A pre-existing condition is any health issue or illness you had before starting your new health insurance plan. This includes conditions you’ve already been treated for or have been diagnosed with before your new coverage starts.

Waiting periods will not apply for any pre-existing conditions if you’ve maintained continuous insurance cover for 5 years without a break of more than 13 weeks.

If you have not yet had 5 years continuous cover, any time built up to date will transfer to laya when you join, and you can serve the remainder of your waiting period with us. For example, if you have had health insurance for 4 years, switching to laya means you only need to wait 1 more year to complete the 5-year waiting period for coverage of all pre-existing medical conditions.

If your new health insurance plan has a higher level of benefits than your previous plan, you'll be covered straight away at the higher level for new health conditions. But, like all health insurance in Ireland, there is a 2-year waiting period before you have access to these higher levels of benefits for any pre-existing conditions.

If your new health insurance plan has a lower level of benefits than your previous plan, you’ll be covered straight away at the lower level of cover of your new plan.