Best private health insurance 2024 - Which? (2024)

By clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. If you make a purchase, Which? will receive an affiliate commission, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.

Find out how health insurance works, what medical treatment is covered and thebest insurers rated by thousands of real customers

DS

Dean SobersSenior researcher & writer

Best private health insurance 2024 - Which? (1)

In this article

  • What is private health insurance?
  • Best private health insurers
  • Health insurer reviews
  • How much does private health cover cost?
  • Is private health insurance worth it?
  • More on private health insurance
  • How we analyse private health insurance

What is private health insurance?

At its most basic, private health insurance pays out for private treatment if you fall ill.

Generally speaking, health insurance is designed to pay for private treatment of medical conditions that respond quickly to treatment (usually called 'acute' conditions), as well as elective surgery and medical tests.

This guide explains exactly what you need to know about private health insurance, from how it works to the best providers.

  • Find out more See our guides on private surgery and private GPs.

Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.

Best private health insurance 2024 - Which? (2)

Looking to buy private health insurance?

Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch.

Find out more

Best private health insurers

We've surveyed private health insurance customers who have claimed within the past two years to get their views.

Which? members can log in to read our reviews of health insurers, and scored by their customers - including our Which? Recommended Providers.

If you're not a Which? member you can get access to this and all of our reviews by signing up.

Health insurer reviews

Which? members can log in to read our in-depth reviews of health insurers, using expert and customer feedback.

If you're not a Which? member you can get access to this and all of our reviews by signing up.

How much does private health cover cost?

Like many other types of insurance, the costs of private health insurance vary depending on your circumstances and the specifics of the cover bought.

Similarly, where you live can have a dramatic effect on costs of treatment and, consequently, on the premium you'll pay.

Premiums also inevitably rise with age. For younger customers, a comprehensive health insurance policy might cost a few hundred pounds a year. For customers over retirement age, cover is more likely to be well into the thousands.

The table shows some example quotes of what two couples (aged 35 and 55) would potentially pay annually if they sought cover for surgery, comprehensive heart and cancer cover, diagnostic tests and scans and also cover for therapies (such as physiotherapy).

However, these are illustrative. Prices can vary considerably depending on the specific cover options you choose, as well as your age and medical history.

ProviderPolicy name35-year-old couple55-year-old coupleTake out a policy*
AvivaFull Cover£878£1,410Use the service provided by LifeSearch
AXA HealthCore Cover£1,161£2,024
BUPAComprehensive£1,324£2,413Use the service provided by LifeSearch
SagaSecure (with Extended Cancer Cover)n/a£2,023
Vitality HealthPersonal Healthcare1£1,560£2,580Use the service provided by LifeSearch
WPAComplete Health£1,792£3,305Use the service provided by LifeSearch

Table note: These are illustrative quotes obtained from the insurers' websites in August 2023. We selected the cheapest combination of cover providing full inpatient care, comprehensive heart and cancer cover, diagnostic tests and scans and some cover for therapies for a couple, in good health, living in south London. Outpatient cover was removed where it was possible to do so. We selected no excess, but did select a waiting time where offered. 1Cover for therapies not available online so not included in quote.
*Not all private medical insurers are available through LifeSearch. Check insurers' websites directly for more information.

Is private health insurance worth it?

Private health insurance can be helpful, but whether it's right for you depends on your preferences, finances and recent medical history.

In our survey conducted in June 2023, we found that one in five patients had paid for private treatment in the past two years, out of 14,821 Which? members we surveyed.

Even though it can be pricey, private patients we heard from in our survey were generally very happy with their care. Private hospitals can offer nicer rooms and extras, and skipping the long NHS wait lists can be a big relief if you need treatment fast.

Paying for private treatments with your own savings can be difficult: a hip replacement might cost over £13,000, for instance, while cataract surgery could cost around £2,800 per eye.

Insurance can help you avoid these big one-off costs, in exchange for paying a smaller premium every year - whether or not you claim on your policy.

If you're unlikely to claim on your insurance, and/or would be comfortable using NHS services on the rare occasions you do need healthcare, private insurance may not be worth it.

But if you're easily able to afford the premiums and have a preference for private treatment, insurance is one way to control its costs.

  • Find out more:Is private health insurance worth it?

More on private health insurance

Most private health insurance policies will offer some level of cover for:

  • Private treatment
  • Hospital accommodation
  • Nursing care
  • Outpatient treatment (where you don't stay in hospital overnight)
  • Consultations

Extra cover that may be available can include psychiatric treatment, complementary therapies and drugs that aren't available on the NHS (but that have been approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).

There are two main types of private health insurance: fully underwritten or moratorium policies.

Fully underwritten policies

If you choose fully underwritten private health insurance, you will have to give your provider your full medical history. It uses this to decide whether to insure you, and how much to charge.

Moratorium policies

With a moratorium plan, you will only need to give limited information to your insurer.

