A health insurance no claims discount lowers your premium for each year without a claim and costs you steps on the insurer’s scale when you claim. Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, WPA and Saga each run their own scale; Vitality uses claims bands instead. If the discount is part of how you are choosing an insurer, one FCA-authorised broker can raise it with several insurers in a single call; request the free call-back through the form on this page.
AXA Health’s no claims discount and Saga’s have pages of their own.
No claims discount health insurance: six schemes side by side
| Insurer | Scale | Whose level | What costs you steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bupa By You | Levels 1 to 14, 0% to 70%; new policies start at level 12 (65%) | Each person | Claims over £300 in the period: two levels, or three for the top band (see the £1,200 point below) |
| AXA Health | 17 levels, up to 80% | Each person | Any claim paid: three levels |
| Aviva | Levels 0 to 14 | Each member | More than £250 paid in a year on claims that have not already cost a drop: three levels |
| WPA Complete Health | Levels 0 to 15, up to 73% | Each person | Over £250 in the period: one, two or three levels, by band |
| Saga HealthPlan | Levels 0 to 10, up to 60% | Whole policy | Each claim, counted by medical condition: two levels |
| Vitality | No step scale; claims bands plus Vitality status | Claims paid for you; band limits depend on the number of adults on the plan | The amount paid decides the band |
Sources: Bupa’s no-claims discount leaflet (BINS 23776, SEP26), pages 1–2; AXA Health’s Personal Health membership handbook (October 2024, PB116343a/10.24, hosted by more-health.co.uk), pages 33–34; Aviva’s no claim discount leaflet (GEN6431 01/2026), pages 1–4, and the March 2026 edition of its terms (AV1590050_GEN6842_0326), page 11, so check the terms sent with your quote; WPA’s Complete Health brochure (effective from 1 October 2026), page 22; Saga’s HealthPlan Super policy book (May 2025), pages 31–32; Vitality’s Personal Healthcare Membership Guide (VHTCR0002 08/2024, hosted by mytribeinsurance.co.uk), page 39. Page numbers are PDF pages.
A discount slows a rise rather than promising a cut: Bupa’s leaflet says age, medical advances, drug prices and new treatments tend to push costs up, so the price is unlikely to fall even with a discount (see why a Bupa premium goes up).
What moves you down a step: the size of the claim, or any claim at all
Bupa, Aviva and WPA let small claims through and charge steps above a threshold. AXA Health counts any payment, however small, apart from the exceptions listed further down (see why AXA Health premiums rise). Saga treats all treatment for one medical condition within 12 months of its start as one claim, whatever it cost.
Bupa keeps you on your level for claims up to £300, then gives two levels down for "more than £300 but less than £1,200" and three for "more than £1,200" (page 2). The page 1 diagram instead says "£1,200 or more", so a total of exactly £1,200 drops three levels on page 1 and fits neither band on page 2. Your membership certificate carries the full scale, so go by the bands printed there, and if your claims come near £1,200, ask Bupa which band applies. Bupa counts claims approved for payment, not any excess you pay.
Aviva and WPA both draw a line at £250. Aviva totals what it has paid in the year on a member’s claims that have not yet caused a drop: "£250 or less" and the level holds; "more than £250" and the NCD falls "by three levels on the scale" (page 3), never more than three in one policy year (page 4). WPA grades the drop: "Up to £250 stay on same level", then one level down for £250.01–£500, two for £500.01–£750 and three over £750 (page 22).
Timing matters too. Aviva: "The NCD is affected on the date we pay the bill relating to the claim, not the date the treatment takes place" (page 1). It sets the level 39 days before renewal, and "A claim paid between calculating the NCD and the renewal date won’t affect the NCD at that renewal, instead it’ll affect the NCD at the following renewal." (page 4). AXA also uses payment date, and sets the discount up to three months ahead; Saga, with the same three months, dates a claim by treatment (page 31). Bupa prices cover around six weeks before renewal; WPA’s window typically ends nine months into the policy year. The broker who rings you back can check whether a late-year claim would hit this renewal or the next.
Aviva’s leaflet shows a step down outweighing a step up. On an illustrative £4,000 base premium at level 0, a claim-free year at level 9 means level 10 and a 10% price reduction; a claim affecting the NCD means level 6 and a 34% increase (page 2). Aviva adds that actual effects may be smaller or larger (more on why Aviva premiums go up).
Vitality places you in a claims band by the total paid for you, with limits shown on your membership certificate. A higher Vitality status can shrink the rise in any band, and no claims at all could earn a discount before age and base-rate increases (page 39; see how a Vitality renewal is built). A notice already in hand? See your health insurance renewal price.
