Part of an Aviva renewal price is settled well before the letter reaches you: Aviva works out each member's no claim discount 39 days ahead of the renewal date, then prices medical inflation and age on top. Knowing which of those moved your figure is what lets you decide whether to keep the policy as it is, trim it, or see what matching cover costs elsewhere. That last route starts with the enquiry form on this page, which sends your details to an FCA-authorised broker able to price matching cover from Aviva and other insurers without charging you; asking Aviva itself to explain its figure is open to you as well. What follows is Aviva's wording on why a private medical insurance Aviva renewal moves, and the questions to put to Aviva about your own.
The four causes Aviva names, and the one it counts for you
Aviva's knowledge-centre article "Why do my health insurance premiums go up?" (last updated 5 August 2025) opens its answer with a list:
"Every insurer works out the cost of health insurance premiums in a slightly different way – but overall, there are four things that make prices a little higher when it’s time to renew. They are, in no particular order: inflation, claims, age, and something called medical inflation."
— Aviva, "Why do my health insurance premiums go up?" (knowledge centre article, last updated 5 August 2025), read 21 October 2026. The article is Aviva's general explainer, not a policy document.
Medical inflation is the one most people have not met. The article defines it as new treatments and procedures and the increased costs that come with them, which makes it a cost of treatment in general rather than anything someone on your policy did. On age, the article describes two methods insurers use: age bands that step a price up when you cross from one band to the next, and a yearly rise in the age-related part of the premium. It presents both as what some insurers do, without saying which Aviva's own policies use. So the question to put to Aviva is a direct one: does my renewal cross an age band, or is age a yearly step?
Claims are the cause that Aviva turns into a number you can follow. Aviva's leaflet on the no claim discount (NCD) says the discount is only part of the picture: "As well as your NCD movement, your renewal premium will take into account medical inflation and changes to other risk factors such as your age." (Aviva, No claim discount leaflet GEN6431, January 2026 issue, page 1, read 21 October 2026.) So a claim-free year earns a step on the scale, but that step is one input among several, and the sentence does not say what the sum comes to for you. The next section shows how the step is worked out.
How Aviva's discount scale moves, rule by rule
Timing comes first. The discount for the coming year is fixed well before the letter reaches you:
"We’ll calculate the next policy year’s NCD 39 days before each renewal date (by reviewing the claims we’ve paid for each member in the 12 months before the NCD is calculated). This NCD will contribute to the calculation of the premium for the next policy year."
— Aviva, No claim discount leaflet GEN6431 (January 2026 issue), page 1, read 21 October 2026. Print code AV1513150_GEN6431_0126; page numbers are PDF pages.
The test is claims Aviva has paid, for each member, in a 12-month window that closes 39 days before renewal. The rules that follow from it are all on pages 2 to 4 of the same leaflet:
| What the leaflet describes | What happens to that member's NCD at renewal | Page |
|---|---|---|
| No claims paid in the 12 months before the calculation | Up one level on the scale | 2 |
| Claims not yet counted against the scale, with £250 or less paid in a year | Stays at the current level | 3 |
| Claims not yet counted against the scale, with more than £250 paid in a year | Down three levels; the NCD cannot fall below level 0 | 3 |
| A claim where the amount due is less than the excess | NCD not affected | 4 |
| A claim paid after the calculation but before the renewal date | Counts at the following renewal, not this one | 4 |
| Any one policy year | The NCD does not fall by more than three levels | 4 |
The £250 line is worded with some care:
"If we’ve paid claims for a member that are: claims that haven’t yet caused the member to drop down the NCD scale, and the total combined amount we’ve paid in a year, towards those claims is more than £250, that member’s NCD will reduce by three levels on the scale. The NCD cannot fall below level 0."
— Aviva, No claim discount leaflet GEN6431 (January 2026 issue), page 3, read 21 October 2026.
