How to choose the best health insurance
Health insurance can be one of the most important insurance purchases an individual or family makes – the convenience and security health cover provides can be critical.
People buy health insurance for a variety of reasons (see Is Health Insurance Worth Having?) and the private medical insurance market is growing in the UK so new products and health insurance companies are emerging, adding to the bewildering array of options.
You can easily compare prices using a comparison site (Activequote.com is a specialist health and life insurance comparison site) but it pays to understand the details of the companies and policies that those prices represent.
Most of the companies in our top 10 are listed by Activequote and they all score well across a range of criteria. However, to find the best health insurance to suit your needs you need to think about the reasons you want private medical cover and what your budget is.
Some of the top-rated providers may not have hospitals or medical facilities near to your house or they may offer comprehensive policies that are out of your price range.
Health policies can be flexible so tailor the cover to your needs when getting a quote and make sure it is within your budget.
Think about whether you want:
- Access to quicker diagnosis
- Better or more convenient hospitals and treatments
- Cover for specific illnesses or drugs
You can learn more with our guide to what private health insurance costs.
This guide reviews each of the top health insurance policies and companies in the UK, as defined by our top 10 plus the biggest names that didn't make the list.
The different types of Health Insurance in the UK and how much they cost
Health insurance / Private Medical Insurance - In the UK health insurance is also called private medical insurance.
These policies can provide cover for different kinds of medical diagnosis and treatment both in hospital and as an out-patient.
The degree of cover varies depending on the policy and company, but they are typically the most comprehensive type of cover compared with the other options below.
With the rising costs of healthcare, these policies can also be the most expensive – someone in their early thirties might pay £25-£40 per month, while someone in their 40s can easily pay upwards of £40 a month. Prices tend to rise the older the individual is. The level of cover will also influence the price.
Cancer cover - for some individuals private health insurance may be unaffordable, but they may be concerned about suffering an extreme illness such as cancer.
Insurers have created ‘cancer cover’ products - AXA PPP’s example is the Cancer CashCover plan, which pays a lump sum (up to £60,000) if you are diagnosed with cancer.
That money is then yours to spend as you wish – perhaps to help cope with the drop in income or increased expenses that may occur due to your illness. AXA's policy also provides access to dedicated cancer nurses for support and will pay for approved cancer drugs if they are prescribed to you but are not available on the NHS.
The advantage of these policies is that they work out cheaper than private medical cover – a 30-year-old non-smoker can pay from £9.99 per month for the maximum £60,000 cover.
Take care to read the terms and conditions to be sure the definition of 'being diagnosed' with a condition is clear, as this is the main factor in deciding if and when the policy will pay out.
Cash Plans - another type of UK health cover is the Cash Plan. It is intended for the less expensive but regular health costs you might incur – such as paying for opticians, chiropodists and physiotherapists. As a result, it is important to see it separately from health insurance or private medical cover itself.
Many cash plans operate as a percentage cashback scheme, meaning they only pay a percentage (often 50% or 75%) of the costs incurred rather than the full amount.
People have sometimes viewed this as health insurance that pays half the cost, but a critical difference for a cash plan is the amount that you can claim.
Cash plans typically limit you to claiming £50 to £400 a year for each of the categories of treatment, depending on the policy you choose, whereas a full Health Insurance policy may have a higher limit or might not limit payments at all.
As such, cash plan policies are cheaper – MoneySavingExpert.com quoted cover from £14 per month in December 2014. However, it is worth weighing this up versus the fact that cover limits are lower and more notably, major hospital treatments are not covered at all as they would be with a full health insurance policy.
We have also written guides to the best life insurance, income protection insurance and dental cover, in case you are interested in these products.
How much does Private Medical Insurance cost?
The risks of a person needing medical treatment vary depending on their personal circumstance. For example, an older person who has smoked all their life is more likely to require medical treatment than a younger non-smoker.
And if you've quit smoking but you're still vaping, there's a chance your health insurance premiums are higher than someone who doesn't vape. Most health insurance providers treat vapers the same as smokers, because the companies usually ask about nicotine consumption, rather than specifically smoking cigarettes. According to a survey we conducted, 43% of vapers are unaware their insurance premium can be higher from vaping.
