Applying for Life Insurance with a History of Illness

While life insurance is a must-have for all Indian residents, the process of filling in a life insurance application can often seem like an invasive procedure. Details about one’s life that are intensely private – medical histories of you and your family – come to public light. Moreover, life insurance premiums are dependent on riders such as health and lifestyle.

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There is a reason for this of course. A life insurance policy, at the end of the day is an investment, and insurers need to assess the viability and risk of signing off on high-payout policies. So what does this mean for individuals who have a history of long-term illnesses or pre-existing medical conditions?

What is a Pre-existing Medical Condition?

As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s 2013 guidelines, all Indian health insurance providers have to follow a common set of definitions relating to health insurance terminology. According to them a pre-existing medical condition is an injury or a related condition for which symptoms have been present for some time and for which medical advice, treatment or diagnosis was sought 48 months prior to the issuance of the first policy.

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Significance of Pre-existing Medical Conditions

Pre-existing medical conditions have a significant impact on the application of a life insurance policy. It is required that a full disclosure be made regarding an individual’s medical history at the time of the application. Quite obviously, the presence of pervasive health conditions will drive up insurance premium. This is a catch-22 situation where being upfront will result in a more expensive policy for the person looking to get insured. However, holding back or suppressing facts is simply not an option, because if the facts do not match with the information provided during the time of application, it could result in a complete rejection of the claim later on due to non-disclosure of material facts.

Therefore when filling out a life insurance proposal, t is critical to gain a thorough understanding of the terms and conditions with respect to a person’s existing health scenario. It is also important to look at how this will affect coverage of the policy and any related riders.

The following factors should be kept in mind when someone with a prior medical history applies for a life insurance policy:

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Buy life insurance as early as possible. Good health is not a given - deteriorating health will lead to expensive premiums
Full disclosure of all pre-existing condition in the proposal form is not an option. Do not conceal any material facts. In fact if the policy mandates a full health check up, it is advisable to undertake it. If cost becomes a deterrent it should be borne in mind that polices that do not require a health check up will charge higher premiums in any case.

Alternative Models: Life + Health Insurance

In this day and age, long standing health conditions are becoming the norm. Increasingly, younger demographics and age brackets are seeking medical attention for wide ranging medical reasons that could vary from diabetes to special needs. As a result this has led to an exponential increase in the demand for adequate health insurance in recent times.

Consequently, life insurance providers are finding more and more that critical care and medical insurance can bolster and complement the offerings of a life insurance policy. The trends have revealed that the Indian insurance market is gravitating towards the global model where life and health insurance are available as one holistic platform and providers have been responsive as well. For instance, LIC has diversified into providing health insurance coverage, Edelweiss launched its Criticare + plan, and so on.

This is beneficial to those who would previously have their existing medical conditions covered by provisional riders in their life insurance policy. Because if their health conditions deem their premium more expensive, at least a comprehensive health insurance package will provide relief in times of medical need.

You may like to read : Life Insurance Myths And Facts You Need To Know

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Author's Bio

Varun Agarwal IRDAI Certified Term Insurance Expert with 10+ Years of Experience

Varun has spent years in the insurance space, but what drives him isn't policies or premiums — it's the conversations he's had with real people. A young father in Pune wondering if his salary is enough. A newly married couple in Jaipur putting off "the insurance talk" for later. A mother in Chennai who never knew her husband was underinsured until it was too late.
These stories stay with him. As Head of Term Insurance at Policybazaar, Varun knows the numbers well — 52.4% of Indians are aware of term insurance, yet only 9.6% own it. And 87% of families don't realise they're leaving their loved ones with far less protection than they actually need. But behind every statistic, he sees a family that just needed someone to sit with them, explain it simply, and help them take that one step. That's exactly what Policybazaar's term insurance is built to do. In his words, "Most people aren't avoiding protection — they're just waiting for someone to make it easy. That's what we're here for."

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˜The insurers/plans mentioned are arranged in order of highest to lowest Sum Assured(SA) offered by Policybazaar’s insurer partners offering term insurance plans on our platform, as per ‘first year premium of life insurers as at 31.03.2025 report’ published by IRDAI.

Policybazaar does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by any insurer. For complete list of insurers in India refer to the IRDAI website www.irdai.gov.in

Rs. 400/month is starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age, rounded off to nearest 10.

Rs. 400/month (Rs.13/day) is starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 230 is starting price for a 50 lakhs term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age, rounded off to nearest 10.

+Rs. 8/day is starting price for a 50 lakhs term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age, rounded off to nearest 10.

+Rs. 12/day is starting price for a 75 lakhs term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age, rounded off to nearest 10.

+Rs. 497/month is starting price for a 1.5 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 487/month is starting price for a 2 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 626/month is starting price for a 3 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 905/month is starting price for a 5 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. ₹361/month is the starting price for a ₹1 crore loan cover with an 8% interest rate for an 18-year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, loan tenure up to 20 years, rounded off to the nearest 10

+Rs. 1,267/month is starting price for a 7 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

*The full refund of premium is available on availing the one-time option of refund of premium. Total premium paid for policy (paid for add-ons) will be the special exit value, payable on availing the one-time option of refund of premium if you wish to completely exit the policy.

+Rs. 447/month is starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an (NRI) 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs.679/month is starting price for a 2 crore term life insurance for an (NRI) 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 910/month is starting price for a 3 crore term life insurance for an (NRI) 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 1,374/month is starting price for a 5 crore term life insurance for an (NRI) 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

+Rs. 1,924month is starting price for a 7 crore term life insurance for an (NRI) 18 year-old male, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age.

Women

+Rs. 400/month is Starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an 18 year-old Female, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 30 years of age, rounded off to nearest 10.

Rs. 461/month is the starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an 24 year-old female, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 54 years of age.

1,642/month is the starting price for a 1 crore term life insurance for an 44 year-old female, non-smoker, with no pre-existing diseases, cover upto 74 years of age.

Prices offered by the insurer are as per the approved insurance plans | #All savings and online discounts are provided by insurers as per IRDAI approved insurance plans | Standard Terms and Conditions Apply | **Tax Benefits are subject to changes in tax laws.| Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private Limited

We will respond in the first instance within 30 minutes of the customers contacting us. 30-minute claim support service is for the purpose of giving reasonable assistance to the policyholder in pursuance of the claim. Settlement of claim (including cashless claim) is the responsibility of the insurer as per policy terms and conditions. The 30-minute claim support is subject to our operations not being impacted by a system failure or force majeure event or for reasons beyond our control. For further details, 24x7 Claims Support Helpline can be reached out at 1800-258-5881

For more details on risk factors, terms and conditions, please read the sales brochure carefully before concluding a sale

Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private Limited | CIN: U74999HR2014PTC053454 | Registered Office - Plot No.119, Sector - 44, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122001 | Registration No. 742, Valid till 09/06/2027, License category- Composite Broker Visitors are hereby informed that their information submitted on the website may be shared with insurers. Product information is authentic and solely based on the information received from the insurers.

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