Life insurance with rheumatoid arthritis is something Legal & General's consumer guide on arthritis (9 February 2026) speaks to directly: "simply having arthritis should not prevent you from getting a life insurance policy", and the insurer's own cost of cover "isn't usually higher for someone with arthritis unless the condition is severe". That is one insurer speaking about its own policies; other insurers, and other kinds of arthritis such as psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis and gout, are taken up below.

How an application goes turns on your diagnosis, your treatment and what the condition does to your days, and only you hold that detail. If you would like to go through it with someone, the free enquiry form here leads to a call from an FCA-authorised broker.

Does life insurance pay out for arthritis?

Not for the condition itself. Legal & General's guide describes its policy as "designed to pay out upon the death of the insured person, rather than when the person develops a condition, such as arthritis". Life cover and critical illness cover are different products with different triggers, and whether critical illness cover pays for arthritis has its own page.

Is it rheumatoid, psoriatic, osteoarthritis or gout?

The names matter because the NHS describes them as separate conditions. It calls rheumatoid arthritis a long-term autoimmune disease causing pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. Psoriatic arthritis brings similar joint symptoms and develops in some people who have the skin condition psoriasis. Osteoarthritis is the commonest type of arthritis in the UK, and gout brings sudden, severe pain in a joint.

The two application forms read for this guide, both adviser literature, put these under a single question rather than one each. Royal London's adviser tool, for its part, names osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis as the commonest types and lists gout, Reiter's syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriasis among other causes. Use the name your doctor gave you, and if the diagnosis has been revised over time, give each name with its date. Lupus and other autoimmune conditions are covered in life insurance with lupus.

What do the joint questions on an application ask?

Neither form here speaks for every insurer or for a direct application. Legal & General's (W13430 03/26) is for cover a business takes out. Looking back five years, it asks whether you have been in contact with a doctor, nurse or other health professional for "any type of arthritis, neck, back, spine or joint trouble, for example rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica?". A yes leads to a medical questionnaire: how long ago the condition first occurred, how often symptoms come, how much time off normal work or daily activities you have had, and whether you are receiving treatment now.

Royal London's Personal Menu Plan form (July 2025, P1A0023/24) is for personal cover and reaches further: "Any form of joint pain, arthritis or neck, back, spine, or muscle pain or stiffness?" The examples beneath it include joint pain, stiffness or surgery in the knees, shoulders, hips, ankles, wrists or hands, arthritis of every form, and gout. Stiffness with no diagnosis sits inside that wording, so read the question itself before answering.

A follow-up section asks whether symptoms restrict you, what investigations have been done, and which description of severity fits, on a scale running from "Ongoing condition with no restrictions in daily activities or mobility" to "Daily activities or tasks significantly or regularly restricted". The same insurer's adviser tool lists what helps an arthritis application: the type and the joints affected, how severe the symptoms are and how far they limit what you can do, any complications, investigations, treatment and time off work.

Placing your own good and bad weeks on a scale like that is not always easy. A broker can talk it through with you before anything is sent, and the enquiry form here starts that conversation.

How do methotrexate and biologic drugs show up?

On the NHS's account, methotrexate is usually the first medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, often alongside another DMARD and a short course of steroids, and it brings regular blood tests because it can affect blood cells and the liver. Biological medicines are injected and are "usually only used if DMARDs have not been effective on their own"; for psoriatic arthritis, too, they can be used if DMARDs do not help. Some people try 2 or 3 types of DMARD before finding one that suits them.

Applications want that history set out. L&G's page for applicants with existing medical conditions, dated 16 March 2026, includes each medicine and its start date in the information an applicant may be asked for, while the Royal London form wants to know what has been prescribed, whether you still take it and what investigations have been carried out. What a particular history means for the terms is a question for the insurer, or for a broker to put to several.

What else does the NHS link to rheumatoid arthritis?

The NHS notes that rheumatoid arthritis can inflame other parts of the body, including the lungs, heart and eyes, and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke; keeping it well controlled can help lower that risk.

