Usually yes, if you switch on a continued-exclusions basis rather than starting a fresh policy that treats you as a new applicant.

What actually happens

The fear that stops people switching is that a new insurer will exclude everything they have ever been treated for. That happens only if you move as a brand-new applicant on full medical underwriting or a fresh moratorium. The route that avoids it is continued personal medical exclusions, where the new insurer carries across the same exclusions you had on your old policy and nothing more.

On that basis, a condition that was covered before stays covered, and a condition that was excluded before stays excluded — no better, no worse. The new insurer accepts your existing position rather than re-assessing your whole history, which is what keeps continuity intact when you move for a better price or better cover.

The catch is continuity of cover. Switch bases generally require that you move without a gap, straight from one policy to the next, and that you have held cover continuously. Let the old policy lapse first and you may lose the right to carry your exclusions across, which is the one mistake that turns a safe switch into a costly one.

A broker with access to several insurers can tell you which will accept your switch and on what terms, because not every insurer offers it to every applicant. Insurers such as AXA Health, Aviva and Bupa handle switches routinely, but the exact terms turn on your history and the timing of the move.

Questions to put to the insurer or broker

  • Will you accept me on continued personal medical exclusions rather than fresh underwriting?
  • Which of my currently covered conditions stay covered after the switch?
  • Do I need to move with no gap in cover to keep my exclusions as they are?

Related questions

Sources

  • Source: Aviva — Healthier Solutions Terms and conditions (2025-04), read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: AXA Health — Personal Health membership handbook, October 2024, read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: Bupa policy guide — Bupa By You health insurance (BINS 14718) (2024), read 4 September 2026.

What a switch cannot change

Switching insurer or adjusting cover changes the price, not your medical history. A condition you already have stays excluded when you move — carried across as it stands on continued personal medical exclusions, re-declared under full medical underwriting, or parked under a fresh moratorium. Chronic conditions are excluded by every insurer whose wording we hold, and renewal terms change each year, so read the document you are actually offered before you commit.

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