Diabetes and life insurance: what UK insurers actually ask

The single most useful thing to know is that insurers do not treat diabetes as one thing. Type 1 and type 2 are assessed differently, and within each the questions are about control rather than the label: your most recent HbA1c readings, how long since diagnosis, what medication you take, whether you smoke, your BMI, and whether there are any related complications affecting eyes, kidneys, nerves or circulation.

Two applicants with the same diagnosis can therefore receive very different terms. Well-controlled type 2 diabetes with good recent readings and no complications is routinely accepted at or near standard rates by some insurers. Poorly documented control, or complications, will typically attract a loading — a percentage increase on the premium — rather than an outright refusal.

This is also where a decline gets misread. Insurers vary enormously in appetite for diabetes, and comparison engines tend to apply blunt rules. A refusal from one automated journey tells you about that insurer's filter, not about the market. Getting recent readings together before you apply, and having the case placed with an insurer whose underwriting suits your profile, is usually the difference between a decline and a sensible premium.

If you want the detail — how HbA1c is read, what happens to income protection and critical illness cover, and what to do after a decline — we have set it out in our full guide to life insurance and income protection with diabetes.