People with sickle cell can apply for life insurance, and Aviva says a pre-existing medical condition won't necessarily prevent you getting cover, though it may cost more. Before anything else, be clear which of two things your records show: sickle cell disease, a lifelong inherited condition, or sickle cell trait, which means carrying the gene without having the disease.

To have your own sickle cell history looked at, the short form on this page is there for that, and an FCA-authorised broker phones you back free when it arrives, to talk it over.

Sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait: which do you have?

The NHS (page last reviewed 22 September 2026) describes sickle cell disease as an inherited condition that affects red blood cells and can cause pain, swelling and tiredness. It is usually lifelong, though treatment can help manage it. Symptoms differ from person to person and, for most, they come and go.

Trait is different. The NHS says that a trait carrier does not have the disease and cannot develop it, though they could pass the gene on to a child. The Sickle Cell Society, the national charity, says the trait is not an illness and that most people who have it are healthy.

"Sickle cell anaemia" is a name many people use for the disease. If you are not sure which applies to you, your hospital letters or newborn screening result should say, and the NHS suggests asking your GP about a blood test to check whether you carry the trait.

What do insurers ask about sickle cell, and why do crises and complications matter?

Once a condition is declared, the follow-up questions get specific. Legal & General (L&G), on its pre-existing conditions page dated 16 March 2026, gives the kind of detail it may need: what the condition is called and when it was diagnosed, "The severity and regularity of your symptoms", any time in hospital or referral to a specialist, the effect on work and daily life, and each medicine with its start date. A report from your doctor is sometimes requested too, and only with your consent.

For sickle cell disease those questions land on the features the NHS describes. A sickle cell crisis, with sudden severe pain, can last hours, days or weeks, and the NHS says the disease increases the risk of complications such as stroke, eye problems and damage to the lungs, heart and kidneys. A record showing frequent crises or a stroke is a different file from one showing few symptoms, which is why the detail you give matters.

Treatment is part of the picture as well. The NHS lists hydroxycarbamide, blood transfusions and regular check-ups among the care sickle cell disease can involve, so keeping the names and start dates of your medicines, and roughly when you last had a transfusion, makes the questions quicker to answer.

For information and support with the condition itself, the NHS points people to the Sickle Cell Society (sicklecellsociety.org), the UK's national charity for people affected by sickle cell.

How might an insurer respond to sickle cell on an application?

Aviva's knowledge-centre article (last updated 7 January 2025) warns that a serious, chronic condition may mean higher premiums, and that for medical reasons an insurer is sometimes not able to offer any cover. For critical illness cover, L&G says some conditions mean it cannot offer the cover at all, while others lead to an extra premium or an exclusion of that specific condition.

Different firms can read the same file differently. The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) explains in its paper on underwriting decisions that "different insurers may offer different outcomes and decisions when assessing the same risk". The law sets the frame. In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 (Schedule 3, paragraph 21) lets an insurer take a disability into account only where its decision rests on information relevant to assessing the risk, drawn from a source it can reasonably rely on, and where the decision itself is reasonable.

How a particular insurer would view sickle cell disease, or the trait, depends on the insurer and your health; put your name on the form here, and finding out is something a broker can do free on the call-back.

What if you would rather not answer health questions?

Some plans ask none. As the same January 2025 Aviva article describes it, Aviva's Over 50s Life Insurance, for people who are eligible, needs no health questions or medical exam, but it is a whole of life plan with limits: the full amount is paid only after an initial period of one year (apart from accidental death in the first full year), and you could pay in more than is paid out. Our guide to whether over-50s cover is worth it sets out the trade-offs, and mortgage protection with no health questions covers a similar route for a mortgage.

Being accurate on the form, and if an insurer says no

Answer the questions honestly and completely, naming the disease or the trait as your records do. Your legal duty, set by the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, is to take reasonable care that no answer you give the insurer misleads it. It treats a wrong answer as careless unless it was deliberate or reckless, and which of the two it was shapes what the insurer may do. Our guide on when an insurer can refuse to pay explains the consequences, and medical questions for life insurance shows what to expect on a form.

A decline is one insurer's decision, not the market's. Insurers that have signed BIBA's agreement on access to protection insurance commit, when a case came through an intermediary, to send it back with a note that another insurer may be able to offer cover. Our guides to the steps after a decline and how insurers approach medical conditions, part of the health and underwriting guides, go further, and critical illness cover with a pre-existing condition covers that product.

Whenever you feel ready, leave your number on the call-back form; the FCA-authorised broker rings at a time that suits you, at no charge.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get life insurance with sickle cell trait?

You can apply, and the trait is not the disease: the NHS and the Sickle Cell Society both say carriers do not have the illness. On the form, give the term your records use, trait or disease, rather than writing "sickle cell" on its own.

Can children with sickle cell have life insurance?

Our guide to life insurance for children covers how cover for a child works. Whether an insurer would consider a child with sickle cell disease depends on that insurer and the child's health, which a broker can ask about for you on the call-back.

Which insurer is best for people with sickle cell?

None is best for everyone, because each insurer weighs a medical history in its own way. What counts is which insurers would consider your records and on what terms, and a broker can check that across the insurers it deals with.

Is life insurance dearer with sickle cell disease?

Possibly. Aviva's guidance says premiums may be higher with a serious, chronic condition, and any difference depends on the insurer and your records. See what life insurance costs for what moves the price.

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