If you are weighing up an Aviva policy and want to know what it pays towards mental health treatment, what you are really choosing is which options go on the quote, because in Aviva's own wording the answer changes with them. Aviva can be priced beside other insurers on identical options by an FCA-authorised broker, and you can ask for an introduction to one by submitting the page's form; there is no fee for that.
The sections below read four clauses from Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms, set out what each one fixes and what it leaves open, and end with a list of what you would need Aviva to confirm in writing before you buy.
This page is about a policy document, not about how anyone is feeling. If today is a hard one, Samaritans answer on 116 123 at any hour, and Mind, the mental health charity, has information and support at mind.org.uk; neither asks whether you hold insurance. Your GP is also a way into NHS services whatever you decide about a policy.
Four clauses from Aviva's policy terms
Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms and conditions run to more than twenty pages. Four clauses that mention mental health are quoted here, and everything about Aviva on this page comes from those four. Three are quoted from the March 2026 issue (print code AV1590050_GEN6842_0326), read on Aviva's site on 21 October 2026; the PDF bills itself as for "Policies started or renewed before 1 November 2026", so a policy beginning afterwards could be on different terms. The option C2 clause is quoted from the April 2025 issue (print code AV1207200_GEN6842_0425), read on 4 September 2026 from an intermediary's copy, because the March 2026 issue words it slightly differently. Check what follows against the version you are sent, or have a broker walk you through any differences, free, on the call-back. Page numbers are given as they fall in the PDF, with the number printed on the page two lower.
| Where | What the clause deals with |
|---|---|
| Page 6 of the PDF (numbered 4 in print) | An out-patient mental health row in a benefit table: "Up to £2,000", on GP referral |
| Page 9 of the PDF (numbered 7 in print) | Option C2, which removes out-patient cover for mental health treatment |
| Page 10 of the PDF (numbered 8 in print) | An in-patient and day-patient row: accommodation and nursing "In full up to 28 days" |
| Page 24 of the PDF (numbered 22 in print) | A sentence saying out-patient mental health treatment is paid from the mental health benefit under three out-patient sections |
Read together they cover three questions: what the out-patient money is and how you reach it, which choices on the policy switch it off, and what happens in hospital. Each sits inside a longer document, so another part of the terms can qualify it; below, each clause is read for what it settles and what you would still want to ask.
Out-patient: the £2,000 line and the route to it
Out-patient treatment means sessions and consultations that do not need a hospital bed. Aviva's benefit table has a row for it:
"Mental health treatment as an out-patient Up to £2,000 On GP referral to a psychiatric therapist or psychiatric specialist."
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (March 2026 issue), page 6 of the PDF (numbered 4 in print), read 21 October 2026.
Three things follow directly from the words. First, the figure is a limit on what Aviva pays, not a price and not a promise of any number of appointments; the row does not say which period the £2,000 covers, so ask what period applies when a quote shows it. Second, the route is part of the row: "on GP referral" means the benefit is described as starting with a referral from a GP. Third, the referral is to "a psychiatric therapist or psychiatric specialist", and that is narrower than the everyday word therapy. The clause defines neither title, so before booking anyone, ask Aviva in writing whether that practitioner's title falls within the wording; a broker will also take it up for you, free, when they ring back.
Our page on reading an Aviva quote sets out the same row alongside the excess and the other lines of a quotation. The point for this page is narrower: the £2,000 row does not tell you whether it is part of every Aviva policy, and the next two clauses show why that matters.
Option C2 and the reduced out-patient sections
The page 9 clause starts in the middle of a table, with a row about specialists' fees and radiotherapy or chemotherapy, and the sentence that matters follows it:
"If you have chosen option C2 you will have no cover as an out-patient for: • specialist referred treatment by a physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath, or • mental health treatment as an out-patient"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue), page 9 of the PDF (numbered 7 in print), read 4 September 2026.
So the £2,000 row on page 6 is not the whole story. A member who has chosen C2 has, in the clause's words, no out-patient cover for mental health treatment. Two quotes for the same Aviva product, one with C2 and one without, are therefore not quotes for the same protection, and a lower figure on one of them might simply reflect that a benefit has been taken away. The March 2026 issue opens the same sentence, on the same page, with "If you have chosen option C2 you aren't covered as an out-patient for" and lists the same two items. What C2 takes off the premium is worth having confirmed before you choose it.
The page 24 clause pulls the other way:
"We do cover out-patient mental health treatment from the mental health benefit in sections full out-patient, reduced out-patient £500, or £1,000"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (March 2026 issue), page 24 of the PDF (numbered 22 in print), read 21 October 2026.
The sentence names three out-patient sections and says out-patient mental health treatment is paid from the mental health benefit within them. That is a statement about which benefit pays. It does not give the benefit's size under each section, and it does not say whether the £2,000 on page 6 applies in every one of them or sits inside the reduced £500 and £1,000 sections’ own limits. Our page on what moves an Aviva premium quotes the combined out-patient limit wording for the reduced sections; whether mental health counts towards that combined limit is not settled by either clause, so it belongs on your list of things to have confirmed for your own selection.
What you can do is make the question concrete. Ask Aviva or a broker to show, on a quote you are comparing, which out-patient section is selected, whether C2 is present, and what the mental health out-patient figure is under that selection, in a single sentence you can keep. A broker can run that check against each insurer's quote together; submit the page's form to request that.
In-patient and day-patient: 28 days
The in-patient clause is a table row under a mental health heading:
"Mental health treatment Treatment as an in-patient or day-patient – accommodation and nursing In full up to 28 days For each member, every policy year"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (March 2026 issue), page 10 of the PDF (numbered 8 in print), read 21 October 2026.
