How much is private health insurance?
We’ve answered some common questions about the cost of health insurance, including what can affect the price of your policy.
Edited by Hannah Ramsden, health insurance expert at Bupa Last updated 28 May 2024
3 minute read
What is the average cost of private health insurance?
It’s not possible to give an average price for health insurance.
Prices depends on your age, lifestyle, and where you live. The cost also depends on the insurer and policy you choose.
But to get you started, we’ve looked at quotes for a few scenarios and come up with some example prices.
These prices are based on research we’ve done on comparison websites and using our own quote tool.
These are only example prices. To get accurate prices for health insurance for you, you’ll need to get quotes from insurers.
Example health insurance prices in June 2024
- Around £50 a month for a single person, aged 25, who lives outside of London and doesn’t smoke.
- Around £110 a month for a couple who are both 30-40 years old and don’t smoke.
- Around £220 a month for a family including 2 adults in their 50’s and two teenage children.
These are just approximate prices that we hope will give you a rough idea of costs. You may be able to find cheaper cover, and some policies will cost more.
The best way to find out exactly how much health insurance could cost for you, is to get a quote.
It’s a good idea to compare different policies from different insurers. Consider the quality of healthcare on offer as well as the price.
If you have a budget in mind there are ways you can make health insurance more affordable.
How is the cost of health insurance calculated?
There are two major factors that affect the price of health insurance – your personal circumstances, and the level of cover you choose.
You and your circumstances
Factors that affect price
- Age - Prices are higher for older customers.
- Where you live - Healthcare costs are different around the country. Your price reflects the cost of care where you live.
- Whether you smoke – Cover will cost more if you smoke.
- Your BMI - Some insurers offer discounts if you have a BMI within a certain range.
- Who you cover – Some insurers offer discounts for couples or family policies.
The cover you choose
Factors that affect price
- The health insurance provider you choose
- The level of cover you choose - Some insurers offer tiers of cover from basic to more comprehensive.
- The amount of excess you choose - Adding a higher excess will lower the cost of the policy. But you will need to pay the excess if you claim.
- Whether any limits apply - Some policies limit the amount you can claim each year for some types of treatment. Policies with higher limits cost more.
- The private hospitals you choose - You may be able to choose different ranges of private hospitals. The bigger the range, the higher the cost.
What other factors affect the cost of health insurance?
The rising cost of healthcare
Advances in medical technology, drugs and treatments have led to improved quality of life and better recovery rates for many people.
Funding these new treatments increases costs each year. This in turn increases the cost of health cover.
Health insurers work closely with doctors and hospitals to make sure these costs are fair.
Your past claims
When you come to renew your policy, if you’ve made claims, your price may be higher than if you haven’t claimed.
Some policies have a no claims discount. If you have a no claims discount on your policy and you don’t make any claims, your renewal price may not increase as much.
How to make health insurance more affordable
If you have a budget in mind, there are ways you can adapt your cover to keep costs down.
Learn more about ways to reduce your price in our guide to making health insurance more affordable.
Many factors can affect the cost of your health insurance, but these are the most significant, The rising cost of healthcare.
Advances in medical technology, drugs, and treatments, help lead to improved quality of life and recovery rates for many people.
Funding, these new treatments typically increases costs each year. We work closely with doctors and hospitals to make sure these costs are fair and provide you with value for money.
Your age.
Healthcare costs increased steadily with age and on almost all of our products, your price will be influenced by your age.
Where you live, healthcare costs are different around the country, and they also change at different rates each year.
To make prices fairer to everyone they're linked to where you live and to the likely cost of treatments there.
Your claims.
If you've claimed previously, your price may be higher than if you haven't.
If you have a product with a low claims bonus or a no claims discount, and haven't made any claims or only low value ones, this may help reduce any price increase.
Your selected level of excess.
The amount of excess you choose to pay if you make a claim, affects the price you pay, the more access you choose to pay the lower your price.
Lifestyle.
Unhealthy lifestyle choices, like smoking for example, can also affect the price of your health insurance.
It's important that you tell us about these choices, because if you don't, it could affect a future claim, or if you stop smoking then tell us if you can prove that you've been smoke-free for a number of years, it's may reduce the cost of your health insurance at Bupa, we don't have shareholders to pay.
We continue to invest in improving the healthcare you get from us and we aim to set your price as fairly as we can.
At Bupa, we don’t have shareholders
We continue to invest in improving the healthcare you get from us, and we aim to set your price as fairly as we can.
Find out more about our health insurance.
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See example costs and how price is calculated.
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Bupa health insurance is provided by Bupa Insurance Limited. Registered in England and Wales with registration number 3956433. Bupa Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Arranged and administered by Bupa Insurance Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales with registration number 3829851. Registered office: 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ.