To make a Freedom Health Insurance claim, you see your GP, and once the GP refers you for private treatment you ring Freedom's claims helpline on 01202 283 580 before anything is booked, because Freedom's Elite guide requires claims to be pre-authorised before treatment starts. If how claims are handled is part of choosing between Freedom and other insurers, an FCA-authorised broker can set Freedom's process beside theirs for your household; ask for a call-back through this page's form and it costs you nothing.
The rules below come from the Freedom Elite Policyholder's Guide to Cover, published on Freedom's own website and dated 01/04/2025 in its footer; page numbers are the guide's own. Other plans and later editions may differ, so your certificate has the last word.
Pre-authorisation and the Freedom Health Insurance claims number
Pre-authorisation is the condition everything else hangs on. The guide's general conditions put it plainly: "All claims must be pre-authorised before you start treatment so we can confirm your claim will be covered. If you incur additional costs because a claim was not pre-authorised, we will not pay those additional costs" (page 39). For anyone who has moved to Freedom from another insurer, a separate note repeats the point: "You must call the claims helpline before receiving any further medical treatment to make sure you are covered by this policy" (page 37).
The claims line is separate from the general enquiries number. It is 01202 283 580, with email at claims@freedomhealthinsurance.co.uk (page 5). Freedom is available from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except public holidays; outside those hours you can leave a message and Freedom will call back on the next working day. Freedom asks for your policy number, printed on the certificate, whenever you get in touch. The guide gives four reasons to ring the claims line:
- to make a new claim;
- when you need further treatment;
- with a question about a claim already open;
- to find out whether a particular treatment would be covered.
Two kinds of claim skip pre-authorisation altogether: NHS cash benefit, and routine dental, optical and GP costs (page 33). Your certificate shows whether you have either.
Freedom Health Insurance referral, from GP letter to specialist
If you are unwell or injured, you must see your GP first, and if the GP wants to refer you to a specialist you mention that you have medical insurance and would prefer private treatment (page 32). The referral is a condition of cover in general: "Unless otherwise stated, cover under this policy requires you to be referred by your GP before starting treatment" (page 38). The private GP and referral page looks at the GP step across insurers.
The call comes next. In the guide's words, "If your GP refers you for private treatment, you must then call our claims helpline to find out if your claim will be covered by this policy and, if so, any limits that apply" (page 32). Expect to give your name and policy number, your symptoms and whether you have had them before, when they began and when you first saw the GP about them, and what the GP recommends, with the specialist and hospital named. Freedom also asks for a copy of the referral letter. It may ask your GP for more information, with your consent; you can refuse, but Freedom may then be unable to continue the claim. If the claim is accepted, you get a claim number and are told what to do next.
- Give the claim number to the specialist at your first appointment, with any other correspondence from Freedom about the claim (page 33).
- Call Freedom again once the specialist recommends treatment. The first call settles whether the claim is covered; this one confirms whether the treatment is, and any limits on it.
- Ring straight away if in-patient or day-patient treatment is proposed. It is "particularly important to contact us straightaway if the specialist says you need inpatient or daypatient treatment as specific limits may apply" (page 33).
Whether a specialist or hospital you picked yourself would be accepted depends on the policy; a broker can run through that on the call-back at no cost.
The papers a Freedom claim runs on
| Claim | Pre-authorised first? | What Freedom asks for |
|---|---|---|
| Private treatment after a GP referral | Yes (page 39) | A copy of the GP referral letter (page 32); if asked, medical reports and original accounts and invoices for the claim, including any for costs covered by your excess (page 39) |
| NHS cash benefit | No (page 33) | A copy of the discharge summary from the hospital, sent to Freedom within six months of being discharged (page 33) |
| Routine dental, optical and GP costs | No (page 33) | The original, fully itemised invoice and a written request for reimbursement quoting your policy number, by post or through the online portal on Freedom's website (page 33) |
Gathering that evidence is at your own expense: the guide makes any cost of supplying the information needed to support a claim your responsibility (page 39).
