You are deciding whether to put the whole household on one private medical policy, and the first thing you want is a number. This page cannot give you one: we hold no premium data, so any figure for your family would be invented. What it can do is show what a family quote is actually pricing: four things that work differently from an individual policy, each of which you can check on a quote in front of you. For a real figure for your own family, an FCA-authorised broker can put the same questions to several insurers in one conversation. Fill in the form on this page to be put in touch with one; it is free and takes a few minutes.
The page works from the insurers' own documents, quoted with their page numbers: Aviva, Bupa, Freedom Health Insurance and WPA. Where a clause settles a question we say so. Where the wording we hold is silent we say that too, and give you the question to ask instead.
What this page answers
The search that brings most people here is some version of "how much does family health insurance cost in the UK", and no web page can answer it, because the premium is set for your particular household: who is on the policy and their ages, where you live, how your medical history is underwritten, the excess, the out-patient limit and the options added. A family quote has all of those dials, and a second layer an individual quote does not: for every dial, whether it is set once for the policy or once for each person on it. That comes down to four questions.
- Is a family policy one policy covering several people, or several policies billed together?
- Is the excess per person or per policy? On a policy with four people, that is the difference between paying it once and paying it four times.
- Is a benefit limit shared across the family, or does each member hold their own?
- How are children added, and does their cover differ from an adult's?
Each one turns "what does it cost" into something you can read off a quote, or ask for in writing if it does not say. The sections below take them in turn, and the table further down sets the four insurers side by side.
Is a family policy one policy, or several?
If a family policy is one policy with several members, the excess, the limits and the options are settings on that policy, and the question each time is whether a setting applies once or per member. If it is really separate policies billed together, each person carries their own of everything.
The wording we hold is written the first way. Aviva's terms describe an excess "payable for each member every policy year" and pay for a parent to stay in hospital with "a child covered by the policy", both quoted below: one policy, several members. Bupa's guide, on what happens when a medical exclusion is applied, has the same shape:
"If a special condition applies, we'll send a confirmation of special conditions to the main member"
— Bupa, policy guide for Bupa By You health insurance (BINS 14718), 2024, page 11, read 4 September 2026.
A "main member" only makes sense where other members share the policy, and Freedom's section on "age limits for children", quoted below, is a rule for children on a policy rather than children holding one. What none of this settles is how the insurer arrives at the price: whether each member is priced on their own and the figures added together, whether a child is priced differently from an adult, or whether members on one policy can have different excess levels or options from one another. Those are the first things to ask; a quote split per person is far easier to check than a single total.
Is the excess per person or per policy?
The excess is the part of each year's claims you pay before the insurer does; what a private health insurance excess is covers how it works on any policy. On a family policy the prior question is how many excesses there are: one for the policy, paid once a year however many of you claim, or one for each person, paid as many times as there are people treated. One insurer settles this in a single sentence.
"Excess options £100 Benefits covered under this policy will be subject to an excess payable for each member every policy year. £200 £500 £1,000 £3,000 £5,000"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions, April 2025 issue, page 11, read 4 September 2026.
Six levels, from £100 to £5,000, and the basis is "for each member every policy year". On an Aviva family policy with that wording each person has their own excess, starting again each policy year: choose £1,000 and four people claim in the same year, and that is £1,000 from each of them, not £1,000 shared. If the quote in front of you is not Aviva's, ask the insurer for the sentence that does the same job.
Bupa's guide explains its excess with a worked example, which is useful on timing and less so on the family question:
"Helen has some physiotherapy which costs £250. We pay Helen's physiotherapist £150 and we'll let Helen know that she needs to pay the physiotherapist £100 (which is the policy excess). If Helen needs other treatment during the policy year, she doesn't need to pay another excess."
— Bupa, policy guide for Bupa By You health insurance (BINS 14718), 2024, page 10, read 4 September 2026.
So Bupa's excess is per policy year rather than per claim. But Helen is one person, and the extract does not say whether, on a family policy, her partner and children each carry an excess of their own or share hers. We would not assume it follows the individual rule either way; put it to Bupa in those words.
WPA's product summary describes a conventional excess and, beside it, something no other document we hold offers:
"Where an excess is chosen, you must pay your excess for eligible treatment up to your chosen level per Policy year before we provide benefit. Where Shared Responsibility (co-payment) has been selected, you must pay 25% of claims for eligible treatment up to your chosen level of Shared Responsibility."
— WPA, Insurance Product Information Document for Complete Health, November 2025 issue, page 2, read 4 September 2026.
"You" and "your" do the work here, and on a family policy they are ambiguous: the summary does not say whether "your chosen level" is reached once for the policy or once for each member. The same goes for Shared Responsibility, a quarter of each eligible claim up to a chosen ceiling: whether that ceiling is per person or per policy is not in the extract. Freedom's guide is clear on the mechanism and silent on the count:
"If this policy does have an excess, we will deduct this amount from the first valid invoice we receive and from any subsequent valid invoices until the excess has been fully applied. We will tell you when we have done this and you will then need to pay the excess amount to the relevant provider."
