Whether you can get critical illness cover if you have diabetes depends on the insurer. Legal & General says it cannot offer the cover to new customers with diabetes, and Aviva says that with diabetes you will not be covered for critical illness with it. Whether diabetes is itself a covered illness is a separate question, settled by each policy's own list of defined conditions, and type 1 and type 2 are taken separately below.
Have your diagnosis date, treatment and latest HbA1c result to hand. Filling in the quote form here is free, and a broker who is FCA-authorised will then phone to put those details to insurers.
What do insurers ask about diabetes on an application?
The NHS describes diabetes as "a condition that causes your blood glucose (sugar) level to become too high", caused by "your body not making enough or any of a hormone called insulin, or the insulin not working properly". Insurers turn that into questions about type, treatment and control.
Aviva's guide to life insurance and diabetes (updated 12 May 2026) says insurers usually look at the type of diabetes, how it is managed, your HbA1c levels and your overall health. It lists complications they take into account, from diabetic nerve damage and foot problems to chronic kidney disease, eye disease and cardiovascular disease. Legal & General's guide (4 June 2026) asks for the diagnosis date and last diabetic review, whether treatment includes insulin injections or a pump, your latest HbA1c result, and any kidney or eye problems or numbness. Both guides are for life insurance applications, not critical illness decisions.
Two adviser documents show the same shape. Royal London's medical conditions tool (for financial advisers only, undated) says what would help on the application form: whether it is type 1 or type 2, the date of diagnosis, treatment, the latest diabetic review "to include latest HbA1c and urine results if known", known complications, and hospital treatment other than routine reviews. Vitality's underwriting page for advisers (undated; its diabetes entry cites a source accessed in December 2021) lists the type, date of diagnosis, treatment, blood sugar and HbA1c levels if known, how often you attend a diabetic clinic, and any complications or co-morbidities.
Royal London's Personal Menu Plan application form (July 2025, adviser literature) puts diabetes inside a single question: "Heart disease or disorder, circulatory disease or diabetes?" A yes leads to an additional medical details section. A direct application may word it differently, and medical questions for life insurance shows the wider pattern.
Do insurers accept critical illness applications from people with diabetes?
Two insurers say on their own consumer pages that they do not provide new critical illness cover to people with diabetes. Legal & General's guide (4 June 2026): "We cannot offer Critical Illness Cover to new customers with diabetes." Aviva's (updated 12 May 2026): "Unfortunately, with diabetes you will not be covered for critical illness cover with us." Neither sentence separates type 1 from type 2. Aviva's page goes on: "Some UK insurers may offer critical illness cover for people with diabetes. However, cover is not guaranteed."
Vitality's diabetes entry for advisers gives the high incidence of serious illnesses as its reason for turning down every application for its Serious Illness Cover and Income Protection Cover. The entry is undated, so it is worth asking whether it still reflects what Vitality does.
Both consumer guides say life insurance with diabetes is possible, so a refusal of critical illness cover is not a refusal of every kind of cover. Life insurance with medical conditions covers that side, and what to do if you are declined covers the next steps. A broker reached through the form can put your type of diabetes, treatment, HbA1c and any complications to several insurers and ask how each would view them, though none can promise an offer.
Is diabetes itself one of the illnesses a policy covers?
A policy pays only for the illnesses its wording defines (critical illness cover explains how definitions and severity levels work), so the question is whether a particular policy names diabetes, and in what words. Four insurers' documents say this:
| Insurer and document | What it says about diabetes | Payment as stated |
|---|---|---|
| Legal & General, consumer guide (4 June 2026) | Diabetes is "not included in our list of critical illnesses because it can usually be treated and managed". | Not applicable: the guide describes no benefit for it. |
| Royal London, Personal Menu Plan critical illness plan details (July 2025, adviser site) | "Diabetes mellitus type 1 - with insulin dependency" is an additional condition, included automatically with critical illness cover. | For lump-sum cover, the lower of 50% of the amount of cover at the date the definition is met, or £35,000. |
| Aviva, Life Insurance+ policy summary (AL50001 02/2026, adviser document library) | "Diabetes mellitus type 1" is in the list of 26 upgraded additional critical illnesses, available if you pay more. | £30,000 or 100% of the cover amount, whichever is lower, if you survive at least 10 days after diagnosis. |
| LV=, Life and Critical Illness policy summary (49027-2022 04/26) | "Child diabetes type 1 – requiring permanent insulin injections" is on its list for children's cover, an optional extra. | The lower of 50% of the amount of cover or £35,000. |
Royal London defines the type 1 condition as "A definite diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus by an appropriate medical specialist, requiring the permanent need for exogenous insulin replacement therapy." Its entry and Aviva's sit in the policyholder's own cover, and in both a claim leaves the policy running: an additional-condition claim does not affect Royal London cover, and under Aviva's upgrade you can claim for each illness once and "your policy will continue". LV='s entry is for children. None of the four lists type 2 diabetes as a covered illness.
