Private medical insurance through work is a policy your employer takes out for staff: you use it for eligible private treatment, you usually pay income tax on the premium if the employer pays it, and the cover generally ends when the job does. If you are deciding whether to keep a workplace scheme, add your family to it, or price your own cover for the day you leave, an FCA-authorised broker can price personal cover to sit beside what your employer provides, and the short form here arranges that call-back, free.

What a company scheme usually pays for, and what it leaves with you

A workplace scheme is a group policy: your employer is the policyholder, you are a member, and the insurer's terms are the ones your employer agreed. Like any private medical insurance it pays for eligible private treatment, such as a consultant appointment, tests, an operation or a hospital stay, and it does not stand in for your GP or for emergency care, which stay with the NHS. How much of that treatment is paid for turns on the scheme's own benefit table: whether out-patient care has a limit, whether there is an excess for you to pay, whether cancer cover is full or capped, and which hospitals are on the list.

A friend at another firm with the same insurer's name on their card may hold quite different cover, because each employer chooses its own benefits. Before relying on yours, get hold of your own scheme documents; judging whether a work scheme is any good shows what to look for in them, and business and employee private health insurance covers what an employer needs to have in place.

Pre-existing conditions on a work scheme: what "medical history disregarded" means for you

"Underwriting" is how an insurer decides what to do about your health history when you join. One route is called medical history disregarded. AXA Health's Personal Health handbook says of it: "If you joined us on ‘medical history disregarded’ terms, we accepted any pre-existing conditions you might have had when you joined. We normally only do this if we are continuing cover from a different health insurer or from a company membership, or for a newborn baby who was added to your membership." (AXA Health, Personal Health membership handbook, October 2024, PDF page 14, printed page 13; read 4 September 2026 in a copy hosted by an intermediary). That is AXA's wording for its personal policies, and the case it names that matters here is continuing cover “from a company membership”: leaving a scheme is one of the moments the route can come up.

Buying alone, the route may not be on offer at all. Vitality's Membership Guide says its medical history disregarded method "will usually only apply to newborn babies", subject to joining requirements set out elsewhere in the guide (Vitality, Membership Guide, print code VHTCR0002 08/2024, PDF page 31, read 10 October 2026 in a broker-hosted copy). So someone leaving a scheme written on that basis should not assume the same terms will follow them to a new insurer. The routes are set side by side on medical history disregarded and the other underwriting routes.

The basis your own scheme uses is usually shown on your membership certificate or in the scheme booklet, so check it before you rely on it.

Adding a partner or children to cover through work

Whether your family can join is your employer's decision, made when the scheme was set up. Some schemes cover the employee only, some allow a partner and children to be added, and the cost may come out of your pay, be met by the employer, or be shared. Ask the benefits team four things: who counts as a dependant, when family members can join (on starting, at renewal, or after a life event), who pays for them, and how they are underwritten, as a family member may not be treated in the same way as you.

Family cover your employer pays for is taxed on you too. HMRC's Employment Income Manual says each employee is chargeable on "the premium paid in respect of himself or herself, or members of his or her family or household", less any part of the premium the employee makes good (HMRC, Employment Income Manual, EIM21762, published 22 May 2014, read 21 October 2026). Payroll can tell you how your own scheme is reported. Private health insurance for employees looks at how employers choose these settings, and family cover bought outside work is on private health insurance for families. What your family could be offered outside the scheme depends on their ages and health, and a broker can explain those options for free on the call-back.

The tax on cover your employer pays

GOV.UK's guidance on tax on company benefits says: "You usually pay tax on the cost of the insurance premiums if your employer pays for your medical insurance." (GOV.UK, Tax on company benefits, read 21 October 2026). That is the benefit in kind: the premium your employer pays for you is treated as a benefit and taxed through your tax code or payroll. The same page says "You do not usually have to pay National Insurance on benefits you get from your job"; your employer pays on them instead.

