Can you get life insurance with fibromyalgia or ME/CFS? You can apply: Aviva's guide to pre-existing conditions says a health condition may cost more or slow the decision, but it "doesn't automatically mean you won't get cover". Each insurer decides on your own answers, and the critical illness side of a policy treats these two conditions more specifically than the life cover does.

Would you like to go over your own history before applying anywhere? The enquiry form on this page lines up a no-cost chat by phone; the person calling is an FCA-authorised broker, and nothing has to be decided during it.

Where do fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue appear on a life insurance application?

Both conditions are named, usually in a list with others. A Legal & General (L&G) application form for its relevant life plan (an adviser document, code W13545, February 2026) asks about contact with a health professional in the last two years for "lupus, fibromyalgia, gout or any type of arthritis". Chronic fatigue syndrome has its own line, shared with anxiety, depression or stress that has needed treatment or counselling. A yes to a line leads to a medical questionnaire.

Aviva's personal protection application (an adviser document, AL55001, August 2026) names fibromyalgia in question 3m, part of a block that looks back four years: "Lupus, fibromyalgia, gout, any form of arthritis or hypermobility disorder?" On that form, though, 3m is answered only by people applying for critical illness cover, waiver of premium or Income Protection+. Someone applying for life cover alone still meets broader questions, such as whether they have been referred to a specialist or had tests in the last two years, or have had persistent tiredness or fatigue in the last three months.

What do insurers ask once you answer yes?

Royal London's medical conditions tool for advisers has an entry for ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis, also called chronic fatigue syndrome), listing what helps on the application form: when symptoms first started, their nature and severity, investigations with dates and results, time off work, and "Whether a full recovery has been made and if applicable date of last symptoms". The tool says that ME or chronic fatigue "can have a significant impact on functional ability".

L&G's guide to pre-existing conditions (16 March 2026) gives a general list that reads the same way for any condition: the date you were diagnosed, any hospital stays or referrals to a specialist, how severe and frequent your symptoms are, how the condition affects everyday life (absences from work, for example), and your medication with start dates. It adds that a medical report from your doctor is sometimes needed, and that the insurer needs your consent first.

Neither condition has a single confirming test. The NHS says there is no specific test for fibromyalgia, that its symptoms can resemble other conditions, and that ME/CFS is diagnosed from your symptoms and by ruling out other causes. The NHS also describes fibromyalgia symptoms as changeable, sometimes suddenly improving or worsening. So a dated record of when the diagnosis was made, which treatments you tried and how many days you were off work is the kind of detail those lists ask for.

Do critical illness policies treat fibromyalgia and ME/CFS differently from life cover?

Several insurers name these conditions inside their critical illness definitions. Those lines are part of the critical illness terms, not the life cover: they matter if you add critical illness to a life policy, or choose a plan that bundles the two. Each is an exclusion from one definition, not a statement about anything else, and each insurer's own document governs.

  • Royal London (Life or Critical Illness Cover plan details, July 2025), under its encephalitis definition: the following are not covered, "myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome".
  • Zurich Personal Protection terms (PW720480017 04/26), under neurodegenerative disorders not already covered: the following are not covered, "essential tremor, fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome".
  • Vitality's Personal Protection Plan Provisions (VLTD174857WF_J3779_02/2025), for its Serious Illness Cover, list "Fibromyalgia, or any synonym including, but not limited to, fibromyositis, fibrositis, muscular rheumatism, myofascial pain syndrome" among the specific exclusions in its Connective Tissue Diseases category. Its Stroke and Nervous System category excludes "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or any synonym including, but not limited to, Epidemic Neuromyasthenia, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Royal Free Disease."

Separately, L&G says that with some pre-existing conditions it would be unable to offer critical illness cover, with others it may charge an extra premium or exclude the specific condition. L&G adds that every applicant is assessed individually. The wider picture is in critical illness cover for pre-existing conditions, and the industry minimum wording is in the ABI critical illness minimum standards.

Does fibromyalgia affect the price of life insurance?

Insurers say a health condition can. Aviva's pre-existing conditions page (7 January 2025 update) says underwriters consider from your application how likely you are to claim compared with the average person, and that "your premiums may be higher if you have a serious, chronic medical condition". L&G's guide likewise says existing conditions can affect the premium on an accepted application. How far fibromyalgia or ME/CFS might move a price depends on the insurer and your own history, and the broker who phones can walk you through it without charge.

Aviva also notes that an insurer will sometimes be unable to offer cover and that you may be able to get life insurance elsewhere. If one insurer declines, that is one insurer's view; life insurance with medical conditions explains what usually happens next.

Income protection is a different product, and it asks more about work: on Aviva's application, the questions on absence from work and on conditions that restrict your work are for income protection, waiver of premium and some other cover types, not for someone applying for life cover alone. Income protection and pre-existing conditions covers it.

What happens if you leave something out?

The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 puts it this way: "It is the duty of the consumer to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer." Aviva warns that inaccurate answers may mean a higher price, a delayed start, cancellation, or a claim that is not paid. That is the reason to answer each question as it is worded, using the dates in your records.

Wondering how an underwriter would read one of your answers, or how a long gap between flares weighs? Raise it when the broker rings; there is no charge. Only contact basics go in the form; the medical detail is for the call.

Frequently asked questions

Does fibromyalgia count as a pre-existing condition for life insurance?

Aviva describes a pre-existing condition as having had symptoms, medication, advice, treatment or diagnostic tests before you take out a policy. Insurers set their own definitions, so a diagnosis of fibromyalgia would normally be declared where a question covers it.

Is ME/CFS treated as the same thing as fibromyalgia on a form?

The wording above lists them separately: L&G's form puts them on different lines, and Aviva's question 3m names fibromyalgia but not ME/CFS. Answer each question as it is worded, and give the diagnosis your doctor has recorded.

Where can you get help with the condition itself?

Fibromyalgia Action UK offers information and support, with a helpline on 0300 999 3333, according to the NHS. For ME/CFS the NHS points to the ME Association. Similar form questions come up with life insurance with lupus and life insurance with mental health issues; the wider topics sit under Health & medical questions.

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