Moreover, if you assume a question about smoking only applies to cigarettes and therefore answer incorrectly, you may invalidate your health insurance. It's best to ask your insurer if you're uncertain whether to say you vape or not.
Have a look at our article for more information on vaping and health and life insurance.
We've teamed up with Activequote to get vapers a 10% cashback deal on health insurance. Just join our group to get a quote.
Health insurers take these personal circumstances into account when they calculate your premium and give you a quote for health insurance.
We investigated how health insurance cost can vary in detail in our article what does private health insurance cost?.
You can get online health insurance quotes that allow you to see this working in practice - most health insurers will ask you for your age (or date of birth) plus postcode and maybe a small number of other questions. Combined with the cover you are choosing, this gives you a price.
This means it is hard to give a specific 'cost' of private health insurance as a young person in a cheaper postcode can pay under £20 a month with limited cover, whereas an older person in central London requiring comprehensive cover can easily pay over £100 a month.
You can compare health insurance quotes online for your own circumstances from multiple providers in minutes using Activequote.com, a specialist price comparison site for health insurance. You can even use it to get free professional advice over the phone.
We've also listed how much it would cost to pay for individual private treatments without health insurance.
Private Health Insurance & Pre-existing conditions
As a rule, pre-existing conditions aren’t covered by health insurers. Exactly how these conditions are treated will depend on the terms of the insurer and the underwriting method you choose when taking out your policy.
We've writen an in-depth piece on the options for people with pre-existing medical conditions and we have a group for guide to health insurance for older people.
Each insurer will have a set of conditions that are simply not covered (whether pre-existing or not).
These will typically include chronic conditions (long-term conditions that require ongoing treatment and monitoring) such as diabetes and hypertension, but also include procedures such as cosmetic surgery that are deemed to be ‘not medically necessary’. These exclusions are laid out in the policy documents or T&Cs of each insurer.
When you are getting a quote, you can choose several different underwriting options – if you have any pre-existing conditions that are not on the exclusion list, then these different options will change how the conditions are treated in the future.
The most common are:
- Full Medical Underwriting – with this option, insurers ask for your medical history and go through your circumstances in detail to arrive at a price and their cover terms. You will need to check these terms in detail because for each pre-existing condition they may decide to exclude it completely, exclude it for a specific period of time after which it is then covered (assuming no symptoms in the meantime) or include it.
- Moratorium – with this option, there is no need to submit any medical information or history. The terms typically state that you are not covered for any medical condition that you have had in the last five years and that this remains the case for the first two years of the policy. If you are trouble-free (it’s important to be clear on what each insurer’s definition of ‘trouble-free’ is) of any pre-existing conditions throughout those two years, then you will be covered for all conditions from year three onwards. If you join from another health insurer, the moratorium period may be carried over rather than starting again. It’s worth noting that if you do make a claim, the insurer is likely to ask for information about your medical history at that point to confirm that the claim doesn’t relate to a pre-existing condition.
- Continued Cover – some insurers will accept a continuation of cover – that is copying all the existing exclusions on your current policy from another provider. In this case, there could be some variations in terms so you should check and see that there are no material differences when considering a switch.
The cover you choose depends on a wide range of personal circumstances and the prices offered. Some will see the benefit of going through the longer, more intrusive Full Medical Underwriting process as it gives greater clarity on what will and what will not be covered before you buy.
Others prefer the convenience of the Moratorium process when buying and accept that there’s a possibility that when they make a claim it might be turned down if their medical history shows it was, or is related to, a condition that existed prior to buying the policy.
Note that several insurers only offer Moratorium underwriting when you buy online, as the Full Medical Underwriting process requires in-depth discussion about your medical history and is best done over the phone or through dedicated forms. If you are looking for Full Medical Underwriting, then it is worth calling the insurer to understand the best way to do that.
General and Medical are one health insurer who offer a specific option to cover pre-existing conditions.
For a limited list of conditions (including diabetes and hypertension) it allows you to add £1,000 of cover for that condition in the first year. If you remain claim-free for the year, this rises to £2,000 in the second year. This cycle repeats up to a maximum of £10,000 for the condition after 10 years claim-free.
