WPA is Western Provident Association Limited, a UK health insurer, and WPA private medical insurance is a policy that pays towards private treatment for conditions that arise after you join. It is not designed for long-term (chronic) conditions, which WPA's summary lists as excluded, and what you actually get depends on the options you pick. Weighing up WPA against other insurers? Fill in this page's short form, and an FCA-authorised broker will phone back and price WPA's options with you, free of charge.
What WPA stands for, and where it came from
The initials stand for Western Provident Association. The company's own history page traces its roots to 1901: "We can trace our origins back to 1901 where we were founded as the Reading Working Peoples' Hospital Contributory Fund." Workers paid part of their wages into the fund and drew on it when they were ill, nearly fifty years before the NHS existed. In the 1940s, the same page says, the fund combined with a number of hospital funds in the Bristol area to form the Western Provident Association, shortly before the NHS began in 1948.
WPA describes itself as a not-for-profit insurer. In its words: "As a not-for-profit, we reinvest back into improving our services and keeping premiums competitive for our members." That is WPA's own statement about its status, and it says nothing in itself about what any particular quote will cost. Its head office is in Taunton, Somerset, according to the first page of its product summary.
The policy: Complete Health, built from a core and optional extras
For individuals and families, WPA's policy is called Complete Health. Its product summary says it is a private medical insurance policy that "provides cover for acute conditions that arise after you join the Policy, whilst your Policy remains in force and subject to available benefits and exclusions." Acute here means a condition that is curable; ongoing conditions are on the exclusions list further down. WPA also sells business health insurance, which this page does not cover.
Every Complete Health policy has the same core, and you add to it:
| Part of the policy | What WPA's brochure and summary say |
|---|---|
| Core: hospital treatment | In-patient and day-patient treatment, including specialist fees, diagnostic tests and MRI, CT and PET scans |
| Core: out-patient | "Core cover contributes £250 per year towards these costs" (specialist consultations), with complex scans and out-patient procedures also included |
| Core: NHS cash | A cash benefit if you choose an NHS hospital instead, with an annual limit of £4,500 for non-cancer claims |
| Core: fast track | Up to five sessions of self-referred physiotherapy (needs the Therapy extra), a virtual dermatology service for skin concerns, and a diagnosis pathway for breast, prostate and skin cancer |
| Optional extras | Cancer care, more out-patient consultations, diagnostic tests, therapy, mental health, overseas emergency treatment, cash extras, dental care and premium hospitals |
WPA publishes both on its website: the brochure takes effect from 1 October 2026, and the summary, its Insurance Product Information Document, from 1 November 2025. Most of the price and most of the usefulness of a WPA policy sits in the optional extras and in how much of each bill you carry yourself, so two people who both hold WPA can have quite different cover. For what the money buys at a given price, see WPA health insurance: what it costs. Prescriptions are a question of their own, answered at Does WPA cover prescriptions?.
Shared Responsibility: a WPA invention, beside the ordinary excess
WPA's history page lists Shared Responsibility among the ideas it created in the 2000s, alongside Corporate Deductible and NHS Top-Up. It is WPA's alternative to an excess, and its website calls both "a form of co-payment".
An excess is the fixed sum you pay first. WPA's brochure explains: "An excess is the amount you have to pay towards the cost of your eligible treatment before we contribute to your treatment costs." You can choose different excess levels for different family members, and the excess applies per person per policy year, not per claim. The brochure's worked example uses a £250 excess: a £200 consultation is paid entirely by the member, and part of the next bill brings them up to £250, after which WPA pays. Some benefits carry no excess at all, among them the NHS hospital cash benefit and the fast track skin service.
Shared Responsibility works differently. Under the product summary effective from 1 November 2025, a member who picks it pays 25% of each eligible claim until their payments reach the level they chose, so the share grows with the bill instead of being cleared once. The option WPA's 1 October 2026 brochure sets out for tailoring a premium is the excess, so ask whether Shared Responsibility is offered on the quote you are given; how the two compare on price is covered on the cost page linked above.
WPA's brochure says an excess makes premiums cheaper, and warns that an excess is only worth having if you could afford to pay it when you claim.
