Asking which health insurance company is best usually comes down to one decision: whose name goes on the application. No page here can give you that name, and this site ranks nobody. What a page can do is show you how to test an insurer as a company, separately from the policy it sells, so that the names you take forward are ones you chose for a reason. An FCA-authorised broker can take your circumstances to more than one insurer, and this page's form is how you get introduced to one; asking costs nothing.

One word, three different companies

"Company" hides a choice before the comparison even starts. It can mean the brand on the letterhead, the firm that actually carries the risk, or, for plenty of readers, the employer who arranged the cover.

The first two are not always the same. Saga's HealthPlan, for instance, is underwritten by Bupa Insurance Limited, so a reader who rates one of those names highly has, in that case, two firms to think about. When you shortlist, find out which legal entity stands behind the product, because that is usually the insurer on the contract and the name to look up on any public record.

A company scheme is a third case, and it changes the question more than the other two. The employer chose the insurer and the settings, so what you are really asking is what your employer bought. That is covered further down, with pointers.

For the personal-policy reader, the useful thing is that a company can be tested in ways a policy cannot. A policy is compared on its settings, which choosing which insurer sets out in order. A company can be tested on how it writes, what it hands you before you pay, and what it puts on public record.

Four tests that belong to the company, not the policy

Does its wording answer your situation in plain words?

Choose the one circumstance that worries you most, such as a condition you have had, a hospital you would want, or a long-term problem, and find the sentence in each insurer's document that deals with it. Some wordings answer in a sentence you can follow. Others send you to a definition, then a schedule, then a panel that sits in another document. Neither is a verdict on how a claim would go, but if a document still leaves you unsure, that is worth knowing before you buy, and a good reason to put the question to the insurer in writing. The eight-insurer comparison sets eight insurers' clauses on four such situations side by side, which is a quick way to see how differently insurers write.

What does it let you read before you buy?

Documents differ in kind. Of the eight insurers' documents compared on this site, most are full terms, a handbook, a policy guide or a policy book, and two are short regulatory summaries that cannot settle a detailed question. So ask for the full wording of the product quoted, not the summary, and check that it carries an issue date and names the plan. If a quote and a document cannot be matched to the same product, stop there, because you cannot compare what you cannot identify. Issues change, too: one insurer's own site has carried a newer issue than the intermediary's copy cited here, so ask which issue your contract would be on.

What does it put on public record?

Some of a company's story is not in its policy at all. The Financial Conduct Authority's register shows whether a firm is authorised and what it may do, and the Financial Ombudsman Service publishes complaint figures for named firms. Both are free to search, and what you find there is yours to weigh. A complaints figure measures disputes that reached the ombudsman, not the quality of cover, and the page on rankings and reviews explains how to read lists that lean on it.

What does it tell you about making a claim?

Look for the steps, in order, before treatment: whether you need a GP referral, whether the insurer must agree in advance, and what you must do before anything is booked. A document that spells these out is doing part of the claims job for you. If it does not, the question belongs on your list for the insurer or the broker.

Turning "best" into a shortlist of three

Three names is a workable number to read closely. Start from the two or three insurers whose wording read most clearly on your situation, check that each will sell the product you want to someone of your age and location, and drop any whose full terms you could not get hold of.

Then ask each of the three the same written question about your situation, and compare how the answers are put as well as what they say. A reply that quotes the clause and the page is worth more than a reassurance. If you would rather a broker put it to the insurers, write the question into this page's form and ask for it to go to each insurer quoted. The introduction is free, and asking takes a few minutes.

Price comes after this. Once the shortlisted quotes share a hospital list, an out-patient level and an excess, comparing the quotes tells you something. How each insurer words two of those levers, the excess and the out-patient line, is on what UK health insurance companies charge.

The questions to put to a broker about each company

Questions about hospital lists, excesses and out-patient levels belong to the policy. These belong to the company, and go to every name on the shortlist.

  • Which legal entity underwrites this product, and is it the firm whose brand is on it?
  • May I read the full wording for the plan you are quoting, and what is its issue date?
  • Is that the issue on the insurer's own site, and if not, which one would my contract be on?
  • Will this insurer sell this product to someone of my age, where I live?
  • Before any treatment, what does this insurer need from me: a GP referral, its agreement in advance, anything else?
  • Are all three of my names among the insurers you deal with, and if one is not, can I go to it direct?

If you meant company health insurance through work

Many "company" searches come from people whose employer offers a scheme, or who run a firm and are weighing one. The comparison is different, because the buyer is the employer and the people covered are staff. A scheme is quoted on your own staff list, so nobody can tell you a best company without one.

Against personal cover, the main differences are who chooses and who is affected. In a scheme the employer picks the insurer, the benefit levels and how existing conditions are handled, and members live with the result. A personal policy is yours to shape. Tax differs too, though we cannot advise on it; the general position is on private health insurance and tax for company schemes.

Short answers to the questions behind the search

Which is the best health insurance company in the UK?

No single one suits every reader, and this site names none, because the answer turns on your health, where you live and the cover you want. The workable answer is a shortlist chosen with the tests above, then quoted on matching settings.

Is there a health insurance company comparison chart?

One sets the wording held from eight insurers side by side on four points, with no score or order, on UK private health insurance providers compared. It shows what documents say and not how a company behaves, so use it to choose questions, not winners.

Which are the best health insurance comparison sites in the UK?

This site rates none of them, and which suits you depends on what you want it to do. A site that lists insurers can only rank those on it, and may earn when you click, which is worth checking for yourself. The same applies to any list, as best health insurance rankings and reviews explains.

Can I have two health insurance plans with the same company?

That depends on the insurer, so ask before buying a second. On the wordings quoted in claiming on two health insurance policies, each policy carries its own excess and starts from its own date, which is worth knowing whichever firm the second plan is with.

Is there a broker for a small company's health insurance?

Yes: brokers arrange schemes for small firms, and the introduction this site offers is to one FCA-authorised broker. What to check before handing a small firm's scheme to any broker is on the small business broker page linked above.

Your next step is to name the one situation you most need your cover to handle, then put that situation and your three names into this page's form, so the broker has something concrete to put to the insurers it quotes.