This option allows people to get at least some cover for conditions that are under control and are unlikely to cause a serious illness, but might need some minor treatment.
You can begin or inform your search with Activequote.com - its comparison service allows you to select the features you are interested in when comparing policies (including policies from General and Medical), making it easier and clearer to see what you are getting for your money.
Can I get Dental Health Insurance and what’s covered?
Dental issues are often excluded from UK Health Insurance policies. However, there are some exceptions and some ways that dental cover can be included, depending on the provider and the dental work in question.
If dental cover is important, it's worth comparing policies.
For example, Bupa does not offer any dental cover with its health insurance policy, instead, it has a separate dental product that can be bought independently of health cover.
Vitality and Aviva cover ‘oral surgery’ – this tends to mean you are covered for more extensive procedures – these are typically those for which your dentist has referred you to hospital or those that are reconstructive in nature following an accident. However, you would not be covered for treatments that your dentist carries out.
Routine treatment can be covered as an add-on. An Aviva add-on can cover up to £300 of treatment per year (with a £50 excess).
Similarly, Vitality provides two levels of cover as add-ons; one for major dental work (like root canals) and one for major and routine treatments (like check-ups and polishing). Finally, AXA offers an add-on that pays 80% cashback on dental treatments up to £300 per year.
These are only examples of the policies available – always ensure you check the terms and conditions of your policy to be sure you understand the cover you are buying. To help, you can compare the levels of dental cover for different policies using Activequote.com.
Read our guide to the best dental insurance policies.
Can I get Expat Health Insurance or International Health Insurance?
On a standard health insurance policy, most UK companies will not cover any treatment costs that are incurred outside the UK. Therefore, regular travellers, expatriates or those heading abroad for extended periods may need to look for alternative options.
You can get specialist advice and quotes for international health insurance from ActiveQuote.
If you're looking for standard travel insurance that covers medical conditions it may be worth visiting our group for travel insurance for cancer patients.
Bupa does not offer any cover whereas AXA and Vitality allow you to select an option that bolts on cover similar to travel insurance.
It is worth comparing the cost of this against separate travel cover, as in the case of AXA the policy only provides for medical expenses but does not cover baggage or cancellation as is usually the case for travel policies.
If you want to compare policies that do or can include travel insurance, you can do so by using Activequote.com.
Finally, Aviva will cover emergency treatments abroad for acute conditions. A policyholder is covered abroad for up to 90 days in a policy year (note that breaching this limit voids your cover – i.e. if you abroad for 91 days, then you would not be covered for any days at all, rather than just having 1 day uncovered).
However, International Health Insurance policies do exist.
International Health Insurance is aimed at non-UK residents – that might be people relocating for work – and usually requires you to specify the region(s) you want to be covered in, what medical situations you want covered and what excess you are happy with. Both Bupa and AXA provide this cover, as well as lesser-known providers such as Freedom Health Insurance.
Health Insurance during Pregnancy
There are differing wordings regarding pregnancy in health insurance. Pregnancy is generally viewed as ‘not an illness’, which, while technically correct, is not reassuring for expecting mothers and fathers.
The health insurance policy documents can be vague or confusing in relation to pregnancy, describing that ‘routine’ pregnancy is not covered. However, insurers make various statements regarding pregnancy complications, indicating that some events would be covered.
Bupa’s online support staff indicate that conditions threatening the life of the mother would be likely to be covered, although their policy summary document describes that they do not routinely cover pregnancy.
AXA goes a step further and while similarly ruling out cover for ‘routine’ pregnancy, it may cover medical conditions developed during pregnancy. It also provides a list of conditions that would be covered in its policy documents, including costs for treating ectopic pregnancies, retained placentas and miscarriages requiring immediate surgical treatment.
Aviva has a similar system to AXA, whereas Vitality leave the terms somewhat less clear, saying that it ‘may’ cover ‘some’ related conditions, so it is best to discuss it with the company if you are considering a policy and are concerned about the pregnancy cover.
Freedom Health Insurance offers cover for pregnancy complications in its add-on ‘Executive benefits’ package. It also pays a pregnancy and maternity benefit.
These, and other features, can be compared across providers and policy levels using Activequote.com.
For more information, read our in-depth article on pregnancy and health insurance.