It doesn’t take long to buy a private health insurance policy. But to get health insurance that works really well for you – great value health insurance, with benefits to suit your budget and your personal health needs – there’s a bit more involved.
If your policy’s going to work hard for you, it has to be right for your situation. Do you want the peace of mind of knowing some dental care could be included, for example? Does a 24-hour helpline for stress-related worries appeal to you? Are you looking for health insurance that just deals with getting prompt, private treatment – or do you want to explore how each insurer handles their cancer claims, what kind of support they’d provide and for how long?
We can go through every part of the process with you over the phone. We’re happy to give you impartial expert advice on getting the health insurance policy that’s right for you.
Here though, we can explain the four common ways of getting health insurance in place.
1) Buy health insurance direct
Everyone Googles. It’s easy to find health insurers’ ads online. Very quickly, you’ll see the choice of comprehensive policies is yours to make – which policy, which benefits, how much cover you want. But these products are complex, so it’s hard to make a comparison if you’re not an expert in private medical insurance.
2) Use a health insurance comparison website
There are lots of health insurance comparison tools online. They’ll help you to compare the key features of basic cover. They might also list the extra benefits on offer. But they can’t factor in the most important part of your policy – lots of details about you.
3) Buy health insurance from an insurance broker
When it comes to getting health insurance, there are many financial advisers who’ll offer to help you find the right policy. Whoever you work with, we believe it’s vital to choose a regulated broker who can give advice – someone who will get to know your situation in detail so that they can compare health insurance policies and make a 100% impartial recommendation.
Some brokers offer a policy but don’t make a recommendation. If you’d like to find out more about this, try our short guide to getting regulated advice on health insurance.
4) Get health insurance through your employer
Not everyone has private health insurance as part of their benefits package. But if you do, and you change your employer, then you might be able to keep that insurer’s policy going – or you may want to switch to another health insurer.
