How much does private health insurance cost in the UK?
There is no single price for private medical insurance — the premium is built from your age, the excess you choose, the hospital list, any optional modules and your health history. Here is what each lever does, and how to keep the cost down.
The essentials in 30 seconds
- No flat price: PMI is individually priced — two people the same age can pay very different premiums depending on the cover they pick.
- Biggest drivers: age, the excess you accept, the hospital list, optional modules (outpatient, dental, mental health) and your medical history.
- Lower it by: raising the voluntary excess, choosing a guided hospital list, dropping modules you do not need, and adding a six-week NHS-wait option.
- Family vs individual: a family or couples policy bundles each person’s own risk — children are usually the cheapest to add, older adults the most.
What drives the premium
| Factor | Effect on the premium |
|---|---|
| Age | The single biggest driver — premiums rise as claims become more likely with age |
| Excess | A higher voluntary excess (the amount you pay per claim year) lowers the premium |
| Hospital list | Full London lists cost more than guided, regional or local hospital lists |
| Optional modules | Outpatient, dental, optical and mental-health add-ons each increase the price |
| Underwriting & health | Your medical history and whether you take moratorium or full underwriting shape cover and cost |
| Location | Where you live affects pricing, reflecting local treatment costs and hospital access |
Indicative drivers for orientation only — not a quote. Actual premiums depend on the insurer, the cover chosen and your circumstances.
How to lower a PMI premium
The same cover can carry very different prices once you adjust the design of the policy. Four levers do most of the work:
- Voluntary excess: agreeing to pay a fixed amount towards each claim year reduces the premium — the higher the excess, the lower the price, provided you could meet it if you claimed.
- Hospital list: a guided or regional list, rather than a full central-London list, can cut the premium noticeably while still giving access to good private facilities.
- Optional modules: outpatient, dental and optical add-ons are convenient but add cost — trimming back to core in-patient and day-patient cover is the cheapest base.
- Six-week NHS-wait option: this only goes private when the NHS wait for your treatment is longer than six weeks, which keeps the premium well below full immediate-access cover.
For the full picture on cover, underwriting and what PMI does and does not pay for, see the private health insurance hub.
Family cover vs an individual policy
A family or couples policy is essentially several individual risks priced together under one plan. Each person is rated on their own age and health, so the premium reflects the mix of people on the policy rather than a flat household rate. Children are usually inexpensive to add, while older adults carry the highest individual cost.
A single shared excess and one renewal date can make a family plan simpler to manage than separate policies, and some insurers apply a small discount for covering more than one adult. Whether a joint or single arrangement works out cheaper depends on the ages and health of the people involved — there is no universal rule. Compare the cover and exclusions, not just the headline price, before deciding.
Want to understand the wider private-health choices first? Start at the private health hub.
Private health insurance cost FAQs
Information only — not financial advice. Figures are indicative ranges to aid understanding, not quotes. My Insurance Expert is not an FCA-authorised intermediary and does not arrange or sell policies. Last updated: 2026-06-13