Life insurance with liver disease is something insurers assess case by case: the answer turns on which condition you have, how far it has progressed and what your latest blood tests and scans show. A fatty liver found on a routine scan, cirrhosis, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and hepatitis B or C come up differently on an application, and each insurer reaches its own decision on them.

If you would like your own diagnosis put to insurers, a short enquiry here gets you a free phone call from a broker with FCA authorisation. Below: what the forms ask, which tests follow and what you owe the insurer in your answers.

Which liver conditions do life insurance applications ask about?

Hepatitis is asked about directly. Aviva's personal protection application (August 2026, AL55001), the form submitted through advisers, includes in its personal medical history section, under "Have you ever had", a positive test for HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C. A yes there means filling in an additional health questionnaire about that condition.

Other liver conditions surface through your medical records. Legal & General (L&G) publishes a short list of what it may ask your GP about in a health report (March 2026, W14026), and a condition affecting your liver is on it, along with test results and alcohol consumption.

Insurers word these questions in their own ways, so give the diagnosis your doctor has recorded rather than your own shorthand.

Life insurance with fatty liver: stages, weight and alcohol

The NHS (page last reviewed July 2025) says non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has 4 stages and that most people only have the 1st stage, "which does not usually cause any problems". It is usually found after blood tests or scans done for another reason, and the GP asks about alcohol "to rule out alcohol-related liver disease". The NHS lists being overweight, particularly with fat around the stomach and waist, among the things that make it more likely.

That is why a fatty liver diagnosis can bring weight and drinking into the same application. Aviva's underwriting guide for advisers (September 2026) lists "Fatty liver disease" among the medical risks of obesity, and L&G's guide (September 2025) says a BMI above 30 can mean a higher premium or, in some circumstances, no offer of cover. Our pages on BMI and life insurance and drinking and life insurance cover those questions in full.

If your fatty liver is at the first stage with normal follow-up results, the broker can tell you on the free call-back how insurers they work with tend to see that, and what they would want from your GP.

What does cirrhosis or PBC mean on an application?

The NHS (page last reviewed February 2025) describes cirrhosis as "a condition where the liver is severely damaged" and notes that "Many people who have cirrhosis do not have symptoms, especially early on". PBC, the NHS says (page last reviewed February 2024), "is a type of liver disease that can get gradually worse over time".

An insurer has more options than yes or no. Aviva's underwriting guide for advisers lists four possible results for an application: standard rates (the outcome for most applicants overall), a higher premium, a deferral when the risk may improve, or a refusal when it is too great. It also says exclusions "are not applied to life cover, but are commonly applied to critical illness and disability cover".

Its consumer guidance (May 2026) says how a condition affects cover depends on things like your medical history, test results and how well the condition is controlled. For cirrhosis or PBC, those details sit in your consultant's letters and your liver results.

Hepatitis B or C: what if you are a carrier or have been treated?

The NHS (page last reviewed November 2025) says an infection that lasts longer than 6 months is called chronic hepatitis B, which is usually what people mean by being a carrier. For hepatitis C (page last reviewed March 2026) it says "Treatment cures the infection for most people". Either way, a positive test is what Aviva's application asks about, so a past infection is declared even when treatment has cleared it. How insurers view a cleared hepatitis C infection or a stable carrier state is a fair question to put to the broker, and the call-back costs nothing.

A negative test is a different matter: the same form says it won't ask your doctor about negative tests for HIV or hepatitis B or C. Travel can raise the subject too. Aviva's underwriting guide mentions questions about past travel to countries with a health risk, "particularly HIV and hepatitis", and L&G's blood-test page says it may test for hepatitis B or C after travel to a country with that risk.

For support with a liver condition itself, Liver UK (the new name for the British Liver Trust) has a free helpline answered by specialist nurses: 0800 652 7330, 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Which tests and medical records will an insurer ask for?

Beyond your answers on the form, the evidence an insurer may ask for includes blood results and your GP's records. L&G's blood-test page (December 2025) says a test can show the "performance of organs such as the kidney, liver or thyroid". If a result suggests an increased risk of death, it says, cover may be affected or the price may rise; a normal result won't affect the policy.

Aviva's underwriting guide covers the rest of the route. A full blood profile includes "a chemical analysis testing for things like kidney and liver function"; a GP report needs your permission under the Access to Medical Reports Act, without which it cannot proceed; and it would "defer an application if a customer is waiting for investigations or the results of investigations". Keep scan reports, liver function results and your last specialist appointment date to hand.

What happens if you leave a liver diagnosis off the form?

It can be tempting to leave off a liver result that seemed minor. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 the duty is yours: reasonable care that nothing you tell an insurer is untrue or misleading. What follows a wrong answer depends on how it happened. A mistake that was neither deliberate nor reckless counts as careless, and the insurer's remedy then follows what it would have done had it known: where it would never have offered cover, it can treat the policy as void and turn down claims, but has to hand the premiums back. A deliberate or reckless answer lets it do the same while keeping the premiums, unless keeping them would be unfair.

So where a question covers it, give the diagnosis, the dates and the treatment, including a fatty liver you were told not to worry about or a hepatitis infection that has been cured. Our guide to what you must disclose goes through the duty in full, and medical questions for life insurance shows how the question sets are built.

What if the answer is no, or not yet?

A postponement or a decline is one insurer's view of one application. As Aviva puts it, "Every insurer treats health conditions differently", and a broker can approach other insurers, specialist ones included, about a case like yours; that is not a promise that anyone will offer cover. Our pages on what to do if you are declined and on life insurance with medical conditions set out the next steps, and the health and underwriting guides cover other conditions that sit alongside liver problems, such as weight and drinking.

To have cover for a liver condition looked at, send the short enquiry form; a broker rings you afterwards and charges nothing for the conversation.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get life insurance with fatty liver?

A fatty liver (NAFLD) belongs in your answers wherever a question covers the liver, and the NHS says most people with it only have the first stage. What an insurer then weighs is your own picture: liver results, weight and how much you drink.

Can you get life insurance with cirrhosis of the liver?

Cirrhosis means the liver is severely damaged, so the cause, your latest results and your specialist's findings all come into it. If you would like to know which insurers might consider it, the broker can look into that with you on a free call-back.

Is life insurance possible if you are a hepatitis B carrier?

Aviva's application asks whether you have ever had a positive test for hepatitis B, so a carrier answers yes there and completes a further questionnaire about it. The result then rests on your own specialist reports and blood tests.

Can you get life insurance with PBC?

The NHS notes that PBC is often referred to as primary biliary cirrhosis, so use whichever name appears on your records. Many people, it says, are only diagnosed after a routine blood test for another reason.

Does a liver function test affect life insurance?

It can. L&G says a result pointing to an increased risk of death may affect whether it offers cover or the price, while a normal blood test won't affect your policy.

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