Getting a child priced for private medical cover in the UK usually means one of two quotes: what it costs to add the child to a policy a parent already holds, or what a new policy costs with the child on it from the start. Either way, the useful part is not the first number you see but whether two numbers from two insurers are pricing the same thing. Purely as an indicative range, not a price offered to anyone, a child joining an adult's existing policy typically adds something like £10 to £25 per month (£120 to £300 over twelve months). Where your own child lands depends on their age, their history and the settings chosen, and the exact figure comes from a quote: an FCA-authorised broker can take your child's details to several insurers at once and return their prices side by side. It costs you nothing to be introduced, and that comparison starts from the form on this page.
Children's private health insurance quotes: what goes into one
Only one part of a child's quote is about the child. The other two are the arrangement the child is going into and the settings that arrangement carries, and separating them first stops you comparing figures that were never built the same way.
- The arrangement. Whether the child joins a policy already running, goes on a new family policy, or is the only member. The first two are the common routes; the third is less straightforward, and the page on child-only cover deals with it.
- The child. Date of birth, address, and whatever the underwriting asks about their medical history. These are facts, and the quote is only as good as they are accurate.
- The settings. Excess, out-patient limit, hospital list, and any options. These are chosen rather than given, and on an existing policy a child mostly inherits the adult's.
That last point catches parents out: on a policy you already hold, the child's quote is usually your settings applied to a child. What to have ready when the insurer asks is listed on how to buy cover for a child, and the general shape of a quote form is on getting a quote online.
Lining up two quotes for a child so they can be compared
Two children's health insurance quotes a few pounds apart may be priced on different people, different settings or different start dates. Before reading the price, check that each row below matches across both.
| Line it up | Why it matters for a child | Ask for it as |
|---|---|---|
| Who is on the quote | One figure may be the whole household's premium, another just the extra for the child. | The premium split per person, and the total. |
| Underwriting route | A child may be underwritten on their own history or follow the route the policy was written on; that decides what a past condition does to a claim. | Which route the child is on, in writing. |
| Excess | Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms (April 2025 issue, page 11, read 4 September 2026; a later issue has since been published, so check the version you are sent) make the excess payable for each member, so a child meets their own. Other insurers may count it differently, and the families page quotes the wording. | The amount, and whether each child carries one of their own. |
| Out-patient limit | A private claim usually starts with a consultation and tests, which is where a low limit is felt first. | The limit, and whether each child has their own. |
| Hospital list | Private hospitals set their own rules on treating children, and some may take them only from a certain age. | Which listed hospitals near you admit a child of this age. |
| Start date | Adding a child mid-year may change the premium at once or only at renewal, depending on the insurer. | From what date the child is covered and paid for. |
If any row differs, the cheaper quote may simply be the smaller policy. Getting all six answered in writing by every insurer you are considering is the tedious part; the broker at the other end of this page's form does it for you at no charge.
Why one child's quote comes back higher than another's
On a family policy, most of the price usually sits with the adults rather than the child: their ages, where the household lives, and the settings they picked. The child's own entry adds their history, through whichever underwriting route applies, and their age where an insurer prices on it. How much a child's age counts is up to each insurer, so do not assume a younger child is always the cheaper one; ask to see it.
The settings move it in the usual directions. Raising the excess, capping out-patient cover lower, narrowing the hospital list or letting the insurer guide the choice of specialist each tends to bring the premium down, though the size of the saving varies between insurers and between policies, and a broker will show you what each lever is worth for a child at no charge when they ring. Each also takes something away, and for a child the cost of each cut is set out on cheaper cover for children, so it is not repeated here. Affordable children's health insurance is usually the same policy with some of those dials turned down, not a different product.
Two habits make the comparison fairer. Decide the settings first and ask every insurer to price exactly those, rather than letting each default to its own. And ask for the figure with and without each child, so you can see what each one adds. If a quote shows a child added at no extra premium, whether children can be covered free looks at what that does and does not mean.
What the price on a child's quote does not tell you
A quote states a premium. Several things a parent would want to know about a child's cover are not in that figure, and each is worth a line in writing before you accept.
- What happens at renewal. A quote prices the first year. Premiums are generally reviewed at each renewal, and your renewal price covers what to do when it rises.
- When the child stops being a child. Each insurer sets its own age limit, and whether cover ends on a birthday or at the end of a policy year; age limits for children sets several insurers' rules side by side.
- Benefits written for children specifically. Some wordings carry lines for a child, such as a parent staying in hospital with them; the policy types page goes through several insurers' versions.
- How long the quote stands. How long a quoted price stays open varies by insurer, so ask before you spend a week deciding; the broker ringing back from the form can settle it free.
Children's health insurance in the UK, and the American terms that turn up in searches
A lot of what is typed under "children's health insurance" is American. CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the reauthorization acts that extended it, are United States public schemes for children in lower-income families; "NYS" is New York State; and asking which insurance a children's hospital accepts, or which network it is in, belongs to a system where hospitals contract with particular plans. This page describes none of them.
In the UK, a child living here is generally entitled to NHS care, and private medical insurance is something a parent may add on top. The nearest thing to the American "network" question is the hospital list on a policy: which private hospitals, and which private patient units, the insurer will pay for. That list is part of the quote, which is why it sits in the table above.
A child's operation priced without a policy, as a test for each quote
Take one published cash price for a children's operation: £3,595 for a tonsillectomy and adenotonsillectomy, listed by Spire Bristol Hospital on 4 September 2026. Other hospitals may charge differently. It is what a parent would pay that hospital directly with no insurer involved, and it says nothing about what a policy costs.
It is a worked case to put to every quote. Take a bill of that size and ask each insurer, on the settings it has quoted: how much of it would fall under the child's excess, whether the consultation before it would be paid under the out-patient limit, and whether that hospital or one near you is on the list. Two quotes that look alike on price can answer that very differently.
Questions parents ask when they want a child priced
What is children's health insurance?
In the UK it means private medical insurance with a child as a member, usually on a parent's policy, paying for eligible private treatment of conditions that arise after cover starts. It is an addition to NHS care, not a substitute for it, and what it pays for is set by the policy's benefit table and the settings chosen.
How much is children's health insurance per month?
Only as an indicative range, not a price offered to you: around £10 to £25 a month for each child joining a parent's existing policy. A household's whole premium is a different figure, on the family-of-four page, and your child's real number is a broker's quote on their details and your settings.
Does health insurance cover children's vaccines?
The NHS gives the routine childhood jabs in the UK, normally through the GP surgery. Private vaccines are paid for by some policies and not others, so add that question to the list the broker answers, free, on the call that follows this page's form. The baby cost page quotes the nearest related clause.
Which hospitals will my child's health insurance be accepted at?
The hospitals on the list attached to your policy, and of those, the ones that treat children of your child's age. Ask for both answers together, naming the hospital you would want to use, before you choose a list.
Do I have to give my child's medical history to get a quote?
It depends on the underwriting route. Some routes ask for a full medical history up front, while others ask little at the start and apply exclusions for past conditions instead; private health insurance with a pre-existing condition explains the routes. Either way, answer what you are asked accurately, because a wrong answer can affect a later claim.
Can I get a quote just for my child, without adding myself?
Whether an insurer will write a policy with a child as its only member is for each insurer to say, and the page on child-only cover has the questions to ask.
Settle the settings you want priced before you send anything. Then the form on this page takes them, with your child's details, to the FCA-authorised broker, and the quotes that come back are several insurers pricing one child on one basis, each with its six answers from the table.