Health Insurance
Get access to private healthcare when you need it the most with private health insurance.
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What is health insurance?
Private medical insurance (PMI) is designed to cover the cost of private medical treatment for acute conditions that arise after the start of the policy. An acute condition is a disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment which aims to return you to the state of health you were in immediately before suffering any symptoms, or which leads to your full recovery.
Having a health insurance policy gives you access to private medical facilities and treatment at a time and location that suits your schedule.
Types of health insurance
Depending on your situation and budget, there are several types of health insurance plans you can choose from:
Why choose Freedom Health Insurance?
2-year Fixed Premium
Select this option for any UK plan and your premium won’t increase in the second year even if claims are made. Ts&Cs apply†.
Personal Service
With dedicated personal service and an easy claims process, our clients have been trusting us since 2003.
Fast Turnaround
It doesn’t usually take more than 2 working days (or 5 for company policies) from your initial quote to setting up your policy.
How health insurance works
With most health insurance policies, you choose the health benefits you want and pay your premium monthly or annually.
Then, if you fall ill, you should see your GP who may refer you for further tests or diagnosis to a specialist.
This is the moment when you need to get in touch with your insurance provider if you want to get private treatment under your private medical insurance plan.
With Freedom Health Insurance you get a hassle-free claims process, with no claim forms to complete and with a personalised service. You usually deal with the same friendly adviser throughout your claim process, making your experience as smooth as possible.
What health insurance covers
A private medical insurance policy, depending on the options chosen, could cover you for:
It can be difficult to know what to look for when buying health insurance. That’s why it’s important to compare different health insurance policies by getting quotes from different providers for different levels of cover. This will help you compare the costs against the benefits so you can make an informed decision.
Other private medical insurance options
Apart from the health benefits you can select for a private health plan, there are a few other things to consider when looking at different insurance products.
No claims discount
Similarly to car insurance, some private health insurance providers may offer an important discount, usually at the start of the policy, to encourage customers to take out their cover. How the ‘no claims discount’ impacts your premium is often not clear and you may only discover the true premium when you have made a claim and your costs go up significantly.
This type of policy may discourage the insured person from claiming, making the whole point of having the cover questionable. You never know when you may need treatment and the time following a serious illness is not the best time to be facing escalating health insurance costs.
At Freedom Health Insurance, we believe in sustainable and therefore more predictable pricing which can help with your personal budgeting. Because of this, we operate a community rated premium which means that we don’t usually increase your renewal premium as a result of you making a claim.
Policy excess
Adding an excess to your policy is a good way of keeping costs down. An excess is the sum of money you agree to pay towards any claims. The higher the excess amount you agree to, the lower your premiums will be.
Some insurance providers ask you to pay the excess towards each claim, while others, like Freedom Health Insurance, ask you to pay it only once per person per insurance period, regardless of the number of claims you make.
Payment period
Most insurance policies allow you to pay monthly or annually with annual payments often coming with a discount. Freedom Health Insurance offers a 6% discount when paying annually, helping you to reduce the overall cost of your plan.
Hospital lists
Depending on the health insurance plan you want, you may have to choose a hospital list which contains all the private hospitals you can access as part of your cover. These may include NHS private wings or wards, independent private hospitals and private hospital networks.
You should be aware though, that if your chosen consultant does not practice at the hospital on your list, you probably won't be able to use them. Whilst many consultants work in the NHS, not as many treat their private patients in NHS private beds.
With Freedom Elite, you have a good range of hospitals included in our standard hospital list, with only a few of the very expensive facilities in central London and elsewhere listed separately as an option. Our Freedom Essentials policy is a bit different as it pays you a fixed cash benefit for treatment which allows you to use any hospital in the UK or abroad for your treatment.
Switching to Freedom
If you have a health plan in place but you are not happy with your cover or maybe you are looking for a better price, contact us. You may be able to transfer to Freedom on the same terms as your current policy.
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Getting a health insurance quote from Freedom Health Insurance is quick and simple. Compare our products, personalise your cover and purchase online in just a few minutes.
Get a quoteFAQs
What is not covered by private health insurance?
Private medical insurance doesn’t usually cover treatment of long-term (chronic) conditions, where this is focused on keeping the symptoms under control. It also doesn’t usually cover:
- Pre-existing conditions that you had before starting the policy
- Emergency treatment
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Cosmetic surgery
- Organ transplants
For a full list of what’s not covered, check the policy documents for your health insurance plan.
Do I need a medical examination before taking out health insurance?
No, you don’t. However, you may need to answer some questions about your medical history or we might need to contact your GP. We’ll always tell you if that’s the case. Just give us a call and we’ll tell you if we need more information before giving you a quote.
Can I get private health insurance with a pre-existing condition?
Private health insurance does not generally cover pre-existing conditions; however, some conditions might be covered after 2 years if you had no symptoms, treatment or medication in that period, depending on your underwriting.
What is an insurance premium?
An insurance premium is the amount you pay monthly or annually for your health insurance policy. Your premium is reviewed once a year and it could change depending on factors such as your age or medical inflation. We usually won’t increase your premium for making a claim.
Can I still use the NHS if I have private health insurance?
Yes. Private health insurance is not meant to replace NHS, but to work alongside it as some things are not covered by private medical insurance (e.g. emergency services). For more information see NHS vs Private Healthcare.
†2-year fixed premium terms and conditions