Aviva's consumer guide, quoted above, says people with diabetes will not be covered for critical illness with Aviva; its policy summary lists type 1 diabetes in the upgrade. One is about who Aviva will cover, the other about what a policy lists, and both are worth asking any insurer about.
What do the wording and the exclusions leave out?
Royal London's type 1 definition carries its own limit: "any other type of diabetes, even if treated with insulin" is not covered under it. Vitality's underwriting page draws a related line, noting that type 2 diabetes treated with insulin injections "is not the same as type 1 diabetes". For type 2, the question is whether a given policy names it at all; the four documents above do not.
Royal London's plan details add general conditions: no claim is paid that results from an exclusion shown on your cover summary, so an exclusion can be personal to a policy, and no additional-condition claim is paid where the person also meets a definition in the main list. Ask any insurer whether an exclusion linked to diabetes or its complications could be added to your cover summary, and how it would be worded.
Complications are a separate matter from diabetes itself. The NHS says diabetes can increase the chance of other health problems, including heart attack and stroke, kidney problems, nerve damage and foot problems, and sight problems. Whether those are covered depends on each policy's own definitions; does critical illness cover stroke and the conditions a critical illness list covers take that further.
Do forms ask about pre-diabetes or diabetes in the family?
Royal London's Personal Menu Plan form asks about more than a diagnosis. A separate question groups raised blood pressure, cholesterol and chest pain with pre-diabetes, and says that includes borderline diabetes, sugar in the urine and raised blood glucose. Another asks whether any parent, brother or sister has been diagnosed with or died from a listed condition before the age of 60, and diabetes is on that list.
Other insurers' forms may word this differently; life insurance with high blood pressure covers how blood pressure is asked about.
Where can you find support, and what other cover exists?
Diabetes UK says of itself: "We are Diabetes UK. Our vision is a world where diabetes can do no harm." Its helpline gives support and information about diabetes, on 0345 123 2399 or helpline@diabetes.org.uk, and it also publishes a page on insurance for people with diabetes.
Royal London sells what it calls diabetes life cover, designed for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. It pays if you die or become terminally ill and is only available through a financial adviser, so it is life cover, not critical illness cover. For income rather than a lump sum, see income protection for diabetes.
Whatever you apply for, answer the questions carefully: what you must disclose and whether an insurer can refuse to pay explain why that matters.
If you would like your own results put to insurers, leave your details in the form and a broker will ring you back, with nothing to pay. The hub on critical illness and income has the wider picture.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get critical illness cover with type 1 diabetes?
Legal & General and Aviva each say they do not provide new critical illness cover to people with diabetes, without separating the types. Royal London's plan details list type 1 diabetes as an additional condition, and Aviva's paid upgrade lists it too, which is a different question from who can buy the cover.
Can you get critical illness cover with type 2 diabetes?
The same two insurers' statements cover diabetes generally, and none of the four documents in the table lists type 2 as a covered illness. Another insurer may take a different view, so ask a broker or the insurer directly.
Is diabetes a critical illness?
It depends on the policy. Legal & General says diabetes is not on its list of critical illnesses, while Royal London names type 1 diabetes as an additional condition, Aviva in its paid upgrade, and LV= names type 1 diabetes in a child.
Sources
- Legal & General, Life insurance and diabetes (4 June 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
- Aviva, Life insurance and diabetes (published 1 October 2024, last updated 12 May 2026), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
- Aviva, Policy Summary of Life Insurance+ (AL50001 02/2026; hosted on Aviva's adviser document library), read 20 October 2026. aviva.io
- Royal London, Personal Menu Plan Critical Illness Cover: Plan details (July 2025, PCP8P10008/16; adviser site), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- Royal London, Personal Menu Plan application form (July 2025, P1A0023/24; adviser literature), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- Royal London, Medical conditions tool (adviser site, for financial advisers only; undated page), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
- Royal London, Diabetes Life Cover (consumer web page, undated), read 20 October 2026. royallondon.com
- LV=, Life and Critical Illness Policy Summary (49027-2022 04/26), read 20 October 2026. lv.com
- Vitality, Conditions Covered, diabetes entry (adviser site, for UK financial advisers; undated page), read 20 October 2026. adviser.vitality.co.uk
- NHS, Diabetes (page last reviewed 26 June 2025), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
- Diabetes UK, About us (undated page), read 20 October 2026. diabetes.org.uk
- Diabetes UK, Insurance and diabetes and Life insurance for people with diabetes (undated pages), read 20 October 2026. diabetes.org.uk