You can apply for life insurance with HIV in the UK, and the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) says access has improved in recent years as many insurers have come to recognise that many people living with HIV have a normal life expectancy. What any one insurer offers, and at what price, turns on your own health and treatment, so two applications can end quite differently.

If you would like your own situation looked at, filling in a few lines on this page's form prompts an FCA-authorised broker to telephone you, at no charge, and discuss which insurers may consider you.

What have insurers said about HIV?

The industry's starting point is the ABI's Guiding Principles for HIV and Life Insurance (July 2016). They record that when insurers reviewed the old industry statement in 2015, "It was unanimously agreed that HIV is now treated by insurers like any other pre-existing medical condition." The principles are voluntary, ask insurers to look at each application on its own evidence, and date from 2016, so read them as background rather than as any insurer's terms today.

Few insurers publish their own HIV rules for the public. Legal & General's underwriting guidance for financial advisers (undated, read October 2026) says it still follows those 2016 principles, and sets out its position: "Customers with late stage HIV are currently declined by Legal & General. However, we will consider offering cover to customers who tell us that they are HIV positive (on interactive applications only)". Applications made any other way are declined at the point of sale. That is one insurer's guidance written for advisers, not a rule for the market.

Diagnosed after your policy started?

The ABI's consumer guide on HIV and life insurance (June 2016) was written after research found that many people cancelled their cover as soon as they were diagnosed. It said your insurer "does not need to know about any medical conditions you are diagnosed with, including HIV, after purchasing your policy", and that cover through an employer's group life scheme carried on without your employer needing to be told. Those are 2016 statements; your own policy wording is what counts, so read it, or ask your insurer, before cancelling anything. Our guide to group life assurance explains how workplace cover works.

Will the insurer ask for an HIV test?

It may. Legal & General's consumer page on pre-existing conditions (read October 2026) says "HIV tests are commonplace, especially for higher cover amounts". THT's page on healthcare and insurance (content reviewed April 2025) says industry guidelines allow insurers to ask about your HIV status, about any sexually transmitted infection in the last five years, about living or travelling abroad, about blood transfusions or surgery abroad, and about injecting drugs. It adds that insurers will ask both you and your GP about your HIV status, so expect the surgery to be contacted.

Someone who already knows they are positive and says so on the application was told by the ABI's 2016 guide that they "will not need to take an HIV test". A negative test in the past is a different matter: Legal & General's adviser guidance says its form asks whether a customer has ever tested positive or has a result outstanding, and does not ask about negative tests. Our guide to medical questions for life insurance shows what the questions look like.

Before you apply, a broker can weigh those questions against your own history; requesting that call through this page costs you nothing.

Treatment, viral load and CD4 count

The ABI's 2016 guide put the reason for the questions plainly: insurers want to know "if you have responded well to HIV treatment or have medical complications because of HIV" before deciding whether to offer cover and at what premium. The National AIDS Trust (NAT) found in its July 2017 report that some people living with HIV were ineligible for products because they did not meet requirements for CD4 count and viral load.

Which results a given insurer looks for now, and how your own would be read, are questions a broker can take you through when they ring back, free of charge.

Critical illness cover alongside life cover

NAT's 2017 report described critical illness cover as, at that time, "almost entirely unavailable to anyone living with HIV". That describes 2017, not today's market, and whether an insurer would add critical illness cover to a life policy for you depends on the insurer and your health. Our guide to critical illness cover with a pre-existing condition explains how the product treats earlier diagnoses.

If an insurer says no or quotes a high price

One insurer's answer is not every insurer's: the ABI's 2016 guide noted that policy and price differ between insurers. Our guides to options after a declined application and to how insurers handle health conditions go through the next steps, and what underwriting means explains how a decision is reached.

For support with living with HIV, THT Direct is on 0808 802 1221 for support, advice and information. If you have been treated unfairly because of your HIV status, the National AIDS Trust says: "We offer free and confidential legal advice to people who have experienced discrimination because of their HIV status."

Answering the health questions honestly

The law sets the standard here: you must take reasonable care over your answers to an insurer's questions, a duty that comes from the 2012 Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act. If an answer later proves wrong, section 5 sorts it into one of two kinds: deliberate or reckless, where you knew it was untrue or misleading or did not care, and careless, which covers everything else. How an insurer can respond depends on which kind it was.

For HIV in particular, the ABI's 2016 guide warned that leaving out a diagnosis you know about "is likely to mean your policy will be invalid". Our guide to disclosure requirements covers the rules in more detail, and the health and underwriting hub has more on applying with a condition.

Whenever it suits you, an FCA-authorised broker contacted through this page's form can explain without charge how the insurers it deals with approach HIV for someone in your position.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get whole life insurance with HIV?

NAT's 2017 report said whole-of-life cover was then available to people with HIV only over the age of 50, through over-50s plans that are not medically underwritten and that carry restrictions underwritten policies do not. Whether an insurer would now offer you underwritten whole of life cover depends on the insurer, and a broker can check that for you on the call-back. See life insurance over 50 and whole of life insurance.

Which is the best life insurance for someone who is HIV positive?

No single policy suits everyone, because insurers differ in what they offer and what they charge. What matters is which insurers would consider your results and history, and on what terms.

Is life cover more expensive with HIV?

It can be. The ABI's 2016 guide said that, as with many pre-existing conditions, people with HIV may not be eligible for some products and may have to pay higher premiums. Any price depends on the insurer and on your own health.

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