Buying a moratorium policy is more convenient than going through your extensive medical history with your insurer, but fully underwritten plans can actually be cheaper and you'll know from day one which conditions you're covered and not covered for.

Specialist policies

Some insurers also have specialist policies. For example, some only cover you when you have to wait longer than six weeks for NHS treatment. Other policies are designed specifically for the over-55s, or have a special focus on one disease, such as cancer.

Modular, pick-and-mix style policies are increasingly common. These cover you for inpatient treatments but also allow you to add or subtract elements of cover so that you tailor-make your insurance package.

Speak to a broker for help

Private health insurance is a complicated product so it's best to speak to a broker, especially if you have had medical problems or need specialist cover for certain illnesses.

To find a broker, you can check out the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) or the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) or use the service provided by Lifesearch.

Cut your costs by tweaking your policy

Once you have picked a policy, you can start to cut costs by tweaking the cover.

Start by considering your choice of hospitals. Most providers will give you a list to choose from and you may be able to cut costs if you opt for a shorter list.

Decide which parts of the cover are really important to you; many insurers allow you to pick and choose from modules. For instance, dispensing with, or reducing, outpatient cover (for the most part, consultations with doctors and scans), can take hundreds off the annual premium.

Some insurers also provide an option of scaling back on fully comprehensive cancer cover by providing cover, for instance, that only kicks in if you need treatments or drugs that aren't available through the NHS.

Excesses, co-payments and wait periods

Next, think about adding an excess to your policy. If you're content to contribute to the cost of treatment yourself your premiums will fall – just make sure you can afford to pay the excess.

'Co-payments' are a variation on the excess theme. With a co-payment, you commit to paying a percentage of a claim's cost (say 10% or 15%) up to a maximum amount (say £1,000).

You'll receive a discount on the premium because you'll be leaning less on the insurer, but the maximum amount means you won't find yourself facing unaffordable amounts.

Also consider whether you'd be willing to have some treatment on the NHS. Many policies allow you to choose discounted cover that kicks in only where the NHS can't provide it quickly (usually six weeks). So, if speed of treatment is your main reason for going private, this can be a good compromise.

Take care if ditching and switching

Private health insurance is a little different than car and home insurance where switching each year brings you savings. Switching policies to get a better price – while certainly not impossible – should be done with care.

If your premium's gone up and you eye a cheaper deal elsewhere, check what the terms of the switch would actually be before parting ways with your current insurer. Importantly, if you have any medical conditions that are currently covered, make sure the new policy will continue to cover these.

This can be complicated to navigate, so it could be worth consulting an adviser or broker if you're not confident.

Stay as healthy as you can

Some insurers will give you discounts if you stay healthy. Aviva's MyHealthCounts scheme, for example, rewards you with up to 15% off your renewal premium if you're fit and healthy.

Step 1: Read your policy document

Different health insurers have different claims processes. If you're planning to seek private treatment, read the small print of your policy or check your insurer's website to see whether there's specific guidance.

Step 2: Speak to your GP

Start by speaking to your GP about your condition as you normally would. Your GP can refer you for private treatment. There are two main types of referral: an open referral, where your GP doesn't address the letter to a specific consultant; or named referral, where a specialist is listed on the letter.

Read the terms and conditions of your policy to check which one your provider will want.

Step 3: Call your private health insurance provider

Next, call your provider and explain the situation. What you'll need when you call will differ from provider to provider, but consider the following:

  • your policy number
  • details of what your GP told you
  • details about your condition
  • details of your referral.

Step 4: Call your private health insurance provider (again) once you have seen a specialist

Once you have seen a specialist, call your provider again to let them know what steps will be taken next. Also, make sure you understand how you'll pay for any consultations or treatment – either you'll have to pay and claim the money back, or you'll provider will pay directly.

Step 5: Don't be afraid to complain

If your claim doesn't pan out as you expect, or you feel your insurer has treated you unfairly, don't be afraid to complain.

Speak to your provider first, but if it isn't proving helpful (and you've exhausted their complaints process) take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service by calling 0300 123 9123.

Going private for medical treatment gives you extra choice, but it also potentially opens up additional confusion when deciding where to go and working out how much procedures will cost.

Your GP may be able to provide some advice, as might your health insurer.

Another source of information worth considering is the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), which was tasked by the Competition and Markets Authority to help make the private healthcare more transparent to consumers by compiling and publishing data on private hospitals and consultants.

You can use PHIN's website to compare options in your area, including customer ratings of local private hospitals and fees charged by different consultants.

Most people who make use of private healthcare do so via insurance, but paying directly - 'self-paying' - is increasingly common.

The costs that you can expect to chalk up will include the initial consultation and any necessary diagnostic costs, the price of the treatment itself, hospital fees and followup care. Hospitals often sell these as a package.

The price you would pay as a self-payer versus what an insurer would be invoiced for are often different. Insurers can sometimes negotiate lower prices - but on other occasions there will be preferable discounts only available to self-payers.

This is less an alternative to health insurance than it is an alternative way of owning it. Many employers offer health insurance as a perk of the job.

Employer private health insurance schemes are usually cheaper and more generous - for example, covering pre-existing conditions - than policies you can buy separately from an insurer.

Healthcare cashplans are generally much cheaper than private health insurance, but are only designed to cover everyday health expenses such as dental work, glasses, contact lenses, or physiotherapy.

The cover you get is unlikely to extend towards the costs of serious medical treatment, such as an operation.

You pay a monthly premium, and the cashplan provider will reimburse you for medical expenses covered in the plan. There's an annual limit on how much you can claim, with more comprehensive policies having higher limits.

Critical illness insurancecover is often sold with life insurance and pays out a cash lump sum if you're diagnosed with one of a number of listed critical illnesses, including some types of cancer, a heart attack or stroke, multiple sclerosis or the loss of limbs.

A critical illness policy can be used to pay for anything - and so might include medical treatment costs, adaptations for your home (such as mobility aids, special equipment or structural changes required due to a disability), or to pay off your mortgage.

The one thing it doesn't do is provide a regular income, which income protection does.

The illnesses covered vary between insurers, so get advice before buying a policy and check the policy document. Pre-existing conditions tend to be excluded, but some insurers will base cover on your medical history

Find out more in our full guide to critical illness insurance explained.

Private health insurance isn't a replacement for life insurance as the two do quite different jobs.

Health insurance will pay for treatment if you get ill, and possibly cover some other costs of being in hospital.

But it won't provide anything to make up for lost income from not being able to work. And it doesn't pay out if you die (which is the purpose of life insurance), potentially leaving your dependents in a difficult situation.

Critical illness cover pays a lump sum if you're diagnosed with certain conditions, which can help with costs such as housing, but can also be used for medical bills.

Income protection cover pays regular income if you can't work due to illness or injury.

It's possible to hold all the above types of cover alongside each other, as they perform slightly different roles.

How we analyse private health insurance

Our Which? Recommended Providers are companies that go the extra mile to satisfy their customers, based on feedback from our surveys. These insurers stand out in our analysis for their customer score, as well as having an average or better claims score.

WPA (Western Provident Association) achieved a customer score of 74% and a claims score of 82%, making it our only Which? Recommended Provider.

Find out what it offers in our full review.

  • Find out more:Going private: should you pay to skip NHS queues?

Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch. Find out more

What about cover levels?

Our Which? Recommended Provider analysis isn't a comparison of the cover levels in insurers' policies.

Health insurance cover is highly complex with wide ranges of options designed to suit different customer needs and budgets. If you're unsure which kind of cover will suit you best, we highly recommend enlisting some expert help.

You can find a specialist broker on the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) website.

Find out more from our insurance guides:

  • What is life insurance? The different types explained
  • Dental insurance explained
  • Best life insurance 2024
  • Income protection insurance

Interested in private health insurance?

Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch.

Find out more

More on this

Related articles

Latest News In

Which?
The cheapest day to buy home insurance

26 Oct 2024

Will a Best Buy home insurance policy cost you more?

21 Oct 2024

'My home insurer trebled my premium'

21 Oct 2024

Pay-monthly car insurance premiums brought under the spotlight

17 Oct 2024

'Can you inherit car insurance if the main driver dies?'

14 Oct 2024

The top-performing home insurers not on comparison sites

11 Oct 2024

Could modifying your car invalidate your insurance?

11 Oct 2024

Top exclusions to watch out for when buying cheaper home insurance

05 Oct 2024

What's happening to home insurance premiums?

02 Oct 2024

'My car insurer doesn't want me any more'

30 Sep 2024

Insurance fraud tops £1bn: how to legally reduce the cost of your premium

29 Sep 2024

Most common home insurance claims revealed

28 Sep 2024

Record numbers take out pet insurance: 5 questions to ask before choosing a policy

22 Sep 2024

The cars most likely to be stolen

17 Sep 2024

'My attempt to get cheaper car insurance has backfired'

16 Sep 2024

Insurance prices still too high for pay-monthly customers

13 Sep 2024

Mobile phone snatch thefts soar – what insurance do you need?

12 Sep 2024

More patients using private medical insurance: what are the pros and cons?

06 Sep 2024

What's happening to car insurance premiums?

03 Sep 2024

'My home's been damaged and my insurer is making me organise the repairs'

02 Sep 2024

View all news
Best private health insurance 2024 - Which? (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 5946

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (48 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Birthday: 1996-12-09

Address: Apt. 141 1406 Mitch Summit, New Teganshire, UT 82655-0699

Phone: +2296092334654

Job: Technology Architect

Hobby: Snowboarding, Scouting, Foreign language learning, Dowsing, Baton twirling, Sculpting, Cabaret

Introduction: My name is Francesca Jacobs Ret, I am a innocent, super, beautiful, charming, lucky, gentle, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.