Can you get life insurance with multiple sclerosis? Often you can, though what an insurer offers depends on the detail of your MS: which type it is, how it has behaved since diagnosis, and how much it affects you day to day. Legal & General (L&G) says on its MS page (dated 31 July 2026) that "it’s possible to get life insurance if you have multiple sclerosis", with the answers in your application deciding whether cover is offered.

No general guide can say what an insurer would decide about you. To hear how insurers might view your MS in particular, start with the form on this page. An FCA-authorised broker then phones to ask about your MS and what it means for cover, free of charge and with no hurry.

Does the type of MS change what insurers offer?

The NHS describes three main types. Relapsing remitting MS brings flare-ups, when symptoms worsen and then ease or clear. In secondary progressive MS the symptoms are present all the time and slowly worsen, and primary progressive MS worsens gradually with no spells of remission. A neurologist may need to watch your symptoms and test results for some time before saying which type you have, so the label on your records may have changed or been confirmed late.

Insurers use the type as one clue to how the condition may go. Vitality's underwriting notes for financial advisers (information correct as of February 2023, so now some years old) describe relapsing remitting as the most common type and secondary progressive as the one that leads to the most disability. They add that "benign" MS "can only be described as such when this clinical course has been followed for 10 years". The notes were written for advisers rather than the public and set out one insurer's approach; others may weigh the type differently.

What details of your MS will an application ask for?

L&G treats MS as a pre-existing condition and asks you to tell it about:

  • the date you were diagnosed;
  • how severe your symptoms are and how MS affects your daily life;
  • any hospital admissions or specialist referrals;
  • any medication you take.

It adds that you may be asked for medical evidence before it decides. Vitality's adviser notes want much the same: type of MS, date of diagnosis, symptoms and course since diagnosis, treatment and degree of disability, and they say Vitality will usually get a report from your GP.

Much of this is in your neurologist's clinic letters, so keeping those to hand makes the questions easier to answer accurately. If you are unsure how much detail a question is after, the broker can go over it with you when they ring, without charge.

How much do disability level and time since diagnosis matter?

Disability is the factor Vitality's notes describe most concretely. The assessment rests on your disability as it is now, scored across eight functional systems: walking, co-ordination, speech and swallowing, sensory function, bowel and bladder, vision, mental function and a catch-all "other". The notes count some features as good signs, among them a relapsing remitting onset, infrequent relapses and full recovery between them, and others as poor ones, such as frequent relapses, incomplete recovery and reaching permanent disability quickly. The range of outcomes is wide: "Terms can be anything from standard rates for benign MS to decline where progression has been rapid."

The MS Society's insurance guidance, last fully reviewed in March 2023, is encouraging on the main question: "People with MS can usually get life insurance." It adds that how MS affects you will count, and that cover is "likely to be more expensive if you have more advanced MS".

Time since diagnosis matters mainly through what it shows: how often relapses have come and how well you recovered from them. How long a settled spell a given insurer would hope to see is a question the broker can answer for you, free, on the call-back.

What if you were diagnosed after taking out a policy?

A diagnosis after the policy began is a different situation. The MS Society says that if you took out insurance before you knew you had MS you "don't always have to tell your insurer", unless you are making a claim or the policy says you must. L&G says that for a life policy already in place, "your premiums will be unaffected by an MS diagnosis". Those are the two organisations' statements about their own products and guidance; your own policy wording is what counts, so check it or ask the insurer what it expects you to report.

One timing point from the MS Society: if you are diagnosed in the "on risk" period, the time between applying and the policy starting, you must tell the insurer.

For questions about MS itself, or about benefits and everyday support, the MS Society's MS Help line is free on 0808 800 8000, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday except bank holidays.

Can you buy critical illness cover once you have MS?

Life cover is the simpler product here, because it pays out on death rather than on a diagnosis. Cover that pays on diagnosis is where MS changes things most.

Vitality's adviser notes say it "goes without saying that Serious Illness Cover will be declined if a diagnosis of MS has been made", and that unexplained symptoms such as numbness or blurred vision may lead to that cover being declined or MS being excluded, even before any diagnosis. L&G's MS page deals with a different situation: someone who adds its Critical Illness Cover and is diagnosed with MS in the future. For that case it lists MS among the conditions covered, with a claim needing "a definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis by a consultant neurologist" and symptoms such as an impairment of motor or sensory function. The two statements describe different moments, and each is one insurer's.

What the definitions require at claim is set out on our page on critical illness cover and MS; critical illness cover with a pre-existing condition and, if a mortgage is the worry, mortgage protection and critical illness cover go further.

Do you have to mention MS when you apply?

Yes, and accurately. Section 2 of the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 says: "It is the duty of the consumer to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to the insurer." Section 5 sets out that "A qualifying misrepresentation is careless if it is not deliberate or reckless", and that it is presumed, unless the contrary is shown, "that the consumer knew that a matter about which the insurer asked a clear and specific question was relevant to the insurer." In practice that means answering each question as it is worded, including any symptoms, tests or referrals it reaches, not only the diagnosis. The MS Society is direct about the risk: if you knew you had MS when you took out cover and did not say so, insurers are "unlikely to pay out on claims that come from having MS".

What an insurer may do after a careless or a deliberate mistake differs, and is set out in life insurance disclosure requirements; when a life insurer can refuse to pay covers claims. If a question is unclear, ask the insurer before answering; the medical questions page shows what a typical application asks.

Turned down or offered a higher price: what next?

An insurer may offer cover at a higher price, on adjusted terms, or not at all, and one insurer's answer is not every insurer's. What to do if you are declined for life insurance sets out your options, and life insurance with medical conditions covers the wider picture.

A broker can put your history to the insurers they work with and ask how each would view it, although nobody can promise an offer of cover. When you feel ready, a few lines about your MS in this page's form lead to an FCA-authorised broker ringing you to go through your history, without charge.

Other conditions have their own pages, including Parkinson's disease, stroke, cancer and mental health conditions. The full set sits under health and underwriting.

Frequently asked questions

Does MS affect life insurance?

It can affect whether you are offered cover and on what terms. L&G says the cost of any policy it offers depends on your condition and also on your age, whether you smoke and your family medical history.

Can you get term life insurance with multiple sclerosis?

The MS Society says term policies, which last a set number of years, "might be easier to get and cheaper" than whole of life cover. Whether a given insurer would offer one to you depends on your answers to its questions; the term life insurance explainer covers how term cover works.

Do all insurers look at MS the same way?

Each insurer sets its own underwriting, so the answer can differ from one to the next. L&G and Vitality have published what they ask about MS; which insurers the broker works with, and how each tends to view MS, are things they can talk you through on the free call-back.

Sources