms. With full medical underwriting, the insurer assesses your medical history before setting personal exclusions. A new moratorium may bring a new qualifying period.

These routes are not interchangeable. A new moratorium can undo progress under an existing one. Read the guide to pre-existing conditions and underwriting for the differences.

Compare the cover behind each quote

Before deciding, compare the proposed policy with your current schedule and policy wording. Check benefits you expect to use and restrictions that would change your access to treatment.

• Hospital cover. Check in-patient and day-patient benefits, plus the hospitals available under the selected list.
• Outpatient cover. Compare consultation and diagnostic test limits. Check whether scans sit within the same limit or have separate rules.
• Excess. Check when it applies and whether it is charged per person, per claim or per policy year.
• Cancer cover. Look at the treatments included and any limits or exclusions.
• Optional benefits. Check therapies or mental health cover if they matter to your comparison.

Check referral rules and which consultants are covered. A familiar hospital name does not mean every consultant there will be covered.

Underwriting terms differ between family members on some policies. Check the proposed terms for everyone moving. Adding someone at the same time may involve different eligibility rules.

Changing the excess, hospital list or outpatient cover can affect cost. Consider what a higher excess, narrower list or reduced outpatient cover would mean for a claim. Age and where you live also affect cost, so a different amount payable does not necessarily mean different benefits. Read more about outpatient cover.

Take care with treatment already under way

Your current insurer’s treatment approval does not transfer automatically, even if the new policy is accepted on CPME terms. The new insurer has its own claims process and must confirm treatment eligibility.

Before agreeing a switch during treatment, check what happens to it and which insurer is responsible around the changeover date. Payment for future appointments may depend on their dates and each policy’s terms.

Keep agreed arrangements in writing. A claim reference does not prove another insurer will pay. Ask the specialist to explain the effect of switching on continuity of cover.

Check investigations that have not led to a diagnosis too. No diagnosis does not automatically mean a condition will be treated as new after the switch. Underwriting rules can take account of earlier symptoms or investigations.

Plan the timing before cancelling

Renewal lets you compare the next policy year with other options. Start before the renewal date to give the new insurer time to assess your application.

Moving during a policy year may be possible. Check your current insurer’s cancellation terms and notice requirements first. Paying monthly does not necessarily mean you have a monthly contract.

1. Review your current cover and the underwriting basis shown in your documents.
2. Compare the proposed policy and check the switching terms available.
3. Wait for the new insurer’s written acceptance and agreed start date.
4. Confirm how the old policy will end and the new policy will begin.
5. Check the issued documents against the terms you agreed.

A gap between policies can affect eligibility for continued underwriting. Do not cancel on an initial quote or assume a break will be accepted. Resolve differences between agreed terms and issued documents promptly.

Switching from a company scheme

Leaving a job can end your workplace health cover. Check options for continuing with an individual policy. Deadlines and eligibility rules vary. Confirm when company cover ends before making plans.

Some workplace schemes use medical history disregarded terms. These differ from CPME and allow pre-existing conditions to be covered under the scheme’s general rules. An individual policy may offer different terms.

Continuing cover does not mean identical benefits. Check each family member’s position if dependants are covered. Read the guide to leaving a company health insurance scheme for the points to review.

Get clear terms before making the move

Check what changes and what carries over. Read accepted exclusions alongside policy benefits. Keeping personal exclusions does not preserve every feature of your old contract.

Switching does not remove general exclusions. Private health insurance excludes ongoing management of chronic conditions, routine pregnancy and cosmetic treatment. The NHS remains available for emergencies. Switching does not affect your access to NHS care. Find NHS services information on the NHS website.

A health insurance specialist explains cover and switching terms and gives quotes. Answer a few questions to compare private health insurance, then a specialist contacts you by phone or email. There are no health questions.

Common questions

Last updated 8 November 2026