Individual health insurance

Individual health insurance can cover medical expenses for illness, injuries and some acute medical conditions.

Unlike group medical insurance offered as a benefit through an employer, you arrange and pay for this yourself.

One of the main benefits is that you have the flexibility to tailor cover to your needs. Plus, it can give you fast access to medical care at a time and location to suit you.

Individual health insurance plans cover one adult for private medical diagnosis and treatment.

Depending on your policy, you may be able to add other immediate family members to your policy, for example, if you have a baby.

It might also be worth looking into and comparing other options to see what offers you the most appropriate cover.

You might want to consider:

• Joint health insurance – covers a couple living at the same address on a single policy.

• Family health cover – with private health insurance for your family, you can cover you, your partner and children under the same policy. This is likely to be cheaper than buying individual cover for each family member.

• Child health insurance – private health insurance for kids provides reassurance that, if any of your children fall ill, private treatment can be covered.

Joint health insurance will provide the same cover for both you and your partner, giving you access to the same hospitals and treatments.

With an individual health plan, you can choose different cover options to your partner. For instance, you may want to add optional dental and optical cover to your policy.

A joint policy for you and your partner may provide a cheaper deal with less admin to keep on top of.

However, opting for two individual health insurance policies might be a good idea if you both want different types of cover from your health insurance policy.

It depends on the insurance policy and level of cover you choose. The most basic private medical insurance plans might cover the price of hospital or acute treatment only. More comprehensive plans may also include:

• Outpatient treatment – such as blood tests, scans and consultations with specialists

• Cancer treatment

• Physiotherapy and osteopathy

• Mental health treatment

• Virtual GP consultations

• Dental care

• Eye care.

Private medical insurance typically won’t cover you for any pre-existing medical conditions or chronic illnesses you have before taking out your policy. Examples include arthritis and diabetes.

Policies from private health insurance companies also generally exclude:

• Accident and emergency admissions

• Cosmetic surgery

• Mobility aids

• Organ transplants

• Pregnancy and childbirth

• Infertility treatment

• Preventative treatment

• Treatment related to drug abuse or self-inflicted injuries.

Each provider has different exclusions, so make sure you’re clear on what’s not covered before buying a policy.

You pay a monthly premium to your insurance provider. Then, if you fall ill and need treatment that’s covered by your policy, your insurance provider will pay out. This payment should cover the cost of the treatment needed.

Say you have an increasingly painful knee and it’s affecting your daily life. You visit your GP and they make a referral to an NHS hospital. But it could be weeks before a consultant can see you – and potentially even longer to get an operation.

If you have individual health insurance you can contact your insurance provider and potentially access an appointment sooner, within the private healthcare system.

You may be able to see a specialist more quickly and have the procedure you need in a shorter timeframe. That way, you can get your life back to normal faster.

You could also have access to specialists and medications that aren’t available on the NHS.

Simply go to your GP as normal. Let them know that you have private medical cover and ask for a referral.

If you want more time to decide where to go, ask your GP for an open referral letter. Some comprehensive medical insurance policies might also give you access to a private GP.

To make a claim, contact your insurance provider directly and provide them with all the details of your treatment. If your policy covers the private treatment you need, your provider will then approve your claim.

You’ll usually need to pay an excess. This is an amount you agree to pay towards a claim when you take out the policy.

Individual health insurance is a personal choice. Some reasons people choose to invest in private medical insurance include:

• Less waiting time – private healthcare often comes with shorter waiting lists, so you’ll be able to get your treatment faster. In July 2025, the NHS waiting list stood at 7.4 million. This consisted of around 6.2 million individual patients waiting for treatment in England, according to the BMA analysis of NHS stats for England. In Wales, 793,000 patients were waiting to start treatment, and 570,000 patients in Scotland.

• Access to specialist services – you may even have access to treatments that aren’t available through the NHS.

• Private hospitals – you can expect a quieter environment and home comforts. This could help make your recovery more comfortable.

If you have savings, you might prefer to pay for private treatment on a case-by-case basis. This could be more cost-effective than paying regular premiums, but you also face the prospect of a big one-off expense.

You should also check whether you’re already covered by a group scheme with your employer.

The cost of private medical insurance in the UK depends on the level of cover you need, as well as other factors, such as:

• How old you are and where you live

• Your medical history and any health conditions you have

• Your general health and lifestyle – especially if you smoke

• Any previous claims you've made for medical treatment

• How high you set the policy excess

• The level of cover you choose - basic or more comprehensive.

How can I lower the cost of my individual health insurance?

If you’re looking for cheap health insurance, there are a few ways to make it more affordable:

• Set a higher voluntary excess – you can lower your premiums by choosing to pay more towards a claim. Just make sure you can afford the excess, if you need to pay it

• Maintain a healthy lifestyle – many insurance providers offer incentives for staying active, potentially leading to cheaper premiums

• Choose a health cash plan instead – you pay a monthly fee to cover routine medical and dental expenses. It’s often cheaper than full private medical insurance

• Shop around – one of the best ways to save is by comparing health insurance quotes from multiple providers.

While your aim might be to find the cheapest health insurance in the UK, it’s important to remember that a cheaper policy might not give you all the cover you need. Always balance price against the value and peace of mind you may get from a more comprehensive policy.

• You can’t go private for everything – even the best individual health insurance has limitations. Accident and emergency treatments aren’t covered, for example.

• You can only use certain hospitals – when you buy a private medical insurance policy, you’ll typically choose a list of hospitals and treatment centres where you’ll be eligible for treatment. The broader the selection, the higher your premium will be.

• Insurance providers set maximum amounts for certain procedures – if you choose a specialist whose charges are higher than that limit, you’ll need to cover the difference.

• You won't always get treatment in a private hospital – you could be put in a private patient unit within an NHS hospital or on an NHS ward rather than in a private room.

To find you the most suitable health insurance quotes, we need to know the answers to a few questions including:

• Who do you want to cover?

• What level of cover do you want?

• What is the maximum excess you want to pay?

We also need to know a bit more about you and how to get in touch with you.

Remember to always be honest about yourself and your medical history. Giving misleading information could invalidate your policy.