How the excess is applied to a Freedom claim
Your certificate says whether the policy carries an excess and how much it is. Where it does, Freedom takes it off the first valid invoice it receives, and later ones until it is used up, then tells you so; the Freedom reviews page looks at that collection clause. The same part of the guide (page 31) answers the usual follow-up questions:
- One excess per person per period. The excess applies "per insured person, per period of insurance", so each person covered pays it once in a period of insurance however many claims they make.
- A second excess if treatment crosses renewal. It falls due at the start of the first eligible claim in a period, and "If that claim continues into the next period of insurance, another excess will need to be paid."
- Benefit limits stay whole. Where treatment costs normally have a maximum limit, the excess you pay is not taken off that limit.
- No excess on cash benefits. None is due on a claim for NHS cash benefit or maternity cash benefit.
A higher excess usually lowers the premium but raises what you pay in a year you claim. A broker can price Freedom's excess options next to other insurers' on one call, so you see both sides of that trade; what an excess is explains the choice.
Who is paid: the hospital, or you
Freedom prefers to pay providers directly, so an invoice that reaches you should go straight to Freedom for settlement (page 33). The excess runs the other way: you pay it to the provider, and Freedom cannot accept it from you (page 31). Routine dental, optical and GP costs are also different, since Freedom does not settle those directly with providers; you pay and claim back (page 33).
For bills you have paid yourself, the guide sets a deadline: "We prefer to settle invoices directly with the providers, but if you do pay any invoices yourself, you must send them to us within six months along with a written request for reimbursement. If you do not send your claim within six months, we will not reimburse you" (page 34). Refunds of costs already paid, and NHS cash benefit, always go to the policyholder, in pounds sterling, with no interest or other fees added (page 34). How soon Freedom pays a refund once it is accepted is worth raising with the broker, free, when they ring.
If other insurance may also cover medical expenses, Freedom "will only pay a proportionate share of the claim", asks for full details of the other policy and recovers a proportion from that insurer (page 34). Claiming on two health insurance policies explains how that tends to work.
Complaints about a claim, and the Financial Ombudsman Service
Complaints have their own contacts: phone 0800 999 2013 or 01202 756 350, email complaints@freedomhealthinsurance.co.uk, or post to County Gates House, 300 Poole Road, Poole, Dorset, BH12 1AZ (page 46). Freedom sets itself a deadline: "We will investigate your complaint and provide you with our final decision within no more than eight weeks."
If you remain unhappy with the response, or eight weeks pass without one, you may have the right to take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which the guide describes as free and independent. Two conditions apply: "The FOS will only consider your complaint if you have given us the opportunity to resolve the matter first and you must refer your complaint to the FOS within six months of our final decision letter." Outside that window the FOS can look at a complaint only in very limited circumstances, for example where it believes exceptional circumstances caused the delay. The FOS can be reached on 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123 and at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk; going to the FOS does not affect your right to take legal action if you do not accept the outcome of its review (page 46).
A complaint about price is a different matter: see why a Freedom premium goes up at renewal. What the policy pays for is on what Freedom Health Insurance includes.
Smaller Freedom claim questions
Do Freedom Life health insurance claims go through this helpline?
The number above is the UK insurer's claims line, for its own policies. Searches for Freedom Life often lead to American insurers and plans run under US rules, which this page does not cover. Which Freedom are you looking at separates the names.
Can I claim for my GP's charge for filling in the claim form?
Not under the Elite guide, which lists "administration fees charged by a GP for completing a claim form or supplying other documents needed to support a claim" among the things it does not pay for (page 26). Ask the surgery what it charges before requesting a form.
Can I claim dental costs online?
Yes: dental, optical and GP costs claims can go through Freedom's online portal as well as by post (page 33). Whether your policy pays towards dental work at all is on Freedom's dental cover page.
To have Freedom's claiming rules tested against your own situation, send your number through this page's form for a free broker call-back.