The same page lists tax-free health benefits from an employer, naming "annual check-ups" among them, so not everything a health scheme provides is taxable. How much the premium adds to your tax bill depends on the cost your employer reports and on your tax band, and that is for payroll or HMRC to confirm. The wider picture, including what happens if you buy cover yourself, is on private health insurance and tax. Directors, who have extra choices, are on director health insurance.

What happens to your cover when you leave the job

The cover is tied to the scheme, so it usually ends when your employment does, or when your employer stops the policy. It helps to know your options before your last day, not after.

Some insurers offer to continue cover on a personal basis. General & Medical Healthcare says on its page for people leaving a company scheme: "If your company scheme was provided by General & Medical Healthcare, you’ll have the option to continue your healthcare cover with no change to the way we treat your medical history." The conditions follow: you must "Apply for your policy within two months of the leaving date from your company scheme", have had no change in your state of health since leaving, and pay any outstanding payments so that there is no break in cover (General & Medical Healthcare, Switching Your Health Insurance Policy, read 21 October 2026). Other insurers set their own rules.

Bupa's wording is of the same kind for a different case. Its Bupa By You policy guide says that if you were "covered on a group policy with Bupa, and it was a full medical underwriting policy, we may agree to continue with your underwriting terms from your previous policy". Bupa will review your medical history and tell you of any conditions that are not covered, and adds: "We need to agree to this, and there must be no break in your cover." (Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide, BINS 14718, 2024, page 12, read 4 September 2026). The word is "may": it is not a promise. Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms, for members who were on medical history disregarded terms on another policy and then transferred to Healthier Solutions, say "We do not apply any personal medical exclusions to your policy because of pre-existing conditions", then warn that the new policy's terms "may be different to those of your previous policy" (Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions for policies started or renewed before 1 November 2026, print code AV1590050_GEN6842_0326, PDF page 28).

These are the wordings of three insurers. Which of them, if any, could apply to you depends on who insures your scheme, how long you have been on it and your health when you leave.

Keeping the scheme or buying your own: what to compare

A scheme and a personal policy are different products, so compare them on the same ground:

  • What is covered. Out-patient limit, cancer cover, mental health, therapies and the hospital list, from the benefit table against the quote.
  • Your share. The excess or co-payment, and any premium you contribute under the scheme.
  • Tax. A scheme premium paid by your employer is taxed on you as a benefit; as we understand the general position, cover you buy for yourself gets no tax relief, and Insurance Premium Tax is already built into its price.
  • Health history. How conditions you already have are treated on each, and whether continuing the scheme's terms is possible.
  • Control. A scheme can change or end at your employer's decision; a personal policy stays with you if you move job, subject to its renewal terms.

A broker can price a personal policy for you and set it beside the scheme details you have, so the comparison is on matching settings. That call-back is free and takes a few minutes, whichever way you decide. Which private health insurance to choose sets out how insurers differ, and what company health insurance costs covers the employer side.

Short answers on private health insurance through work

How does private health insurance work in the UK?

The insurer takes a yearly or monthly premium and, in exchange, pays for eligible private treatment up to the limits in the policy. You normally need a GP or specialist referral, and the insurer confirms what is covered before you book. The NHS remains available either way.

Do I have to take private medical insurance through work?

Some employers enrol every eligible member of staff and others ask you to opt in; your contract or benefits handbook says which. If membership is optional, weigh the cover against the tax on it, covered in the tax section above.

How does family health insurance work?

One policy can cover you and the people named on it, such as a partner and children. Under a workplace scheme the employer decides who may be added; outside work, the family can be quoted together.

How do health insurance brokers work?

A broker arranges cover with insurers on your behalf, which for someone leaving a scheme usually means pricing a personal policy. What using one costs you, and how they are paid, is on what a health insurance broker costs you; the difference between a broker and an agent is on broker or agent.

To see those choices priced rather than described, add your name and phone number to the form here; an FCA-authorised broker will call to compare real figures with your own position, at no cost.