Two readings follow from the wording. The amount that counts is what Aviva has paid in the year, rather than the size of an invoice. And because the clause refers to claims "that haven’t yet caused the member to drop down the NCD scale", a claim that has already cost a member their levels appears not to be counted against them a second time. If your treatment runs across a renewal date, ask Aviva how its cost will be split between the two calculations. Three levels is a cap per year, but the table shows that a single year with claims over £250 can use all three.
Putting this year's Aviva price beside quotes for matching cover is the kind of job a broker takes on. The quote form here starts that, and last year's premium and the NCD level on the letter, if it shows one, are worth having to hand.
If you have held a policy with another insurer, its rules may not match these. Vitality's membership guide (August 2024, page 39) places a plan in a claims band, and says that "The lower your claims band, the lower your increase will be." That is Vitality's mechanism and not Aviva's; Aviva's is the stepped scale above.
The 34% in Aviva's leaflet, and what it does not mean for you
Anyone searching for why an Aviva price went up will find the leaflet's worked example sooner or later, so it is worth reading exactly:
"This graphic shows an illustrative example, using £4,000 as a base premium at level 0 on the NCD scale. If you’re at level 9 and you make a claim that impacts your NCD then you’ll drop to level 6 at your next renewal, meaning a 34% price increase."
— Aviva, No claim discount leaflet GEN6431 (January 2026 issue), page 2, read 21 October 2026.
This is Aviva's own illustration, built on a round base figure: not anybody's premium and not a forecast. The 34% belongs to a member at level 9 falling to level 6 in Aviva's example. It does not tell you what three levels are worth at level 3, or at level 12, or on your own base premium, and we do not have the discount at each level of Aviva's scale, so there is no percentage here to apply to your letter. What the example does show is the direction of the rule above: a claim that costs three levels raises the price, and the leaflet puts a number on it for one case.
If your own rise is far larger or smaller than you expected from a claim, ask Aviva for the NCD level before and after the calculation. That one answer separates a scale movement from the age and medical inflation part of the increase.
Why one person's renewal can differ from the rest of the household's
Aviva's discount is individual. The leaflet says "A NCD applies to each member of the policy. This means that if a member makes a claim on the policy which affects the NCD, only the premium for that member will change." (Aviva, No claim discount leaflet GEN6431, January 2026 issue, page 1, read 21 October 2026.) On a family policy that means the adult who had a scan and the adult who did not may be on different levels, and a renewal letter that looks uneven is not necessarily an error.
Two further lines in Aviva's wording explain a letter that does not move evenly.
- Cover options are priced separately. The leaflet says "We price some of the policy cover options separately, for example, out-patient cover and policy excess. Discounts do not always impact the premium for each cover option in the same way." The discount you have earned therefore will not necessarily take the same slice off every line of the premium. Ask for the premium broken down by option if the letter shows only a total.
- Age 20. Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms (March 2026 issue, page 32 of the PDF, numbered 30 in print) say "A premium is payable for all members on the policy aged 20 and over. A premium is payable for the eldest member aged under 20 on the policy . All other members aged under 20 on the policy are covered for free." If there are young people on your policy, a birthday may change who is paying a premium. Ask Aviva when a birthday like that changes the premium for your household, and whether it shows on this renewal.
Changes that are not about claims at all
The Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (Aviva, March 2026 issue, print code AV1590050_GEN6842_0326, read 21 October 2026) carry several renewal-date clauses that have nothing to do with the scale. The page numbers below are PDF pages; the number printed on each page is two lower.
- The terms can change. "We may change the terms and conditions of the policy at the renewal date. If there are changes to the policy, we will let you know before the next renewal date." (Page 32.) A higher price accompanied by altered terms is two changes, and the letter should be read for both.
- A MyHealthCounts discount can move. "If you choose to participate in our MyHealthCounts programme, you may receive a discount on your premium. This discount on your premium can go up or down at your renewal date, depending on the Q score you achieve." (Page 32.) If you joined the programme, the discount is part of what changed.