Joining WPA: who can, and how medical history is handled
WPA's brochure sets two residency tests for joining: time lived in the UK and time registered with an NHS GP, at least six months for each. To stay on the policy, you must live in the UK for at least six months of the year and remain registered with an NHS GP. If you are 66 or over when you join, the brochure says a minimum excess of £500 applies and you join on full medical underwriting.
Underwriting is how an insurer uses your health information to decide what it will cover. WPA offers more than one route, and the choice changes what a future claim can include:
- Moratorium. You do not have to give medical history on the application. WPA's brochure says "Benefit will not be provided for at least two years, for any pre-existing condition(s) that occurred in the five years before your membership starts." If you then go two continuous years free of symptoms, treatment, medication or advice for a condition, the brochure says it may be covered. It adds that long-term conditions that need regular treatment, medication or advice are unlikely to qualify, because the clock restarts each time.
- Full medical underwriting. You answer detailed questions about your medical and family history up front. Conditions WPA decides to exclude are written on your Certificate of Insurance as personal exclusions, so you know what is out before you claim.
- Switch terms. If you already have cover without a break, WPA describes continued moratorium and continued personal medical exclusions routes, which keep the dates of your existing moratorium or carry over your personal exclusions, though WPA may sometimes add new ones. Continued moratorium is not available if your current cover is on a fixed moratorium.
Which route suits you depends on your history, which this page cannot judge. Medical details are for the phone call, never the form: the broker can explain how each route would treat a condition you have in mind.
What WPA's summary lists as not covered
WPA's product summary (effective from 1 November 2025) lists the main exclusions, with the full detail left to the policy guide. They include pre-existing conditions, subject to the type of underwriting; long-term (chronic) conditions; dental problems, apart from limited benefit where the Dental Care or Cash Extras extra has been added; fertility problems, pregnancy and childbirth; cosmetic treatment; and treatment outside the UK unless the Overseas Emergency Treatment extra, or the dental emergencies cover in the Dental Care extra, is included. The list also includes HIV/AIDS, allergic conditions, and varicose veins for the first two years for members who joined on full medical or moratorium underwriting. A claim must be pre-authorised with WPA before costs are incurred.
The list shows the shape of the policy and is not a full statement of cover. The policy guide and your certificate settle whether a particular treatment would be paid, so read them before you rely on anything here.
The smaller benefits inside every Complete Health policy
Beyond hospital and out-patient treatment, WPA's product summary lists further benefits in the core: nursing at home for up to four weeks, private ambulance transport, up to 10 nights of hospital accommodation for a parent staying with a child, £10 a day for out-of-pocket expenses, and a hospice donation of £70 a day or night up to £700. Health and wellbeing benefits are in the core too: remote GP services, a 24/7 health and wellbeing helpline, and six sessions of structured counselling.
The same summary says WPA only reimburses treatment costs to a level it considers customary and reasonable, and that the policy renews automatically each year unless you contact WPA to cancel. Why the premium tends to rise at renewal is covered at why a WPA premium goes up, and the offers WPA runs are at WPA discounts and offers.
Curious what Complete Health would come to with the extras you would really pick? Send that question via the form on this page and expect a phone call: the broker, who is FCA-authorised, can set WPA beside other insurers on its panel and go through the figures without charge. For how WPA's service is judged, see WPA health insurance: reviews.
More about WPA, briefly
Is WPA regulated in the UK?
Its product summary says Western Provident Association Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The summary gives its registration number as 202608, which you can look up on the Financial Services Register.
Is WPA health insurance the same as a WPA cash plan?
No. WPA's website lists health cash plans and dental cash plans alongside its health insurance. A cash plan is a separate product from Complete Health, and this page is about the insurance policy. A broker can explain how the products differ on a call-back.
Can I switch to WPA from another insurer?
WPA's website says it offers switch terms, depending on the product, and that you should understand the impact before you decide. Whether your current terms would carry over depends on your existing policy, so have that to hand when the broker rings.
Does WPA cover mental health?
Mental health treatment is an optional extra on Complete Health, not part of the core. The summary describes in-patient and day-patient treatment of up to 28 days or nights, with a chosen level of out-patient treatment and therapy. Adding it also extends structured counselling to up to 20 sessions, against six in the core.