The Exeter's Health+ and Bupa By You are both built the same way: a guide sets out everything the insurer could cover, and a certificate shows the part you actually bought. That makes a side-by-side tricky, because the differences sit in the options. The clearest differences are the route in (Bupa's Direct Access for cancer, muscle, bone and joint, and mental health worries, against a GP referral for Health+), how specialists are chosen, and how out-patient cover is sized. Deciding whether Health+ or Bupa By You fits? Our form on this page books a no-cost phone call with an FCA-authorised broker, able to match both against your age and postcode.
How each policy is put together
The Exeter describes Health+ as a core cover with add-ons. The core cover includes in-patient and day-patient treatment, out-patient surgery, cancer treatment and CT, MRI and PET scans, each shown as unlimited in the table on page 10 of its policy document. Out-patient cover, therapies and mental health are the add-ons, and the options you have appear on your Policy Certificate.
Bupa's guide for policies starting after 1 May 2024 runs three levels together, named Comprehensive, Treatment and Care, and Prompt Diagnosis. It says plainly that "you may not have all the cover set out in this policy guide", because the membership certificate decides. For something to be paid, Bupa lists four tests: shown on the certificate, ticked in the guide, eligible treatment, and not crossed as excluded.
Seeing a specialist: GP referral or a call first
The route in is one of the clearer contrasts. For Health+ the policy document says: "Approved treatment requires referral from a GP." The Exeter then offers either an open referral, where you are given a choice of up to three specialists, or a referral to a hospital on your list, depending on which treatment option you chose.
Bupa lets you start without a GP for three subjects. Its Direct Access service lets you "call us about your symptoms without needing a referral from a GP" for cancer, muscle, bone and joint problems, or mental health. Anything else begins with a digital GP appointment or your own GP, who gives an open referral. A Direct Access assessment is not charged against any excess or out-patient allowance you have.
Both want a call before you book anything. Exeter claims must be authorised "before any consultations, tests or treatment"; Bupa calls it pre-authorisation and gives you a number to pass to the provider.
Out-patient cover and what it pays for
Health+ lets you choose the size of the out-patient add-on: unlimited, up to £1,000 a policy year, up to £500, or none. Those covering £500 or £1,000 can add unlimited out-patient diagnostics, so tests are paid in full and only specialist consultation fees use up the limit.
| Health+ out-patient add-on | What the document says |
|---|---|
| Out-patient | Unlimited, up to £1,000 or up to £500 per policy year, or no cover |
| Unlimited out-patient diagnostics | An upgrade for those with the £500 or £1,000 level |
| Therapies | Unlimited, up to £1,000 or up to £500 per policy year, or no cover |
Source: The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (MKTG762, July 2026), page 11, read 29 October 2026.
Bupa's guide leaves out-patient allowances to the certificate, and the policy type changes the shape of out-patient cover. A Treatment and Care policy, it says, will "only provide cover for outpatient consultations and diagnostic tests for six months after you’re discharged from hospital for day-patient or inpatient treatment or an outpatient operation", and they must relate to that hospital treatment. Consultations and tests before you go into hospital are yours to fund or take through the NHS, though Bupa says it can talk through options such as Direct Access.
Since each out-patient choice is set on the certificate, the broker who phones you back can price The Exeter and Bupa versions side by side.
Cancer cover compared
The Exeter says Health+ "offers cover for all stages of cancer once diagnosed", and for limits: "We do not place any specific time or financial limits on cancer treatment." Its list includes surgery, radiotherapy, drug therapy that has NICE approval for clinical effectiveness, counselling, genetic testing and follow-up reviews in remission. Preventative screening, treatment and vaccines are not covered. There is also an NHS cash benefit of £250 a night in-patient or £150 a day for day-patient treatment, up to £10,000 a policy year, if you have free NHS treatment the policy would otherwise have covered.
Bupa's certificate shows whether you have cancer cover at all. Where you do, it pays for outpatient consultations, therapies, diagnostic tests and outpatient cancer drugs once cancer has been diagnosed, with scans and hospital treatment paid under the main benefits. Bupa has NHS cash benefits too, including for each night of free NHS in-patient cancer treatment and each day of NHS radiotherapy or chemotherapy that the policy would have covered privately; the certificate shows which apply and the allowances. A further benefit, NHS Cancer Cover Plus, applies where the radiotherapy, chemotherapy, drug therapy or surgical operation you need is not available to you under the NHS.
The two are close in outline. The differences sit in the conditions: the NICE test on Exeter drug therapy, and the NHS-availability test on Bupa's NHS Cancer Cover Plus.