- The discount can be protected. The terms include the line "Your no claim discount (NCD) is protected. Your discount will remain at its current level and not reduce at the next renewal date if a claim that would have caused your NCD to reduce is paid" (page 11). That line does not say whether a policy carries protection as standard or as a chosen extra, or what it costs, so ask Aviva whether yours has it.
- The product can close. "We reserve the right to close the Healthier Solutions product at your renewal date. We will contact you to advise you if this happens." (Page 34.)
One caution on dates. The PDF's own title says this issue applies to policies "started or renewed before 1 November 2026", and a later issue applies from then. If your renewal date is on or after 1 November 2026, check these clauses against the version you are sent. The discount rules above are from a separate leaflet, dated January 2026, and the same applies: confirm that they still describe your policy.
Questions for Aviva, clause by clause
Aviva's wording explains the mechanism, not your own figure; for that you need the letter and Aviva. Each question below comes from one of the clauses above:
- What was my NCD level before and after the calculation 39 days before renewal, and for each member?
- Which claims were counted in the 12-month window, and did the total Aviva paid pass £250?
- Does my policy have a protected NCD, and does it change how a claim is counted?
- Does the increase include a move to a new age band, or a yearly age step?
- Has any option been repriced separately, such as out-patient cover or the excess?
- Have the terms or the cover changed at renewal, and which version of the terms applies?
- If a member has reached age 20, how does that change the premium?
With the answers in front of you, the choice reverts to the three at the start. Raising the excess or taking a lower out-patient limit usually brings a premium down, though by how much only a quote will show, and both change what the policy pays; what a private health insurance excess is and how much excess to choose go through the trade. Aviva health insurance: what it costs sets out which settings in Aviva's wording move a price. For the general decision, including why moving insurer can mean being underwritten again, see your health insurance renewal price: what to do, and renewing a private health insurance policy covers how the renewal itself works.
If you are weighing Aviva against another insurer, give the broker your current excess, out-patient limit and hospital list, and ask for the quotes to be on the same terms. That is what makes the comparison mean something, and filling in the quote form takes a few minutes.
Aviva renewal questions
I made no claims last year. Why is my Aviva price still higher?
Aviva's leaflet says the renewal premium takes account of medical inflation and changes to risk factors such as age, in addition to any move on the NCD scale. A claim-free year moves a member up one level, but the leaflet does not say a step up outweighs the other two. Ask Aviva for the breakdown.
Does one claim raise everyone's premium on the policy?
Not on the wording: the NCD applies to each member, and "only the premium for that member will change". The age and medical inflation part of the rise is a separate matter and reaches every member.
How much can an Aviva claim cost me at renewal?
The most the scale can fall in a year is three levels. Aviva's own worked example in the leaflet, a drop from level 9 to level 6, is described as a 34% price increase on a £4,000 illustrative base. That example is not your premium. Ask Aviva what three levels are worth on yours.
Does a claim under £250, or under my excess, count against my discount?
Aviva's leaflet says a claim where the amount due is less than the excess does not affect the NCD, and that claims paid totalling £250 or less in a year leave the member at the same level. Above £250, the member drops three levels.
I claimed just before my renewal date. Is it in this year's price?
Possibly not. The leaflet says a claim paid between the calculation and the renewal date affects the NCD at the following renewal rather than this one. The calculation is 39 days before renewal, so ask Aviva which date your claim was paid.
Can Aviva change my policy at renewal?
The March 2026 terms say it may change the terms at the renewal date and will let you know beforehand. They also reserve the right to close the Healthier Solutions product at a renewal date. Read the whole letter, not only the premium.
The next step is to find the NCD level and the premium breakdown on the letter, or ask Aviva for them, then pass them on through the quote form and ask an FCA-authorised broker to price matching cover with other insurers alongside Aviva.