Whether income protection covers a pre-existing condition is not settled by one blanket rule. With the insurers quoted below, the application settles it: your answers to the health questions lead to standard terms, to changed terms such as an exclusion or an extra premium, or to no offer, and the policy papers then say what a claim can be refused for. Ahead of applying, an FCA-authorised broker can phone to go through your own history if you leave your details in the no-cost form on this page.

Each document is dated by its print code in the Sources list; insurers revise their wording, so the current version is the one to check.

How does an insurer turn your health history into terms?

Legal & General's underwriting leaflet (W10188, September 2025; it covers life, critical illness and income protection) sets out a range of results. At one end, if it decides there is no extra risk, you are offered the cover you applied for. At the other, it declines where the risk is too high and likely to remain so, a decision usually reserved for current or recent, serious medical conditions, though other risk factors can lead to it. Between the two sit an increased premium, an exclusion, changed benefits (for income protection, a longer deferment period) and postponement: after a recent serious medical event, during medical investigations or while you wait for an operation, it may hold off and tell you when a new application can be considered. Back and joint problems, anxiety and depression are its examples of conditions that weigh in applications for disability cover.

Other insurers use their own words for the same fork between the terms first quoted and anything different.

Insurer and documentHow it describes standard and non-standard terms
Aviva, AL19002 (October 2024)Standard terms are the premium and benefits quoted before underwriting. If it can only offer "a higher premium than first quoted, or with certain benefits excluded, or both, this would not be standard terms".
Royal London, PCP8P10012/13 (July 2026; available through advisers)"Your cover is on standard terms unless we’ve charged an extra premium or applied an exclusion to your cover."
Scottish Widows, 61218 (September 2025)Your answers can lead it to add exclusions and change the premium shown on your personal quote summary.
Zurich, PWL850001003 (April 2026; sold through advisers)Any additional specific exclusions are shown on a document it calls the Confirmation of terms.

The result for one person's history comes from an underwriter reading their answers and any medical reports. What that involves is set out in the medical assessment and how to apply.

How far can an exclusion reach?

Scottish Widows says an exclusion on the main cover means "we won’t pay a claim for that illness or any incapacity you suffer because of that sport or activity", and that it "will also apply to Hospitalisation Cover". Zurich's conditions list among reasons for refusing a claim that "the cause of the claim arises from the circumstances detailed in any specific exclusions listed in your ‘Confirmation of terms’", and its glossary describes an exclusion as applying "where you suffer from certain specified illnesses, disabilities or medical conditions". Royal London defines an exclusion as a reason, shown on your cover summary, for which it won't pay a claim, and Aviva's summary says it might exclude a medical condition you have or an activity you do.

Legal & General expects exclusions to apply to past medical conditions that may return. How widely any exclusion you are offered is drawn is written in your own papers, and is worth reading closely before you accept.

One clause works differently. Zurich's Trauma Benefit, a lump sum for listed conditions, is included only in its Enhanced policies, and among the cases where Zurich will not pay that benefit is where "your symptoms were present before you took out Zurich Income Protection Enhanced". The clause belongs to the Trauma Benefit alone, and Zurich lists it separately from the other bar on that benefit: an exclusion for the condition shown on your Confirmation of terms.

What else changes when the terms are not standard?

Legal & General says an increased premium can mean it cannot offer optional benefits such as increasing your cover or Waiver of Premium, and adds "We also remove Waiver of Premium whenever we apply an increased premium or offer you cover with an exclusion." What waiver of premium is explains that feature.

Aviva's life change benefit, which adds cover without further health questions, "will only be included if we accepted your policy on standard terms". Royal London likewise withholds its cover increase options where "we didn’t accept your cover on standard terms – so if we had to charge you a higher premium, or if we had to apply some exclusions".

Some terms can be looked at again. Royal London's lifestyle flexibility option lets you ask for a review if it accepted your cover on non-standard terms or charged smoker rates, or if your lifestyle has changed in a way you think makes a claim less likely (its examples include losing weight and keeping it off, and stopping smoking). A review "can also apply an exclusion as well as removing one". Zurich's key features say premiums may change "if we receive additional information regarding your application details and your terms are changed because of this".

How much an extra premium would add depends on your history and the insurer, so no figure is given here. Whether your history is likely to bring an exclusion or a changed premium with the insurers a broker can approach is worth putting to a broker (FCA-authorised), and they can take it up at no charge once you send the form, though nobody can promise the outcome.

What do the papers say about the gap between applying and starting?

Legal & General's leaflet says you must report any change to your application information before the policy starts, and Aviva's summary asks for changes in your health or medical history before it confirms a start date or declines or defers the application. Scottish Widows and Zurich make the same point about changes before terms are agreed or cover begins.

What follows from a wrong or missing answer?

Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 the duty is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation; how an insurer may respond when that duty is broken is set out in when a life insurer can refuse to pay.

Legal & General's income protection terms (QGI12745, April 2025; adviser section of its site) show how that works on this kind of policy. Wrong information given "deliberately or recklessly" lets it cancel. For carelessness it uses "the terms that would have been in place if we had the full and true information", and where that means higher premiums, "we’ll lower your monthly benefit". Zurich's terms (PWL850002003) ask for answers "to the best of your knowledge", say an answer given in an earlier application "must be given again", and warn that "the policy may be cancelled, its terms may be changed, or a claim may be rejected or not fully paid".

Checks can continue once cover has started. Zurich may use your permission to read medical records for up to six months after the policy starts; if that changes the terms it issues a new Confirmation of terms, which you have 30 days to accept. Royal London can change or cancel cover where an answer is inaccurate or misleading and affects its decision, or if the person covered withholds consent for it to ask their doctors for medical information in the first six months of cover. Aviva says untrue or incomplete information may mean it cannot pay a claim.

So two things are tested separately: what the papers exclude, set when you apply, and whether the application was accurate, which can be examined if you claim.

What can you ask before you apply?

  • How is any exclusion worded, and does it reach beyond the condition itself?
  • Would an extra premium, a longer wait or the loss of waiver of premium come with it?
  • Can the terms be reviewed later, and on what evidence?
  • How far back do the questions go, and what counts as a symptom?

Cancer, diabetes and mental health each have a page: income protection after cancer, income protection for diabetes and income protection and stress. Life cover works differently, as life insurance with medical conditions explains, and comparing income protection plans sets the wordings side by side. The wider picture is in critical illness and income.

Should you want those questions put to insurers on your behalf, add your number to the short form and a broker will call you, without charge.

Frequently asked questions

Does group income protection cover pre-existing conditions?

Everything quoted above comes from policies people buy for themselves. An employer's group scheme is written separately, so its own policy document, available from the scheme administrator or HR, is where any rule about conditions you had before joining would be.

Does income protection cover rheumatoid arthritis?

How rheumatoid arthritis is treated varies with the insurer and with your own history, which makes it a fair thing to raise on the free call-back you can request above. Legal & General's leaflet speaks only in general terms, listing back and joint problems among conditions that are significant when applying for disability cover.

What if I did not know about a condition when I applied?

Zurich asks for answers "to the best of your knowledge", and the 2012 Act asks for reasonable care. Whether a particular answer met that is judged on the facts.

Can an exclusion be removed later?

Royal London's lifestyle flexibility option lets you ask for a review of non-standard terms, and a review can add an exclusion as well as remove one. Ask any insurer whether, and on what evidence, its terms can be reviewed.

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