Mental health: add-on or certificate option
On Health+ mental health is an add-on, and the document lists unlimited out-patient specialist consultations and diagnostic tests for psychiatric treatment provided by psychiatrists, psychologists and cognitive behavioural therapists. In-patient and day-patient treatment is limited to 28 days for each member each policy year.
Bupa's mental health benefit appears on the certificate only if you have it. It covers consultant psychiatrists' fees, mental health and wellbeing therapists, and an online therapy programme if you use the service Bupa guides you to. The certificate sets the maximum days for day-patient or in-patient treatment. Bupa adds that one addiction treatment programme is covered in each person's lifetime, and "We do not pay for treatment of dementia."
Bupa says mental health treatment connected with special, pre-existing and moratorium conditions is not covered; The Exeter's moratorium, below, applies to treatment of any condition.
Pre-existing conditions and switching underwriting
Each insurer offers full medical underwriting and a moratorium, and the moratorium has the same five-and-two shape. The Exeter will not pay for a condition that showed symptoms or needed medication, treatment or advice in the five years before the policy began, unless a continuous two-year stretch passes with none. Bupa, too, looks back five years and wants two consecutive years clear before it will pay for such a condition.
Both have a route for people moving from another insurer. The Exeter lists continued personal medical exclusions and continued moratorium, and says it may add further exclusions. Bupa says it may agree to continue your previous full medical underwriting terms if there is no break in cover, and that a moratorium start date continues on a switch. Each reserves the right to review your history, so the outcome differs by person.
Both also leave chronic conditions out: The Exeter lists them under ongoing or long-term conditions (naming diabetes, asthma and multiple sclerosis), and Bupa says "Treatment of chronic conditions isn’t covered." Both carve cancer out: The Exeter says this exclusion does not apply to cancer treatment, and Bupa covers eligible cancer and mental health treatment where the certificate shows that cover. For the long version of how The Exeter treats earlier conditions, see The Exeter and pre-existing conditions.
Hospital lists, guided specialist and fee limits
This is where the two diverge most. A Health+ policy has one of two treatment options. With a hospital list, the policy document says "you are only eligible for treatment at hospitals on your chosen list", and specialist fees are paid up to a published fee schedule, so a higher fee leaves you a shortfall. With guided specialist, The Exeter helps you find the specialist and pays eligible fees in full, and the policy then has no hospital list at all. More on the lists is on The Exeter hospital list explained.
Bupa names three facility access options in its guide: Essential Access, Extended Choice, and Extended Choice with Central London, with the one that applies shown on your certificate; a Guided Care option, where bought, comes with its own addendum. Bupa pays consultants for hospital treatment up to its schedule of procedures, and a fee-assured consultant will not send an extra bill for covered treatment within your allowances. For anyone else, "you may need to pay the difference." Bupa also says its lists change from time to time, as does The Exeter.
Excess, and what it does to the premium
The Exeter defines the excess as the amount deducted from eligible treatment costs for each member, each policy year. Health+ offers excess options of nil, £100, £250, £500, £1,000, £3,000 or £5,000, taken once per member however many claims that member makes in the year. Bupa's guide leaves the amount, who it applies to and when to the certificate, and "Your excess renews at the beginning of each policy year even if you’re mid way through treatment", so one course of treatment spanning two policy years could meet it twice.
Choosing a bigger excess, trimming the out-patient limit or taking a shorter hospital list tends to lower a premium, though neither document gives an amount. Health+ is also regionally priced, so its premium may change if you move house part-way through a policy year. For why a Health+ price moves at renewal, see why has my Exeter premium gone up, and for Bupa's side, why has my Bupa premium gone up.
Sources: The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (MKTG762, July 2026); Bupa, Bupa By You policy guide (BINS 14718, policies starting after 1 May 2024), read 29 October 2026.
Price, and which one suits you
The price of either turns on age, postcode and the options above. Which is better turns on what you want covered, where you want treated and your medical history.
To have both quoted for your age and postcode, add a phone number to the form here and a broker will ring when it suits you.
Common questions
Do I have to call before treatment on either?
Yes, on both. The Exeter says a claim may not be paid if you do not contact it for authorisation, and Bupa says you will be responsible for treatment it would not have pre-authorised.
Is dental covered by either?
The Exeter lists dental care (check-ups, fillings, crowns and so on) as not covered, apart from some hospital jaw surgery and dental work needed for authorised cancer treatment. Bupa excludes dental and oral treatment too, but sells a Dental Cover 20 add-on for restorative, injury, emergency and preventative dental treatment, with yearly maximums on the certificate.