On both forms read here, the heart and the lungs have questions of their own, so appointments about either are answered there as well as under the joint question; life insurance with COPD and after a stroke show what those sections can involve. A GP report covers the same ground: Royal London's form says the report your doctor fills in asks about past musculoskeletal disease, with arthritis and rheumatism given as examples.

Why do honest answers matter?

Legal & General's arthritis guide says it is important to answer the questions "truthfully and accurately", health history and current medical issues included. Underneath sits a statute, the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012: under it you owe the insurer reasonable care that nothing you tell it is a misrepresentation. What you must disclose explains the duty, and the consequences of a wrong answer at claim time are dealt with in can a life insurance company refuse to pay.

Your GP may be asked for a report too. L&G can obtain your medical records only with your consent, and its pre-existing conditions page says that when it asks for a medical report you are told, and have 21 days to arrange to see your doctor and go through the report first, if you wish.

Where can an application end up?

Royal London's form names three possible results of the health information you and your doctor provide: premiums at standard rates, premiums above standard rates, or no cover at all. Aviva's high-risk life insurance guide, published 6 May 2026, ties the decision to things like medical history, test results and how well a condition is controlled, adding that good management or full recovery can mean you are not treated as higher risk. With L&G's line on severity, these are three insurers describing their own approach, not a forecast for your application.

A refusal from one insurer is that insurer's view. A broker can put the same history to several insurers and see how each would handle it, though nobody can promise an offer; sending the free form here is how to ask for that. What to do if you are declined sets out other routes, and life insurance with medical conditions covers applying with any health condition. Income protection has health questions of its own, explained in income protection and pre-existing conditions, one of the guides gathered under health and underwriting.

Which arthritis charities run helplines?

Arthritis UK, the charity previously called Versus Arthritis, runs a helpline on 0800 5200 520, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. It says calls are free from within the UK and that it can help with more than 200 conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and gout among them; its advisors are not medically trained and would refer medical questions to your consultant or GP. For rheumatoid arthritis in particular, the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) has a freephone helpline on 0800 298 7650, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm, whose staff are likewise not medically trained and so cannot give specific medical advice.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get life insurance with gout?

Gout is named on both forms read here, within Legal & General's arthritis question and as its own item on Royal London's list, and the same insurer's adviser tool asks for the joints affected, how often attacks come, how severe and how long they are, and the date of the last one.

Can you get life insurance with psoriatic arthritis?

It goes under the same joint question as other arthritis on both forms, and the medication questions above apply in the same way. Whether an insurer offers cover, and on what terms, is decided on your answers.

Does osteoarthritis have to go on the application?

Both form questions quoted above take in arthritis of any type, and Royal London's covers joint pain and stiffness too, so osteoarthritis falls within their wording. Each form sets its own time window, such as Legal & General's five years, so follow the one in front of you and ask the insurer or a broker if a question is unclear.

When you are ready, the short enquiry form here asks a broker to phone you, free of charge, to talk your answers through.

Sources

  • NHS, Rheumatoid arthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis: treatment (pages last reviewed 8 March 2023; next review was due 8 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
  • NHS, Psoriatic arthritis (last reviewed 6 September 2023; next review was due 6 September 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
  • NHS, Osteoarthritis (last reviewed 20 March 2023; next review was due 20 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
  • NHS, Gout (last reviewed 24 August 2023; next review was due 24 August 2026), read 20 October 2026. nhs.uk
  • Legal & General, Arthritis and Life Insurance (9 February 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Life insurance with pre-existing medical conditions (16 March 2026), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Legal & General, Business Protection application form (W13430 03/26; adviser literature, business protection only), read 20 October 2026. legalandgeneral.com
  • Royal London, Personal Menu Plan application form (July 2025, P1A0023/24; adviser literature), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • Royal London, Medical conditions tool (adviser site, for financial advisers only; undated page), read 20 October 2026. adviser.royallondon.com
  • Aviva, High risk life insurance (6 May 2026), read 20 October 2026. aviva.co.uk
  • Arthritis UK (formerly Versus Arthritis), Arthritis UK helpline, read 20 October 2026. arthritis-uk.org
  • NRAS, Contact the NRAS Helpline, read 20 October 2026. nras.org.uk
  • Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2, read 20 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk