What Does Health Insurance Cost?
Caring for you & your family’s health is notably one of your number one priorities.
The actual cost of private health care depends on two main factors - your personal circumstances and the policy options and cover levels that you choose.
To compare health insurance policies and get a health insurance quote, fill in the form and a specialist health insurance broker will be in touch to discuss options.
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Typical Cost For A 30 Year Old
We got quotes for a 30 year old from the four largest UK Health Insurers
This gave us prices between £26 and £48 per month or £312 and £576 per year.
These quotes are much lower than the average above, as we quoted for a younger individual with no family and low cover options.
The average premium for UK private health insurance is £1,435 per year. But you might pay much less than that for health insurance depending on the two factors that influence the cost.
Factors Affecting The Cost Of UK Private Medical Insurance
There are four main factors that can influence the true cost of your health insurance. These are - Your Age, Your Postcode, Your Circumstances & Cover Levels / Limits required.
Your circumstances can mean how old you are, where you live, whether you’re insuring just yourself or a whole family and so on.
It also includes things like your lifestyle choices - whether or not you smoke, for instance. However, even if you've quit smoking but use a vaporiser, your premium can still be higher than somebody who doesn't smoke at all.
This is because insurance companies usually ask about nicotine consumption rather than smoking cigarettes specifically.
Why My Postcode Matters
The amounts a UK hospital charges to treat you can vary by hospital. The use of their equipment, facilities and accommodation can be charged at different rates.
As with the price of many services, it is typical for hospitals in larger UK cities to be more expensive than rural hospitals.
Insurers try to keep this situation fair for all concerned by firstly negotiating with hospitals to ensure that prices do not rise out of control - they may even do deals to get preferential rates that should then result in lower premiums.
Secondly, they put the hospitals into different groups - each insurer calls their groups different things but they amount roughly to a group of the cheapest hospitals, a middle set and a group of the most expensive hospitals.
You then choose which set you want to be treated at, paying more if you want to be covered at the more expensive hospitals. This ensures that people living near cheaper hospitals are paying less for their health cover.
The flip side to this is that if you live near a large city, you might find your closest hospital is in your insurer's most expensive category. This can have an effect on the amount you pay.
Your Excess Payment Level
As with every type of insurance, UK private health insurance policies use an excess to help control claims.
The insurer's thinking is that if you have to pay the first part of a claim, then you'll be more careful about incurring a claim at all and only really do it when you have to. Their fear without an excess would be that people would claim regularly as there would be no cost to them.
Excesses are typically charged either per year (i.e. you pay the first say £250 of claims in any one year and then no more, regardless of the number or value of claims) or per claim (i.e. you pay the first say £250 of each claim that is made). Make sure you know which you have as the per claim excess will often work out more expensive.
All insurers give some degree of flexibility on the excess you have on your policy - for example, Vitality let you choose whether you have a per year or a per claim excess and what amount you'd like.
The excess can also have a material impact on cost - a high excess makes things cheaper.
For example, BUPA health insurance costs roughly £34 per month with a £500 excess for our 30 year old example, but it leaps up to £52 per month for a zero excess.
What Does Private Health Insurance
Cost For A Family Of 4?
The cost of health insurance varies from provider to provider, as well as different factors such as the age of those being covered and where you live.
If you choose comprehensive health insurance, this will typically cost more than treatment and care insurance – similarly, how much excess you choose will alter the cost. A young family does not usually pose an insurance risk but bear in mind that the cost of health insurance does increase as the adults get older. If you lead a healthy lifestyle and make positive health decisions, like giving up smoking or losing weight, you may be able to arrange cheaper family insurance.
Where you live can actually impact how much your family health insurance costs too – this is due to where your treatment would be taking place should you need it.
The price of treatments in a private hospital in London, for example, differs enormously to the cost of a private treatment elsewhere in the country. Because of this, your location can make a big different to the cost of your family private health insurance.
As a guide only, for a young family of 4 you'd expect to pay between £120 - £150 per month
What Questions Should I Ask?
As with any form of insurance, it’s vital that you know the details of what you’re taking out and to fully understand what is and isn’t covered by your policy.
It’s often possible to tailor the policy to meet the specific needs of your family, so look into the ways that you may be able to personalise the policy you choose. Most policies cover diagnostic tests, access to consultants and in-patient care.
But for out-patient treatment, you may need to choose a more comprehensive health insurance plan..
It’s also worth noting that if your policy specifies certain hospitals, you should check whether they accept children as well, as not all hospitals or treatment centres do.
Get insurance quotes from different providers and run through the different factors for each so you can assess them thoroughly. This will allow you to check for any exclusion clauses and consider which provider can offer the best care for your family.
It’s also important to check that the health insurance provider you choose has been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. While you may have health insurance for the people that are important to you, if something were to go wrong and your provider went bust, you would need to be confident that your policy would be protected.
The Financial Conduct Authority can provide this peace of mind – they protect your money if your insurer fails. So, before signing on to a health insurance policy, check that they have been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The Importance of Insurance
Waiting for medical treatment as an adult is frustrating enough, particularly when it hinders your ability to work and provide for your family. But when your child becomes ill or injured, you want to ensure that they are treated as soon as possible.
The NHS is a great service but with budget constraints and the pressure on healthcare professionals, getting treatment quickly can be incredibly difficult, both for children and adults alike. As a result, private health insurance can be a great way of alleviating this problem and getting quicker diagnoses, treatment and care from specialists who are conveniently located close to you.
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