On this page
- How does family health insurance work?
- What does family health insurance cover?
- How can I get health insurance for my family?
- Who can I add to my family health insurance?
- Can you add someone to a health insurance policy?
- How much does family health insurance cost?
- What are the benefits of family health insurance?
- Looking for family health insurance?
- Common questions
Key points
- Family health insurance covers you, your partner and your children under one policy.
- It usually covers diagnosis and treatment of acute conditions that start after your policy begins.
- On Freedom Elite and Freedom Essentials, children can stay on your policy until the end of the policy year in which they turn 25.
- Cost depends on who is covered, their ages, your level of cover, your excess and your medical history.
Family health insurance helps you look after your family's healthcare needs. It gives you a way to access private medical treatment and helps protect you from high medical bills.
From diagnosis to treatment, it can cover you, your partner and your children if medical care is needed, subject to the terms of your policy.
How does family health insurance work?
With family health insurance, you can claim for private treatment for everyone covered by the policy. If your claim is approved, the insurer pays the hospital or consultant directly, or pays you back for costs you have paid.
Claiming usually involves these steps:
- seeing your GP, who may refer you to a specialist
- starting your claim with your insurer
- having your treatment, which your insurer pays for in part or in full, in line with your policy
What does family health insurance cover?
Family health insurance usually covers diagnosis and treatment of acute conditions that anyone on the policy develops after the policy starts. An acute condition is an illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment, returning the person to their previous state of health.
Costs that may be covered include:
- hospital fees
- specialist fees
- diagnostic tests
- pregnancy complications
- cancer-related costs
Cover varies between insurers and plans. For example, Freedom Essentials pays a cancer cash benefit rather than covering cancer treatment. Read more about what private health insurance covers.
How can I get health insurance for my family?
Arranging family health insurance is straightforward. You can usually apply online or by phone, directly with an insurer.
You can also use a specialist health insurance intermediary, who can compare several insurers and offer personal advice. You can find one through the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries.
Read more about how to buy private health insurance.
Who can I add to my family health insurance?
Family health insurance can cover you and your immediate family, such as your partner and your children up to a certain age. After that age, children may be able to move to their own policy.
On Freedom Elite and Freedom Essentials individual policies, children can stay on your policy until the end of the policy year in which they turn 25.
Can you add someone to a health insurance policy?
You can usually add new members, such as a newborn baby, an older child or a partner, at any time. Your premium will usually increase as a result.
How much does family health insurance cost?
Your premium depends on your circumstances and wider factors. Some of the most common are:
- the number of people covered, as adding family members usually increases the premium
- the ages of the people covered, as premiums usually rise with age
- the level of cover, as more benefits mean a higher premium
- the excess, which is the amount you pay towards a claim, as a higher excess means a lower premium
- your health, as insurers usually ask about the health of everyone on the policy
Chronic and pre-existing conditions are not usually covered, although acute conditions arising from them could be, depending on the policy.
Read more about what affects the cost of health insurance.
What are the benefits of family health insurance?
Family health insurance can have many benefits, including:
- arranging treatment for eligible conditions without waiting for an NHS referral, subject to the terms of your policy
- choosing the hospital, and sometimes the surgeon, depending on availability and your cover
- a private hospital room, usually with an en-suite bathroom, a TV and a choice of meals, for more comfort during treatment and recovery
- access to specialist drugs and treatments that may not be available on the NHS, depending on your cover
- knowing that eligible private medical bills for your family will be paid, in line with your policy
Read more about whether private health insurance is worth it for you and your family.
Looking for family health insurance?
Read more about our individual and family health insurance. If you have any questions, contact us.
Freedom Health Insurance cannot give advice on which cover is right for you. For independent advice, you can speak to an intermediary.
Common questions
Who can I include on a family health insurance policy?
You can usually include your partner and your children. On Freedom Elite and Freedom Essentials individual policies, children can be covered until the end of the policy year in which they turn 25. After that, they may be able to move to their own policy.
Can I add a newborn baby to my policy?
Usually, yes. On Freedom Essentials, you can add a newborn baby without giving medical information if you tell us within three months of the birth. Otherwise, an application form is needed. Adding someone to your policy will usually increase your premium.
How do I claim on a family health insurance policy?
Usually, the person who needs treatment sees their GP, who may refer them to a specialist. You then start a claim with your insurer before treatment. Once the claim is approved, the insurer pays the hospital or specialist directly, or pays you back, in line with your policy.
