How to Switch Private Health Insurance Without Losing Cover

Loyalty rarely pays in private health insurance — renewals climb and better options appear. But switching isn’t like moving car insurance: get it wrong and you could lose cover for a condition you’ve already claimed for. Done right, it’s straightforward and can save you a lot.

The one thing that matters most: your existing conditions

If you switch on standard new-customer terms, anything you’ve been treated for could become a fresh exclusion. The way to avoid that is to switch on a continued personal medical exclusions (CPME) basis — your current terms carry across to the new insurer, and no new exclusions are added.

How to switch safely, step by step

• Benchmark first — compare your current cover and price against the whole market before you do anything.
• Switch on CPME — ask specifically to move on continued personal medical exclusions so you keep cover for existing conditions.
• Line up the dates — never cancel your old policy until the new one is confirmed and live, so there’s no gap.
• Check the hospitals — make sure the new plan still covers the hospitals and consultants you care about.

When switching is worth it

A steep renewal, a change in your circumstances, or simply finding better cover for the money are all good reasons. Sometimes the best result is staying put on renegotiated terms — a comparison tells you either way.

Switching well isn’t about chasing the cheapest quote — it’s about keeping the cover you’ve built up while paying a fair price for it.

We’ll handle the tricky bit

We compare the whole market, make sure any switch is done on the right basis so you don’t lose cover, and handle the paperwork with the insurer. Free, impartial, and no obligation — just ask us to review your policy.