Cover through an employer's private medical scheme usually stops when your membership of the scheme does, but AXA Health says most providers let you carry on with a personal policy without fresh medical underwriting. If you are leaving a job, being made redundant or retiring, the decision in front of you is whether to take that route and how quickly. Deciding whether to continue is easier with someone who knows the rules. After you submit the form on this page, a broker who is FCA-authorised phones you, free of charge, to go over your scheme ending.

Does cover stop when you leave a company scheme?

Yes, normally. AXA Health's page for people leaving a company scheme (read 28 October 2026) says that "For most members who are on a company paid scheme, membership of this ends on the day you leave the company." Its separate guide to continuing cover puts the same point more broadly: cover "typically ends on your last working day or at the end of the month, depending on your company's policies." Which of those applies to you is set by your employer's scheme, so the scheme documents or your HR team are where to check.

The practical risk is the gap. The same guide says that if there is a break between the company scheme and a personal plan, "you won't have any health insurance cover during that period", and that any treatment needed in the meantime is paid for by you. A course of treatment already under way is the case that matters most: the same insurer says the company scheme stops covering it once your membership has ended, and a new personal plan is a different policy with its own terms.

Redundancy, a new job without a health benefit, retirement and a career break are all reasons people move to a personal plan. A new employer's scheme is a different matter, because that is another group policy rather than a personal one; the group-scheme side is covered in how a group policy works.

Continued personal medical exclusions: keeping your underwriting

Underwriting is how an insurer decides what it will not pay for because of your medical history. Started cold, a personal policy normally treats anything you have had before as a pre-existing condition, which is why insurers offer a way to carry the old terms across. Insurers word it differently: AXA Health calls it "continuing medical exclusions" (CME), while Freedom, Vitality and WPA use "continued personal medical exclusions" (CPME). The idea is the same, that your new personal policy takes over the terms of the old one rather than starting a fresh assessment.

AXA Health states what that can mean for a leaver: you "could be covered for previous and existing medical conditions, as long as your new health insurance plan with us covers these." It adds that this includes people currently claiming, so an ongoing treatment is not automatically shut out. The phrase to hold on to is the condition that the new plan must itself cover the condition. Carrying over your underwriting does not carry over the company scheme's benefits, and a personal plan can be narrower. The same page says the terms of a company scheme differ from those of a personal plan, and that out-patient drugs are not covered on its personal plan.

Other insurers' wording is a reminder that the conditions attached to a switch differ by insurer:

  • Freedom's Elite policyholder's guide (01/04/2025) says: "If your cover transferred to us from another policy which full medical underwriting originally applied to, we will cover all pre-existing conditions unless the certificate says otherwise." It also warns that transferring does not mean the same benefits as the previous policy, and that Freedom does not guarantee to keep paying for treatment that started under a previous policy.
  • WPA's personal and family brochure (effective from 1 October 2026) says a member can transfer on a CPME basis "provided you have completed Full Medical Underwriting (FMU) and have maintained continuous insurance cover on an FMU or CPME basis since then." WPA says it will carry over personal exclusions from the current plan and may sometimes add more.
  • Vitality's Membership Guide (VHTCR0002 08/2024, in a copy hosted by mytribeinsurance.co.uk) describes switch terms that continue the underwriting from your previous plan, sometimes with extra exclusions Vitality adds, and says "the benefits, terms and conditions of this plan may be different from those of your previous plan."

Each of these wordings is about moving from another insurer's policy, and WPA's also asks for full medical underwriting somewhere in your history. Whether your company scheme's cover qualifies under any of them turns on each insurer's reading of your scheme history, which your broker can ask about on the free call.

How long do you have to ask?

