Fast, private healthcare
when you need it.

What is private medical insurance?

Private medical insurance (PMI) gives you access to private healthcare — consultants, diagnostics, and treatment — without relying on NHS waiting lists. With NHS waiting times for elective treatment regularly exceeding 18 weeks, PMI provides the ability to be seen, diagnosed, and treated quickly, on your schedule, in a hospital of your choice.

What does private medical insurance cover?

A comprehensive PMI policy typically covers inpatient treatment (procedures requiring an overnight hospital stay), outpatient consultations and diagnostics (MRI, CT scans, blood tests, specialist appointments), and in many cases mental health treatment, physiotherapy, and cancer care. Most policies do not cover pre-existing conditions at outset, emergency A&E treatment, or chronic long-term conditions. Policies vary considerably — an independent adviser will compare the market to find the most appropriate cover for your situation and budget.

PMI for individuals, families, and businesses

Private medical insurance is available for individuals, couples, and families under a single policy. For businesses, offering PMI as an employee benefit can aid recruitment and retention, and premiums may be treated as a tax-deductible business expense. A regulated adviser can structure cover for both personal and business needs, ensuring the best value and most appropriate terms.

How PMI underwriting works: moratorium vs full medical

How your pre-existing conditions are handled depends on the underwriting basis. Moratorium underwriting needs no medical forms up front: conditions you have had in a set period before joining (often five years) are excluded, but can become covered if you stay symptom- and treatment-free for a continued period (often two years). Full medical underwriting assesses your history at the outset, so you know exactly what is covered from day one. Some switchers can move on a continued personal medical exclusions basis to carry across the terms from a previous insurer. An adviser will explain which basis suits you.

What private medical insurance does not cover

PMI is designed for acute conditions — those that can be cured or brought back to normal. It is generally not designed to cover chronic, long-term conditions such as diabetes or asthma on an ongoing basis, pre-existing conditions at outset, accident and emergency treatment, or routine care like pregnancy and dentistry (unless added). Cancer is a key area to compare — most comprehensive policies cover it well, but the depth of ongoing oncology cover varies between insurers, so it is worth checking closely.

Managing the cost: excess, outpatient limits and networks

PMI premiums can be tuned to your budget. Choosing a higher excess, accepting an outpatient limit, agreeing to use a guided hospital network, or adding a six-week NHS wait option (where you use private cover only if the NHS wait exceeds six weeks) can all reduce the premium significantly. The art is trimming cost without cutting the cover you actually care about. Our guide on whether private medical insurance is worth it weighs these trade-offs, and the cost guide shows what drives the price.

Business and employee PMI

Many companies offer PMI as a staff benefit to aid recruitment, retention and faster return to work after illness. For the employer the premiums are typically an allowable business expense; for the employee, company-paid PMI is usually treated as a taxable benefit in kind (reported on a P11D). Group schemes can also offer medical-history-disregarded terms that an individual could not get, which can be valuable for employees with prior conditions.