— Freedom Health Insurance, Freedom Elite policyholder's guide to cover, dated 1 April 2025, page 31, read 4 September 2026.
The excess comes off the first bill or bills of the year and you settle it with the hospital or clinic, not with Freedom; whether "this amount" is one amount for the policy or one for each person, the clause does not say. There is also a second part to the excess question: which claims trigger one at all. Bupa's guide carves one route out:
"If you have a Direct Access phone or video assessment you won't need to pay an excess for it and the cost won't be subtracted from your outpatient benefit allowance (if either of these apply to your policy)."
— Bupa, policy guide for Bupa By You health insurance (BINS 14718), 2024, page 7, read 4 September 2026.
A Direct Access phone or video assessment carries no excess and does not eat into the out-patient allowance for the member who uses it, which on a policy where several people might each start a claim in a year is worth knowing.
So one clause, Aviva's, settles the per-person question, as per member; the other three are written to "you", and we have not established how their excess counts on a family policy. If your quote does not say, that is a fair thing to have a broker check across several insurers at once; the form on this page puts you in touch with one, and there is nothing to pay.
Are benefit limits shared across the family, or held per member?
A limit is the most the insurer will pay for a kind of treatment, usually in a policy year, and private health insurance benefit limits explained covers the common kinds. The family question is the excess question turned round: £250 shared by four people is a quarter of £250 each. WPA states its standard out-patient figure plainly.
"Out-patient Treatment Consultations with a Specialist – £250 (increase with the Extra Out-patient Consultations Optional Extra)"
— WPA, Insurance Product Information Document for Complete Health, November 2025 issue, page 1, read 4 September 2026.
Specialist consultations as an out-patient are capped at £250 a policy year as standard, with an optional extra to raise it. What the line does not say is whether the £250 is held by each member or shared by the policy. Aviva's reduced out-patient limit of £500 or £1,000, quoted under "cheapest" below, does not say either, and the limits page on this site reached the same point on the clauses it holds: none says how a limit is shared on a family policy. So this one is settled by no wording we have, and it is the question to put straight after the excess: "Is each benefit limit per person per policy year, or one figure across everyone on the policy?" The answer multiplies or divides what the printed limit is worth.
What named insurers actually say (compare the policy wording)
The ten clauses behind this page, side by side: what each settles for a family, and what it leaves open.
| Insurer and document | Settled for a family | Still to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms, April 2025, page 11: excess "for each member every policy year", six levels from £100 to £5,000 | The excess is per member, per policy year | Can members choose different levels? |
| Aviva, same terms, page 8: reduced out-patient limit of £500 or £1,000 | Choosing it removes cover for complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and hospital dental surgery | Is the limit per member or per policy? |
| Aviva, same terms, page 5: parent accommodation | A child on the policy brings a benefit of its own: in full, child of 15 or under, one parent only | Does a child carry their own excess? |
| Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide (BINS 14718), 2024, page 10: worked example | The excess is per policy year, not per claim | Per member or per policy? |
| Bupa, same guide, page 7: Direct Access | A phone or video assessment carries no excess and is not deducted from the out-patient allowance | Nothing on the family question |
| Bupa, same guide, page 11: "the main member" | One policy, with a main member and others | Is each member underwritten separately? |
| WPA, Complete Health IPID, November 2025, page 2: excess and Shared Responsibility | Excess per policy year; a co-payment option of 25% up to a chosen level exists | Per member or per policy, for both the excess and the ceiling? |
| WPA, same IPID, page 1: specialist consultations | £250 as standard, increasable with an optional extra | Per member or per policy? |
| Freedom, Freedom Elite policyholder's guide, April 2025, page 31: how the excess is taken | Deducted from the first valid invoice or invoices, and paid to the provider | Per member or per policy? |
| Freedom, same guide, page 42: age limits for children | Covered to the end of the period of insurance in which they reach 25 | What happens on that date? |
Three of the four excess clauses and both limit clauses land in the last column on the per-member question. Get each answer in writing before you compare one family quote with another; without them, two premiums are not a like-for-like comparison.
The cheapest family health insurance: what a lower price has usually taken out
"Cheapest family health insurance" is a search, not a product. The lowest quote for a household is reached by moving the dials: a higher excess, a lower out-patient limit, options left off, a co-payment taken on. On a family policy each dial carries the per-person question above, and one of them removes cover a family planning another child would want to know about. Aviva's terms are explicit:
"If you have chosen a reduced out-patient limit of £500 or £1,000 you are not covered as an in-patient, day-patient, or out-patient for treatment for: complications of pregnancy and childbirth, or surgical procedures on the teeth performed in a hospital"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions, April 2025 issue, page 8, read 4 September 2026.