Which claims don’t count
All six ignore NHS cash benefit payments; beyond that the lists differ.
- Bupa (page 2): Dental Cover Add-on, Dental Allowance, the Face-to-Face GP Service, the Members First Option, and any excess. The Anytime HealthLine and Digital GP leave it alone, though treatment needed afterwards may not (see Bupa private GP access).
- AXA Health (page 34): a claim below your excess that you pay in full; cash benefits, including dentist and optician cashback; the Therapies Option; speech therapy; Doctor at Hand; private GP fees under the Extended Cover Option; hospice donations; external prostheses; parent accommodation.
- Aviva (pages 2 and 4): NHS cancer cash benefit, hospice donation, baby bonus, GP-referred speech therapy for children and, if selected, other treatments and therapies and dental and optical, whose premiums the NCD does not apply to. Also: "If the amount due towards the claim is less than the excess amount then the NCD won’t be impacted."
- WPA (page 22): Health and Wellbeing benefits (excluding the Extended Therapy Structured Counselling benefit), the Fast Track Skin Support Pathway, Hospice Donation, the Fast Track Physiotherapy Pathway, Cash Extras and Dental Emergencies (the last three parts of optional extras), and any excess paid.
- Saga (page 31): eligible therapist, acupuncturist and physiotherapist treatment, major dental cash benefits, external prostheses, Mental Health Direct Access counselling, the Saga GP Service, and some optional cover. Its warning: "if you should claim additional treatments, for example a consultation with a specialist prior to your physiotherapy, your NCD will be affected."
- Vitality (page 39): the Primary Care benefit, including Vitality GP and panel GP consultations, their prescriptions and minor tests a panel GP orders; Childbirth Cash Benefit; and Optical, Dental and Hearing Cover and Worldwide Travel Cover if held.
Each list is one product’s; check the benefits you expect to use against the policy you are quoted.
Protecting the discount, and paying a small claim back
Bupa’s leaflet puts health first: "If you’re unwell, it’s important that you don’t delay getting treatment because of the impact it might have on your no-claims discount. This is what your health insurance is for." (page 1).
Aviva’s March 2026 terms list protected NCD as an option that holds a member’s level at the next renewal after a claim that would have cut it, with eligibility criteria (page 11; see making an Aviva claim). The leaflet (page 3) says protection "can only be added from your renewal date" if not already selected, and among its conditions you must "not be aware of any conditions for which you may need diagnostic tests or treatment in the next six months, whether or not you have consulted a medical practitioner." Once used, it is removed.
AXA Health: "In some cases, we may offer you the chance to protect your no claims discount for a small fee." (page 34). Ask within 30 days of receiving renewal documents; a protected member who claims holds their level, without rising, and loses the protection. Saga "may offer this option on the policy for an additional premium, if no claims have been made in the last two years" (page 32), accepted within 30 days of renewal. One claim keeps your level, though the premium will still increase, and ends protection; each further claim costs two levels.
AXA and Saga let you repay the past year’s claims when treatment cost little, then recalculate. AXA: "You have 30 days from after the date of your renewal to pay us back." (page 34). Saga gives 30 days from renewal too (page 32; see why Saga premiums rise). Vitality will not accept paid invoices back to lower a claims band (page 39). Whether Bupa or WPA offer protection or repayment is a point the broker can raise with them on the free call-back.
No discount is permanent. Aviva: "We may remove the NCD from a future renewal date by giving at least one year’s notice to the policyholder." (page 4). Page 43 of Bupa’s By You policy guide (BINS 14718, © Bupa 2024) allows changes to terms, premiums and any discount at renewal, with at least 28 days’ written notice (see a Bupa renewal).
Does the discount transfer when you switch insurer?
A level number means something different at each insurer: level 10 is 60% at Saga, its top, 67% at AXA Health and 59% at Bupa, whose leaflet starts new By You policyholders at level 12, 65% (page 1). Whether claim-free years elsewhere change where a new insurer starts you is for that insurer to say; the broker who phones can ask on your behalf, free. Get the answer in writing before cancelling anything. Medical history on a move is a separate matter, covered in switching private health insurance provider.
Questions for every insurer:
- What level would I start on, and does the quote show it?
- Does a claim cost steps by size, by payment or by condition, and when is the level fixed?
- Is protection or repayment offered, at what price and on what conditions?
- Do the benefits I expect to use sit inside or outside the discount?
Leave your number and a broker will phone back, at no charge, to take those four through with the insurers on your shortlist.