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26 Jun 2025

Best private health insurance 2025

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

Dean SobersSenior researcher & writer

In this article

What is private health insurance?
Best private health insurers
Health insurer reviews
How much does private health insurance cost from the key providers?
Is private health right for you?
More on private health insurance
How we analyse private health insurance

Why you can trust our health insurance reviews

Real customers who've claimed

We asked 784 health insurance holders who'd claimed in the last two years to rate their insurer.

Which? Recommended Providers

Only insurers with a high score from their customers, and at least average scores for handling claims, are recommended by us.

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 the 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.

Looking to buy private health insurance?

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

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Best private health insurers

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

Customer scores reflect claimants' levels of satisfaction and likelihood to recommend their provider based on their overall experience with the insurer.
Claims scores reflect their levels of satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the insurer based specifically on their most recent claim.

Select a table:

Health insurers by Customer Score (average 64%)

			Get a quote
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER WPA	74%	-	Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch. Find out more
Aviva	68%
Axa Health	63%
Bupa	61%
Saga	60%
Vitality	55%

Table note: The results are based on an online survey of 784 members of the Which? Connect panel, who owned private health insurance and had claimed on their policies within the past two years. The survey was conducted in March and April 2023. Sample sizes given in brand 'info'. 'Customer Score' reflects the general satisfaction of customers with their insurer and their likelihood of recommending it. The 'Claims Score' reflects how satisfied they were with how their most recent claim was handled and their likelihood of recommending the insurer for claims. A dash ('-') means not enough respondents in our survey answered the question for us to report the result. Find out more about our methodology below.

Health insurer reviews

WPA

WPA – short for the Western Provident Association – is a not-for-profit private medical insurer originally founded in 1901.

Leading in our tables with a customer score of 74% and a claims score of 82%, WPA is a Which? Recommended Provider.

WPA's main policy, Complete Health, comes with Core, Mid-Range and Comprehensive levels to choose from. Core provides inpatient and day-patient treatment, a remote GP service, a health and wellbeing helpline, and NHS cash benefits (cash payments for time you spend in an NHS hospital).

The two higher tiers build on the outpatient cover available and add cancer cover, as well as a range of extras such as overseas cover and mental health treatment. Most elements of cover within the three levels can be tweaked to preference. If you join aged 66 or over, certain cancer therapies ('targeted cancer therapies' that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules) aren't covered if available to you on the NHS.

The policy's flexibility extends to how you want the insurer to calculate your premiums. You can select pricing based around a no-claims discount, which goes down when you claim, or 'pooled risk pricing'. With this, your premium isn't directly affected by claims you make but by claims and risk factors across the wider 'pool' of customers.

Customers in our survey were highly positive about various areas of their experience of claiming, from the speed of claims to the choice of consultants available. It was also one of the highest scorers for clarity of terms and conditions.

Find out more about WPA in our full WPA private health insurance review
Get a quote for WPA and compare it with other providers using the service provided by LifeSearch

Aviva

Aviva offers a comprehensive policy called 'Healthier Solutions' as well as a 'Speedy Diagnostics' policy.

Healthier Solutions – the core policy includes consultations and/or treatment with a specialist, diagnostic tests, hospital charges, full cancer cover, and outpatient mental health treatment. If you wish, you can choose to enhance your cover, for example, by adding complementary therapies such as osteopathy and physiotherapy, or reduce your cover, for example, by reducing your outpatient cover limits.

Speedy diagnostics – as the name implies, this cover is focused on diagnosing health problems. Cover ends once a condition has been diagnosed. It pays for prompt access to tests, scans and hospital charges while a condition is being investigated.

Customers in our survey gave Aviva a customer score of 68%, placing it second of six providers. Claimants were impressed with the ease of the claims process and pleased with the access provided to the services they wanted.

Find out more about Aviva in our full Aviva private health insurance review
Get a quote for Aviva and compare it with other providers using the service provided by LifeSearch

AXA Health

AXA Health is the second-largest health insurer in the UK.

Its Health Plan is a sort of 'build-your-own' policy. When you get a quote, you'll be asked to select what you want to be covered for, out of outpatient diagnosis and care, inpatient and day patient care, cancer care, and mental health care.

You can further tailor cover to increase the specialists and range of hospitals you have access to, and the number of consultations included.

As standard, you'll also get extras such as online GP appointments, a 24/7 health support line, and mental health support by phone and app.

AXA Health ranked third in our customer score table, with 63% – near the average of 64%. Respondents in our survey rated the ease of purchasing the policy and the choice of medical professionals available through their cover.

Find out more about Axa Health in our full Axa Health private health insurance review

Bupa

The largest health insurer in the UK, Bupa runs a wide network of private hospitals as well as offering insurance.

You can choose between its Treatment and Care and more expensive Comprehensive levels of cover. As standard, both levels of cover include hospital treatment, outpatient therapies such as physiotherapy, mental health cover, cancer cover, and post-treatment tests, scans and appointments. Both policies can be customised, but the core difference between the two is that the latter covers a wider range of outpatient tests and consultations than the former.

Bupa customers placed it fourth (of six) in our survey, with 61%.

