An average private health insurance costs around £1,349 per year in the United Kingdom. The factors that affect the cost of private health insurance includes the personal circumstances that shape you and the policy levels and cover options you select for yourself.
Your personal circumstances include your age, your financial position, your addressing of living and if you’re purchasing an insurance for yourself or your entire family. Lifestyle choices like nicotine consumption are also taken into consideration while fixing a higher premium for individuals. A person who doesn’t smoke at all would have to pay less premium than a person who has quit smoking but is using a vaporizer.
The policy cover options include the limits you set for your insurance to cover medical expenses that basic covers aren’t liable for covering.
How different hospitals charge differently and its effect on your health insurance?
Different hospitals bill customers differently, usually based on their location, equipment, accommodation and the facilities they offer. Hospitals in larger cities charge more than countryside ones. But your insurers try to maintain a parity by negotiating with hospitals, often with attractive deals to arrive at preferential rates and lower premiums for customers. They also have a system of maintaining a group of hospitals for people from different financial positions.
You are free to choose the cover policy and the group of hospitals you wish to be treated at, in case of medical emergencies. Also, this allows people living in close proximity to affordable hospitals to pay less than their counterparts. But this can have a negative impact on a resident living in a large city whose nearest hospital is one of the most expensive hospitals. The policy over the decision is however strictly individual and can be suited to one’s needs.
The change in excess affects the price of a health cover
Private health insurances in the United Kingdom charge and maintain an excess amount to cover control claims, as and when they arise. It stems from the belief that if you pay for a part of the claim, your endeavor is genuine and you would refrain from asking for claims regularly. Excesses are charged typically in two ways – per year or per claim. It is best to be conscious of the excess you are subscribed to as per claim excesses turn out to be expensive in the long-run.
A high excess can actually make expenses cheaper. But customers should realize rising excesses can provide appealing premium options but require you to shell out more money and be entirely responsible for claims under the excess amount.
How does changing your underwriting affect the cost of health insurance?
The implication of underwriting on insurance cost isn’t much but the choice of the type of underwriting must be based on individual circumstances and the resultant terms and conditions instead of the price.
The effect your postcode can have on your health insurance cost
Insurers tend to set a benchmark of prices, based on their past experiences with groups of individuals usually segregated by their age and postcode. If your postcode turns out to be expensive on the list of your insurer, there’s not much you can do about it.
But if you’ve moved out of an expensive neighborhood and your health cover tends to be the same still, you must look around for lower quotations. While it is an entirely a personal choice to move to different neighborhoods for different health insurance costs as the difference is a £11per month.
Some apparent costs of different health insurance covers
- Costs of Dental Private Medical Insurance
Cover options, as well as insurance costs, differ between the top insurance companies of UK. Axa and Aviva usually combine optical cover option with dental cover. Also, their dental policy only involves major emergencies or works, not regular maintenance, well-being or check-ups. Another insurance company Vitality offers two cover options. The first one “major treatment options only” is almost same as Aviva and Axa’s policies with an extra monthly expenditure. The second one covers regular check-ups and maintenance which results in almost double monthly premiums.
- Costs of health insurance for Alternative Therapies
Each insurer holds a varied definition of alternative therapy and obviously has a difference in costs. Vitality includes acupuncturists, chiropractors, podiatrists, and osteopaths and includes unlimited cover for these therapies under £1 per month. They consider physiotherapy to be an outpatient option that is priced differently. Aviva charges £4 per month for a maximum of ten yearly visits to acupuncturists, chiropractors, podiatrists and osteopaths. The cover levels and costs for Axa are very similar.
- Costs of health insurance with outpatient cover
Every health insurance company has a basic cover that ensures you against challenging medical emergencies but do not cater to outpatient treatment options. The outpatient options are usually added on, varying from insurer to insurer. While companies like Axa, Aviva, and Vitality include the PET, MRI and CT scan in their core costs, their outpatient costs include physiotherapy, diagnostic tests, blood tests, X-rays and specialist consultations.
- Costs of health insurance for cancer covers
Cancer costs are covered by most insurers in the basic cover, to a certain degree. Limits on specific drugs and treatments are prevalent and certain duration limits also work. Axa covers cancer and its care and takes care of its full cover, including experimental treatment, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and unlimited outpatient treatment options. If you shift to an “NHS cancer support” your premium comes down but it leaves you reliant for your treatment needs on NHS. Vitality offers you a maximum cover but you’re free to downgrade it to avail affordable premiums. The downgraded level makes you abide by a 12- month time limit on biological therapies usage and a 3- month time limit on bisphosphonate or hormone therapy. But researchers reveal the amount saved by opting for a downgrade cover is a few pence per month.
Compare health policies between different insurers and choose the best-suited cover for yourself that allows you to pay an affordable premium without compromising on your medical treatment needs. Learn more about policies of private health insurance online and you can find convenient prices.