Read plainly, this row pays accommodation and nursing in full, for up to 28 days, separately for each person on the policy, every policy year. Day-patient treatment, where you attend a unit without staying overnight, is named in the same row. The row does not say which cover option it sits under, and it does not show how the 28 days is counted when treatment is by the day, or whether days not used carry over. It also names accommodation and nursing, not the fees of the consultant looking after you, so how a psychiatrist’s fees in hospital are paid is set elsewhere in the terms. Nor does it say what Aviva does once the 28 days are used up. How the days are counted, how consultant fees are met and what follows day 28 are settled by the individual policy, and on a call-back a broker will set them out for you free.
For comparison, WPA's summary for its optional mental health extra also gives "Up to 28 days/nights" (WPA, Complete Health Insurance Product Information Document, November 2025, page 1, read 4 September 2026), and the cross-insurer comparison sets the wording of several insurers side by side. Aviva's row states its period ("every policy year"); the WPA summary line states none.
What else to check about Aviva mental health cover
The four clauses give two amounts and one option that removes cover. These are the questions a buyer usually asks next, and the answer to each depends on the policy you are offered:
- Is mental health cover standard or chosen? The page 6 and page 10 rows are benefit-table lines and do not say whether the benefit is automatic or added. The page 9 clause shows at least one choice, C2, takes out-patient cover away, so the options shown on your own policy documents decide.
- Does the £2,000 apply to your out-patient section? Page 24 names three sections without saying whether the £2,000 applies in each.
- Who counts as a psychiatric therapist or specialist? The page 6 row uses two titles and defines neither.
- What does the excess do to these lines? How the excess you choose applies to a mental health limit varies with the policy, so ask before you set it.
- What if treatment carries on? Our page on cheaper mental health cover quotes Aviva's exclusion for chronic conditions, which is written in terms of how treatment is monitored and managed over time rather than naming conditions. How Aviva applies that test to ongoing mental health care is for Aviva to decide under its terms, so ask how it would treat a course of care like yours.
- What if you have had treatment before? It depends on how the policy is underwritten. Our pages on past mental health conditions and on Aviva's underwriting take it up.
Readers also search for an Aviva mental health pathway and Aviva mental health support. Whether Aviva offers them under those names, and which policy they would sit with, depends on the product; if you have seen one advertised, ask Aviva which document describes it and whether your quote includes it. The six week option that also turns up in searches is something else: an option in the same terms about NHS waiting times, not a mental health benefit, and the Aviva cost page sets it out.
Questions to put to Aviva, or to a broker, before you buy
- Is mental health cover on this quote, and which out-patient section and option letters are selected?
- If C2 is on the quote, is it the reason the premium is lower than the one beside it?
- What is the out-patient mental health limit under my selection, and which period does it run over?
- Which practitioners count under the wording as a psychiatric therapist or psychiatric specialist, and is the GP referral needed before I book?
- How many in-patient and day-patient days do I have, and what is covered once they run out?
- Which version of the terms, April 2025 or the March 2026 issue or a later one, is written into my policy?
Ask for each reply in writing. Those same six questions can be put to several insurers at once by a broker, which keeps the comparison like for like; say what you want priced when you submit the form.
Common questions about Aviva and mental health
Does Aviva health insurance cover mental health?
Aviva's terms, in the April 2025 and March 2026 issues alike, include an out-patient row, an in-patient and day-patient row and a clause saying option C2 removes out-patient mental health cover. Whether your own policy includes the benefit depends on the options shown in your policy documents, so check that rather than relying on a general answer.
Does Aviva health insurance cover therapy or counselling?
The out-patient row speaks of "a psychiatric therapist or psychiatric specialist" on GP referral, up to a stated amount. It does not use the word counselling or define who counts as a therapist, so ask Aviva about the specific practitioner before booking.
Do I need a GP referral for Aviva out-patient mental health treatment?
The page 6 row says "On GP referral". That is the route the benefit is described as taking; whether another route is allowed depends on the rest of the terms, so check before booking.
What is Aviva option C2?
Page 9 of the April 2025 issue describes it in one sentence: with C2 chosen there is "no cover as an out-patient" for specialist referred physiotherapy, chiropractic or osteopathy, or for mental health treatment as an out-patient. The March 2026 issue says the same items are not covered, in slightly different words. How much it takes off a premium is worth asking when you compare a quote with it and one without.
How many days of in-patient mental health treatment does Aviva pay for?
The row on page 10 says accommodation and nursing are paid "In full up to 28 days", for each member, every policy year. What happens after day 28 is a question to ask before you buy.
Does Aviva have a six-week option or a mental health pathway?
Aviva's terms do have a six week option, but it is about NHS waits, not mental health: where it is chosen, private in-patient or day-patient treatment cannot be claimed if the NHS can provide it within six weeks of the date your specialist recommends it (March 2026 issue, page 11). Whether Aviva offers a mental health pathway, and what it would include, depends on the product; a broker can find out for you, free, after you send the form.
Does Aviva cover mental health conditions I have had before?
It turns on how the policy was underwritten and on Aviva's wording about past conditions, which our page on Aviva underwriting covers.
How much does Aviva mental health cover cost?
The price follows your age, where you live and the options chosen, and what adding or removing mental health cover does to it shows up when you compare quotes on your own details; our Aviva cost page explains what moves the number.
Is Aviva a good insurer for mental health?
That depends on what you need covered and on how Aviva handles claims, which policy wording does not show. Our page on Aviva reviews and reputation covers its standing.
Next step
Write down the out-patient figure, the hospital days and the options you want on the quote, then submit the form here and ask the broker to price that exact set with Aviva and others. File Aviva's replies to those six questions with your policy papers.