It received a score of 70% for its claims service, which put it in joint third place with AXA Health. Customers gave it five stars for choice of consultants available during a claim, matched only by WPA.

Find out more about Bupa in our full Bupa private health insurance review
Get a quote for Bupa and compare it with other providers using the service provided by LifeSearch

Saga

Saga provides insurance exclusively to customers over 50. Its policy is underwritten by Bupa Insurance Limited.

Saga offers four main plans: Super (the most comprehensive), Secure, Saver Plus and Support (the least comprehensive).

All cover inpatient and day-patient treatment and cancer cover plus outpatient surgical procedures, mainly varying when it comes to cover for and limits on scans, tests, consultations and therapies. As standard, you also get access to Saga's online and telephone GP Service, and a 24/7 health line.

No matter which plan you select, you can tailor it to adjust the hospital lists you have access to, adjust your excess, add cash benefits for everyday health costs, and add Extended Cancer cover.

Saga customers in our survey awarded it a customer score of 60% (5th of six providers). It achieved the same ranking when reviewed for its claims service, with a score of 66%.

Find out more about Saga in our full Saga private health insurance review

Vitality

Vitality is well known for its Active Rewards Scheme, which rewards members for keeping fit and living healthily. Members get points for logging healthy activities (eg walking or gym workouts) via activity tracking devices. The points earn members discounts on products and perks with partner companies.

Vitality's health insurance policy, like most, provides full inpatient cover, cancer care and outpatient surgical procedures as standard, plus hospital diagnostic tests – with extras available such as mental health cover and travel insurance.

It has limited standard outpatient cover (£500 a year), but the plan is highly customisable and more cover can be added, with a 'full cover' option removing the cash limit.

Vitality Health customers placed it at the bottom of our customer score table with 55%. It also came bottom with its claims score of 61% (compared to an average of 72%).

Find out more about Vitality in our full Vitality private health insurance review
Get a quote for Vitality and compare it with other providers using the service provided by LifeSearch

How much does private health insurance cost from the key providers?

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

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

Premiums also inevitably rise with age. For younger customers, an individual, 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, outpatient care, and some 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.

Provider	Policy name	Quote for a 35-year-old couple	Quote for a 55-year-old couple	Take out a policy*
Aviva	Healthier Solutions	£1,129¹	£1,865¹	Use the service provided by LifeSearch
AXA Health	Health Plan	£2,698	£4,569
Bupa	Comprehensive²	£1,841	£3,272	Use the service provided by LifeSearch
Saga	Healthplan Super (with Extended Cancer Cover)	n/a³	£2,305
Vitality	Personal Healthcare⁴	£1,768	£2,997	Use the service provided by LifeSearch
WPA	Complete Health	£2,440	£4,342	Use the service provided by LifeSearch

Table note: These are illustrative quotes obtained from provider websites in January 2025. When getting quotes for all providers, we selected cover that provides full inpatient care and full outpatient care, comprehensive heart and cancer cover, diagnostic tests and scans and some cover for complementary therapies (such as physiotherapy) for a non-smoking couple, in good health, living in south London. Where possible, we excluded mental health, dental and optical cover. We selected the standard hospital and specialist lists, rather than any extended lists. We selected no excess, but did select a waiting time if offered. We opted not to protect our no-claims discount, when given a choice of this. 1) Includes 15% first year discount. 2) Bupa's quotes include some dental and mental health cover as it was not possible to exclude this online. 3) Saga does not offer cover for those under 50. 4) Cover 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.

Find out more: Health insurance for over-60s

Is private health right for you?

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

One in five patients had paid for private treatment in the past two years, out of 14,821 Which? members we surveyed in June 2023.

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.

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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?

Looking to buy private health insurance?

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

Get a quote

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).

Most private health insurance policies have some exclusions as standard. Most won't include:

Pre-existing conditions – conditions that were known to you or for which you had symptoms before taking out the policy. If you have a workplace policy, this may include pre-existing conditions, so it's worth checking.
Most long-term (chronic) conditions, such as diabetes or asthma. Cancer is a notable exception to this rule.
Cosmetic procedures.
Pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions.

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.

Find out more: LifeSearch's website
Find out more: BIBA's website
Find out more: AMII's website

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.

Find out more: The PHIN website

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.

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 insurance cover 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 WPA 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:

Best private health insurance 2025

What is private health insurance?

Looking to buy private health insurance?

Best private health insurers

Health insurers by Customer Score (average 64%)

Health insurer reviews

WPA

Aviva

AXA Health

Bupa

Saga

Vitality

How much does private health insurance cost from the key providers?

Is private health right for you?

Healthy living

Looking to buy private health insurance?

More on private health insurance

What does private health insurance typically include?

What is excluded from private health insurance?

What are the different types of health insurance?

How do you buy cheap private health insurance?

How to claim on your private health insurance policy

How do you compare private health providers?

Can you self-pay for private health care?

Private health insurance from your employer

What are healthcare cash plans?

What is critical illness cover?

Health insurance vs life insurance

How we analyse private health insurance

What about cover levels?

Interested in private health insurance?

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