Finding the Best Family Health Insurance

Health insurance can be a great option to ensure your family's health is protected and you have access to private healthcare when you need.

With many options available, you may not know where to start. We're exploring how you can find the best family health insurance in the UK.

What is family health insurance?

Family Health Insurance is an insurance product which covers your bills when you need to access private healthcare. It provides peace of mind that potentially expensive private treatment and care would be covered by the insurance policy. 

The benefit of private healthcare is being able to access the care you need quicker than if you were on an NHS waiting list.

The way family health insurance differs from individual health insurance or seniors health insurance is that whilst there will be a main policyholder, you can add immediate members of your family onto the policy. This makes it easier to manage and offers peace of mind that you are all covered.

Within health insurance policies, you’ll find there are some particular family focused benefits that you will want to make the most of. These vary by insurer, but can include:

• Newborn Cash Benefit – A one-off cash benefit on the birth or adoption of a child.
• Parent Accommodation - Cover for the cost of accommodation to stay near your child whilst they are receiving eligible in-patient treatment in a hospital.
• Corrective Ear Surgery - Procedures to correct prominent ears for children under the age of 14.
• Laser Treatment – Cover for procedures to remove or improve appearances of birthmarks on a child's face for children under the age of 14.
• Speech Therapy – A set number of sessions are usually available with a speech therapist, when there is a delay in the child’s development.

NHS or private healthcare for families?

There are benefits to both NHS and private healthcare for families but they are designed to compliment each other and work together to provide healthcare services for all.

It’s important to remember that you’ll always need to use the NHS for things like A&E, chronic conditions and pregnancy. The NHS will always be there for you when you need it.

Private healthcare is a good option when you don't want to wait for treatment. The NHS waiting list is estimated to have 7.4 million cases waiting for consultant-led elective care. It's important to consider if you'd be happy to wait or want faster access to treatment along with the other key benefits of private health insurance.

Health insurance providers such as, AXA, Bupa and Vitality offer many great benefits on their family health insurance policies, including:

• Access to Digital GP services - If you or your family needed an appointment you can speak to a doctor from the comfort of your home. You could have an appointment in as little as 30 minutes.
• Discounted gym membership and fitness products - Helping you to live a healthier lifestyle and put your health first.
• Choice of private hospitals - Choose to be treated at a hospital that's easily accessible for your family.
• Cancer cover - Access to breakthrough cancer drugs and treatments that aren't yet available on the NHS.
• Mental health & well-being support - Most insurers typically offer mental health services and well-being support within their policy.

How do I find the best health insurance for my family?

When you’re looking to get started with a health insurance policy, knowing where to start is the first step to get you on your way. There are many different ways to obtain a policy, for example, you may use an online comparison site or speak to a free expert advice service, like Usay Compare.

You may be looking to switch your health insurance, maybe your renewal price is on the rise or your policy no longer covers your circumstances. We help customers save 40% on average when they switch health insurance provider. 

Online comparison sites

Online comparison sites can be useful in helping you to benchmark the price you could expect to pay for a policy.

Online sites can be a quick and easy way to get a quote, however, it’s worth noting that an online comparison service is unlikely to fully understand all of your needs and requirements.

Without talking to an adviser, you will struggle to understand what's included in your cover and find the best policy to suit your requirements.

This could make it difficult if you needed to make a claim too, you may not know the full ins and outs of your policy and exactly what your cover includes and excludes.

Independent intermediary service

Using an independent intermediary service gives you the option to talk through your specific circumstances to find a quote that is best matched to your needs. A health insurance intermediary like Usay Compare, manage the entire process of finding a policy, free of charge.

To get started with an intermediary service, you'd typically start by making an enquiry. You will then receive a call from an expert adviser for a 45 minute (approx.) consultation. They’ll get to know your requirements and budget to then compare policies from the leading UK insurers.

They'll be able to provide advice and recommendations, whilst giving you all the time you need to make an informed decision.

There is never any pressure to take out the policy, you will have time to consider the recommendations and a chance to come back and ask your adviser as many questions as you need.

Optional extras and their benefits

You’ll also want to consider the optional extras available in the policy and how they could benefit you.

You’ll get your core cover in your policy that comes as standard, but also the option to personalise, tailor and enhance your policy to get the most out of it.

Some common optional extras to consider include: travel, dental, optical, therapies and mental health cover. Speaking to an expert adviser can help you to understand these extras and how they could work on your policy.

Questions to ask an intermediary

It's worth considering and preparing questions to ask an intermediary to get the most out of your consultation call. We think the most important questions to ask include:

• What's the difference between coverage options? This will help you understand what options are available and what's best suited to you.
• What elements impact the quote? Knowing all of the elements that make up your quote can help you to understand how this affects price and availability.
• What excess would you recommend? Understand exactly what you'd need to pay out if making a claim and how this affects the premium.
• What are the exclusions? Knowing what isn't included in your policy ensures you know what you're covered for if you need to claim.
• What is a pre-existing condition? Understanding if you have a pre-existing condition that wouldn't be included in your policy is essential.

Speaking with an adviser gives you the opportunity to ask as many questions as you need to ensure you are confident in your cover.

Does family health insurance cover parents?

Family health insurance plans cover parents within the immediate family.. For example, it would cover the policyholder, the partner and the dependent children.

It wouldn’t, however cover parents of the policyholder (or grandparents). It also wouldn’t include siblings of the policyholder.

There are separate policies that may be suitable for families members beyond the immediate family, for example, couples health insurance policies, senior citizen policies or individual health insurance policies.

The age at which a child is defined as a dependent on your family health insurance policy can vary between insurers. Some will class any child still living at home as a dependent, whereas others will have a maximum age, often 21 years.

Some policies will allow children up to 24 to be covered as a dependent if they are still in full time education.

How are family health insurance quotes made up?

There are a couple of factors that will affect the price of a family health insurance policy. The main ones include:

• The size of your family: Having more dependents added onto the policy will mean that your quote is more expensive to cover all of the people on the policy.
• Your postcode: Your postcode and where you live will make a difference to your health insurance policy quote. This is based on the risk and cost of providing coverage in your area. For example, healthcare in London will be more expensive than other parts of the UK.
• Ages of your family: The age of family members will affect the price of the quote. When you're older, health insurance becomes more expensive with an increased chance of falling ill or needing healthcare services.

Other factors can also affect your quote, speaking to your expert adviser however can help you understand what's affecting your quote and anything you can do to change the price and find the best deal. 

When it comes to private medical insurance, there are a lot of elements to take into consideration. Utilising an intermediary service and the free advice and service offered can help make sure you've got the best cover for you and your family.

Ultimately, its about making informed decisions based on your needs and what's best for you.

Whenever you’re ready to find your policy, our advisers will be ready to support you. You can fill out a quote and await a call from our team or get started now and give us a call on: 01285 864670