What happens when you have had a serious medical condition? What happens if you have suffered from a condition for years? Or several years ago? Can you get private health insurance? These are questions that are frequently asked of health insurance companies. The simple answer is 'yes', but with conditions.

If you have a history of a serious illness then there is the possibility of a recurrence of this condition. It is probably that private medical insurance companies will not insure you against this particular condition but it is likely that they will still provide health insurance for you. How can they do this?

There are two main types of underwriting for a Freedom Health Insurance Policy:

Moratorium: this is cover for the cost of treatment of acute conditions (disease, illness or injuries that are likely to respons quickly to treatment) which arise after the start of the policy. A Moratorium policy excludes any conditions for which medication has been received, advise or treatment given or any symptons experienced whether the condition has been diagnosed or not in the five years before the start of the cover. These are known a 'pre-existing conditions'. Related conditions will also not be covered. However, if the policy holder has not had any symptoms, treatment, medication or advice for a pre-existing condition or any related condition for a continuous period of two years after the start date of your policy for a particular condition, the condition will become eligible for cover under the start of your Freedom Healthnet Insurance Policy.

Full Medical Underwriting: this is the assessment of the health risk based upon the detailed medical history questionnaire from which the terms and conditions of our acceptance of the application are decided and applied to the Policy at the commencement date. It clearly states what would not be covered in the event of a claim.

Should you tell your medical insurance company about any prior treatment or conditions? If you would like to be fully informed about what medical treatment you would be entitled to and what you would not be covered for, then yes. If you take out a Moratorium policy, you do not need to disclose prior conditions but in the event of a claim you should be aware that only 'new conditions' would be covered and not those connected with a prior condition (see above).

Should you still get cover for private medical insurance if you have had a chronic illness or pre-existing condition? We believe, yes. For conditions such as asthma and diabetes, the NHS is designed to provide good care and treatment. Your private health insurance would still cover you for conditions not related to your pre-existing condition and so you could take advantage of the speed, ease and efficiency of private health treatment in the event of illness or injury.

Want to understand the insurance words and phrases? Get full definitions and understand insurance language from our glossary of medical insurance terms.