Time limits are the part people miss. AXA Health states: "You have 120 days from the date you leave your company healthcare scheme to join on a personal health insurance plan with this special underwriting option." After that, it says, "You can still join any time after that date, but normally any conditions that you were previously claiming for would be excluded from cover." AXA Health also advises calling as soon as you know you are leaving, so the new plan can start on the day you leave. Its guide says insurers "usually" offer a limited window, which is why a 120-day figure should not be read across to another insurer.

If your company scheme is with an insurer other than AXA Health, the window, the paperwork and whether you must move to that insurer are for that insurer to confirm. A broker can ask several insurers about the same leaving date on one call. Tell the broker your leaving date and who insures your scheme when they ring, and they can start from there.

What happens to a condition you already have

Three things decide how a long-standing condition is treated when you move. The first is whether you take the continuation terms inside the window, as above. The second is which underwriting the new insurer applies if you do not: Freedom's guide describes a moratorium, under which all pre-existing conditions are excluded at first, and cover for one may then be available after a full, unbroken two-year period with no advice, treatment, medication or symptoms, and Freedom adds that "Any pre-existing condition that needs regular treatment or medical advice will never be covered." The third is any exclusion already recorded against you, which the CPME wordings above say carries over when you transfer on those terms.

Moratorium terms can themselves be carried across. Vitality's guide says that where someone was previously on a moratorium, either "our moratorium clause applies but backdated to when your cover first started with your previous insurer", or that applies together with extra exclusions Vitality adds. How moratorium and full medical underwriting differ in general is on which private health insurance covers pre-existing conditions, and the insurer-by-insurer picture is on Aviva's underwriting page and Vitality's.

Personal policy or something else?

A personal policy with your underwriting carried across is one option. Others are a policy from a different insurer, a new employer's scheme if there is one, or going without and relying on the NHS and paying for private treatment when needed. AXA Health describes its offer as one for people leaving its own schemes, so a different insurer may or may not have an equivalent; ask that first. Wordings from General & Medical Healthcare and Bupa for members leaving their schemes are quoted on private medical insurance through work. Switching private health insurance provider covers how a switch between insurers works once you hold a personal policy.

If you also still hold another policy, whether you can claim on both is answered in claiming on two health insurance policies. How tax works once you pay for your own cover is explained in private health insurance and tax. If you are comparing types of cover on offer, types of private health insurance policy sets them out.

Questions to settle before your last day

  • What date does my membership end, and does the scheme say end of day or end of month?
  • Who is the insurer, and what is its window for continuing without a new assessment?
  • Which conditions, treatments or claims are open right now, and would the personal plan cover them?
  • Do the family members on my scheme move with me, and on the same terms?
  • What does the personal plan leave out that the scheme paid for, such as out-patient limits?
  • Which underwriting would I be offered with each insurer if I do not continue?

A broker can take these to several insurers in one conversation, though that is not the whole market, and nobody can promise cover until an insurer has accepted you. The enquiry form asks only for name, age band, phone, email and postcode; health questions come up on the call.

Leaver questions: retirement, family, medicals and gaps

Can I carry on my health insurance if I retire?

Retirement is one of the reasons AXA Health lists for moving to a personal plan, alongside redundancy, a career break and a new job without cover. The continuation option is described as open to people who are retiring, subject to the terms of the plan you choose.

Do my dependants keep cover too?

AXA Health's guide says dependants who were covered on the scheme are "usually eligible to keep their cover going on the same underwriting terms." Check the same point with any other insurer.

Do I need a medical examination?

AXA Health says there are no forms or examination when joining its personal plan on these terms, as the arrangements are made over the phone. Other insurers' processes can differ: WPA says it will ask a few questions about medical history on the application, and may occasionally add exclusions.

Will the benefits match what the scheme paid for?

Not necessarily, because the personal plan is a separate policy. Ask the broker to set the personal plan's benefit limits beside what your scheme gave you, and say if a benefit you used is missing.

What if I am between jobs for several months?

A short gap can still matter, as the section on stopping cover shows. How an insurer treats a lapse is for the broker to explain on the call.