Read that twice. The reduced limit does not just cap out-patient spending at £500 or £1,000; it removes cover for complications of pregnancy and childbirth altogether, as an in-patient and day-patient too, and hospital dental surgery with it. An Aviva family quote that looks lean for that reason has, on this wording, taken those out, and nothing on the premium line will say so. The other dials are quieter but work the same way: WPA's £250 limit is what a quote carries unless the optional extra is added, Aviva's excess runs to £5,000 and applies per member, and WPA's Shared Responsibility swaps a fixed excess for a quarter of every eligible claim up to a ceiling we cannot say is per person. The useful version of "cheapest" is the lowest quote on which you know the answers to the four questions and can live with them.
How children are added, and whether their cover differs
Two clauses we hold speak to this; much of what parents ask about is in no wording we have. One insurer states the end of a child's cover exactly:
"14.2 Age limits for children Children can be covered up to the end of the period of insurance during which they reach 25 years of age"
— Freedom Health Insurance, Freedom Elite policyholder's guide to cover, dated 1 April 2025, page 42, read 4 September 2026.
On Freedom's wording a child stays on the policy not until their twenty-fifth birthday but until the end of the policy year in which it falls. Other insurers set their own age and we hold none of them, so it is a question for every quote, along with what happens on that date: whether a child can take a policy of their own without being underwritten again, we have not established for any insurer. Aviva's terms show the other side, a benefit that exists only because a child is on the policy:
"Parent accommodation when staying with a child covered by the policy In full. Child of 15 or under receiving treatment that is covered by the policy; one parent only"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions, April 2025 issue, page 5, read 4 September 2026.
If a child of 15 or under is admitted for covered treatment, Aviva pays in full for one parent to stay with them; the age and "one parent only" are the two limits in the line. It is the one clause we hold where a child's cover differs in substance from an adult's. Dental is the other place a child's cover tends to differ, and private health insurance for children: dental cover takes that on its own, braces included.
What we have not established, for any insurer, is how a child is added in the first place: from what date a new baby is covered and whether you must tell the insurer within a set time; whether a child is underwritten on their own medical history; whether a child is priced differently from an adult; and whether a child carries an excess of their own. Put those four to the insurer before you compare prices.
Common questions
How much is family health insurance in the UK?
We cannot tell you, and nor can any page that has not priced your household: the premium is set for the people on the policy, their ages and medical history, where you live, and the excess, limits and options chosen. What you can establish first is whether the excess and limits are per person or per policy, which decides what any figure is worth.
Does the price simply multiply by the number of people on the policy?
We have not established how any insurer prices a family of two, three, five or six; the documents we hold do not say. What Aviva's does say is that the excess is "for each member every policy year", so that part of the cost counts per person, and a quote split by member would show you the rest.
Does private health insurance cover family members?
A family policy covers the people named on it, and the wording we hold is written that way: Aviva refers to "each member" and "a child covered by the policy", Bupa to a "main member", and Freedom sets an age limit for children. Which relatives can be added, and to what age, is set by each insurer; Freedom's guide gives 25 for children, and we hold no other insurer's figure.
How much is out of pocket for a family on private health insurance?
Three things come out of your own pocket on any policy: the excess, any co-payment, and anything above a limit, and on a family policy each may count per person. On Aviva's wording the excess does; on WPA's Shared Responsibility you pay 25% of eligible claims up to a chosen level, and whether that level is per person is not in the summary we hold.
Does health insurance actually pay out?
On the wording we hold the insurer pays the hospital or clinic directly for covered treatment, with the excess taken off the first bill or bills: Bupa's example has it paying the physiotherapist £150 of a £250 bill while the member pays the £100 excess. What is not paid is anything excluded, anything above a limit, and anything ruled out by your underwriting terms.
Do you pay tax on family health insurance?
If you pay for a policy yourself, from income that has already been taxed, you are not taxed on it again; a self-employed family buying its own policy is in this position. If an employer pays for cover that includes your family, HMRC treats it as a benefit in kind and taxes you on its value, which your employer's P11D shows; the rules are on gov.uk and we hold no tax data beyond that.
Can a family be covered on a group scheme?
Group health insurance is bought by an employer for its staff, and whether partners and children can be added, and who pays, is set scheme by scheme; we hold no group clause on this page. Ask your employer; if the scheme does not allow family members, a family policy of your own is the alternative.
What about international health insurance for a family?
An international policy is a different product, priced on the area of cover rather than a UK hospital list; international and expat private health insurance covers it, including what the same insurers say about treatment abroad. The per-person questions on this page apply there too.
How do I compare family health insurance quotes?
Line them up on the four questions before the premium: one policy or several; excess per person or per policy; limits per member or shared; what a child's cover includes and until what age. Then compare prices between quotes that answer them the same way.
If you would rather have that done for your own family than in general, fill in the form on this page. An FCA-authorised broker can get quotes from several insurers and put these questions to each of them, and it costs you nothing.