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.

Private health insurance company, Freedom Healthnet Ltd, is delighted to announce its move to larger offices within the prestigious commercial development of Bourne Gate in Poole. Nestled with the DVLA, Virgin Media and other quality businesses, the growth into new offices demonstrate how successful the Freedom health insurance policies are with both corporates and individuals.

The Freedom Medical Insurance Policies were introduced 4 years ago as the company identified a significant gap in the market. There were either hospital plans - which paid out a fixed amount per day when you had to spend time in a hospital - or there was medical insurance which tied you to a hospital, such as BUPA or BMI. Freedom Medical Cover offered something completely different. Upon approval of an inpatient claim, the health policies would pay out cash, directly into the bank accounts of the claimant, before the treatment took place. This would then enable the patient to do one of 3 things:

1. pay for their treatment in the private hospital of their choice


2. wait for treatment on the NHS and keep the money


3. find a quality hospital abroad and get treatment there.

All of these options gave the possibility of excess cash for the customer to keep - perhaps to pay towards a holiday to help recovery or to support time off work, for instance.

Many people do not realise that operation costs can vary substantially from one private hospital to the next. The Freedom health policy allows the client to shop around and find the best deal OR they can use the money towards getting the best consultant in the country (or in Europe, or in the US) and paying the difference themselves. The whole purpose of medical insurance from Freedom was to give the policyholder choice.

Freedom's employee medical insurance has been increasingly taken up by companies wanting to reduce the amount of time their workers have off sick and also to offer them an extra incentive to stay at the company.

The expansion of the health insurance provider into its new offices is indicative of the unique offering and quality service that Freedom Healthnet provides to its clients.