You can usually switch insurer without losing cover for conditions that have developed since you first took out your policy, by asking the new insurer for switch terms, known as continued moratorium or continued personal medical exclusions. The one thing switching cannot usually do is turn a condition that is already excluded into one that is covered.
This is the question that decides whether someone can move insurer at all, and it is explained badly almost everywhere. The confusion comes from one missing idea: when you switch private medical insurance, there are two completely different ways the new insurer can treat your medical history, and the difference between them is everything.
The two ways a new insurer can take you on
New terms. The new insurer underwrites you from scratch, as if you had never held cover. On a new moratorium, anything you have had symptoms, treatment, medication or advice for in the last five years is excluded again, including conditions your current policy covers. Years of continuous cover count for nothing.
Switch terms. The new insurer agrees to carry your existing underwriting position across. If you joined your current insurer on a moratorium in 2019, the new policy keeps 2019 as the date that matters, so conditions that developed in 2021 or 2023 can remain covered rather than being excluded afresh. If you joined on full medical underwriting, the new insurer carries your existing personal exclusions across, though it can add further exclusions of its own once it has reviewed your switch declaration, so the new terms need reading before anything is cancelled. Insurers name this differently: a continued moratorium, continued underwriting, continued medical exclusions, or CPME, which stands for continued personal medical exclusions.
Switch terms are the mechanism that makes moving possible for anyone who has used their policy. Ask for a quote without specifying, and you may be quoted new terms by default, which is how people end up unknowingly giving up cover they had.
What insurers check before offering switch terms
Each insurer sets its own switching criteria, but the questions are broadly consistent:
- Have you had continuous private medical cover, with no gap, up to the switch date?
- Is any treatment ongoing, planned or pending, including referrals and investigations you are waiting on?
- Have you claimed recently, and for what? Larger or ongoing claims can mean the insurer declines switch terms or asks more questions.
- Is the new cover broadly like for like? Insurers will generally not let you upgrade to a richer benefit level on switch terms, because that would let people buy better cover only once they knew they needed it.
- Does the basis match? Continued moratorium is generally only available if you are currently on a moratorium, and CPME only if you are currently on full medical underwriting or CPME.
Answer these questions accurately. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 you have a duty to take reasonable care when answering an insurer's questions, and an answer that was not accurate can surface at the worst possible moment, which is when you claim.
One more thing switch terms do not do: they carry your underwriting position across, not your benefits. The new policy's own hospital list, limits and terms apply, so the cover itself still needs comparing properly.
The mistakes that actually cost people cover
Cancelling the old policy before the new one is confirmed. A gap of even a day can break the continuity that switch terms depend on. The new policy should be agreed, in writing, with a start date that meets the old renewal date, before anything is cancelled.
Switching mid treatment. If you are in the middle of a course of treatment, or waiting on a referral, most insurers will not offer switch terms, and a new policy will not pick up treatment that is already under way. The usual answer is to finish the treatment, then review at renewal.
Assuming the price is comparing like with like. A cheaper quote on a smaller hospital list, a lower outpatient limit or a higher excess is not a saving, it is a different product. The comparison only means something once the benefits and the underwriting basis both match.
Confusing switch terms with cover for pre-existing conditions. Switch terms preserve the position you already have. A condition excluded under your current policy will normally stay excluded with the new insurer. If anyone suggests that moving insurer will get an excluded condition covered, ask to see that in the new policy's written terms before acting on it.
When switching is worth it, and when it is not
Switching tends to make sense when your renewal premium has risen sharply, your circumstances have changed, or your current plan no longer fits how you actually use it. It tends not to make sense when you are mid claim, when the saving is small against the risk of getting the paperwork wrong, or when your current insurer would match the position if asked. A good adviser will tell you when staying put is the better answer, and at renewal there is often more room to reshape the existing policy than people expect.
How we handle this
Switching on the right terms is detail work: confirming the underwriting basis you currently hold, checking each insurer's switch criteria against your actual history, and timing the move to the renewal date. It is the single most common piece of work we do, at no additional cost to you: we receive commission from the insurer whichever policy we recommend. This guide is general information rather than advice; a recommendation comes after we understand your circumstances.