A Health+ renewal letter from The Exeter gives you a new premium, and the first thing that decides how to read it is not on the letter: it is whether your Policy Certificate shows a No Claims Discount or a Community Rated premium structure. The two behave differently when you claim, and most of what follows depends on which you hold. To have the renewal figure looked at against your own cover, the form on this page can arrange a free call-back from an FCA-authorised broker. If you bought through an adviser, that person is a second place to ask.
Which kind of Health+ premium does your certificate show?
The Exeter's Health+ policy document sets out two structures, and the sentence that matters for a renewal sits in its section on how premiums change:
"If you have a No Claims Discount, your individual claims will impact your future premiums, as explained in the No Claims Discount section . If you are on a Community Rated premium structure, your future premiums will reflect the claims made by a wider pool of customers."
— The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (July 2026), page 28, read 21 October 2026.
Put plainly: on one structure the claims that count are yours, and on the other they are a wider pool's. The discount scale and claim bands below are for a policy whose certificate shows a No Claims Discount, so a reader on the community rated structure can skip to the section written for them. If you cannot tell which you hold, the certificate is the place to look, and The Exeter, or the adviser who arranged the policy, can confirm it.
Neither structure is a promise that the price stays still. Whichever you hold, the document gives further reasons the figure moves, and they follow the two structures below. For the idea of a no-claims discount in general, as distinct from this scheme, see no-claims discounts on health insurance.
The Health+ discount scale, level by level
Where the certificate shows a discount, the policy document gives the whole scale on page 16. It runs from level 0 to level 15, and the most it gives is a 75% discount:
| NCD level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium discount | 0% | 9% | 18% | 25% | 32% | 39% | 45% | 50% |
| NCD level | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium discount | 54% | 59% | 63% | 66% | 70% | 72% | 74% | 75% |
Source: The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (July 2026), pages 5 and 16, read 21 October 2026.
Read as a renewal question, the scale is front-loaded. The first two steps are worth nine points each, the steps broadly narrow as you climb, and the last is a single point. So a step up near the top of the scale changes the discount far less than a step down lower in it, and a member high on the scale has little left to gain from another clear year.
Find your level on the letter or certificate and check it against this table. If the figure you are asked to pay looks out of line with that level, ask The Exeter to set out the premium before discount, the discount and the amount due; a broker can also read the letter beside the certificate at no charge.
What a claim does to your level at renewal
The movement is set by how much The Exeter has paid out in the review period, not by how many claims there were. The policy document gives the steps:
| Total paid towards claims in the NCD review period | Change in discount applied at renewal date |
|---|---|
| £0.00 | Move up the scale by one level |
| £0.01 to £300 | Remain at your current level |
| £300.01 to £1,000 | Move down the scale by one level |
| £1,000.01 to £2,000 | Move down the scale by two levels |
| £2,000.01 and above | Move down the scale by three levels |
Source: The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (July 2026), page 16, read 21 October 2026.
A worked example, using only the two tables above: a member at level 10 has a 63% discount. If The Exeter paid £1,500 towards their claims in the review period, the second table moves them down two levels, to level 8, which the first table puts at 54%. A year with nothing paid would instead move the same member up to level 11, at 66%. That follows from the tables; it is not a prediction of anyone's new premium, which only the letter states.
The lowest band is easy to miss: up to £300 paid in total leaves your level where it is. The year does not earn a step up, but it does not cost you one either. If you are already at level 15 or at level 0, ask The Exeter how the table applies at that end of the scale.
Which claims count, and which date The Exeter uses
Three rules in the policy document decide whether a given claim reaches the table above.
The first is the date. The wording is explicit: "When working out the discount, we use the date we paid the claim rather than the date the treatment took place." (The Exeter, same document, page 16.) Treatment in one policy year that The Exeter pays in the next is therefore counted by its payment date.
The second is the window. The review does not run over the whole policy year. For a first year the months included are 1 to 10; from the second year onwards they are months 11 and 12 of the previous policy year plus months 1 to 10 of the current one (page 17). On that table, a claim paid in the last two months of a policy year looks to fall into the following year's review rather than the renewal just ahead of you. If a payment landed close to your renewal date, ask The Exeter which review it falls into.
The third is what is left out. The document lists three kinds of claim that do not affect the assessment:
"The following claims will not affect the assessment of the NCD: NHS cash benefit Hospice donations Any claim that is lower than your excess amount."
— The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document (July 2026), page 17, read 21 October 2026.
A claim below your excess is therefore not the kind that moves you down the scale, and the same goes for the two benefits named. If one of yours was only a little above the excess, ask The Exeter what figure from it went into the total.
Finally, the discount belongs to the person. The policy document says: "Each member will have their own NCD, so a claim made by one member on the policy will not affect the NCD of others." (Page 16.) On a policy covering a couple or a family, the letter can therefore show different levels for different members, and one person's drop does not drag the others down with them.
If the certificate says Community Rated
On this structure the policy document ties your future premiums to "the claims made by a wider pool of customers" and not to a scale of your own. There is no level to climb or fall from, so a higher figure on the letter cannot be traced to your own claims history in the way a discount letter can. How the pool is defined, and how its claims reach your rate, are questions to put to The Exeter in writing.
Vitality works differently again: its August 2024 membership guide places a plan in a claims band by the amount paid on that plan (page 39), a mechanism set out on why a Vitality premium goes up. That is Vitality's scheme, not The Exeter's.
If you are wondering whether you can move from one Health+ structure to the other at renewal, ask The Exeter or your adviser, and get the answer in writing.
Age, medical inflation, postcode and tax: what moves every Health+ premium
Beyond the claims mechanism, the policy document names four reasons a Health+ premium changes, and none depends on how you claimed.
Age. The wording leaves little room: "In addition, Health + is priced according to age, reflecting the fact that people are more likely to claim as they get older, so you will normally see an age-related premium increase each year." (The Exeter, Health+ Policy Document, July 2026, page 28.) For a reader who earned a step up the discount scale and still saw the price rise, this is the first place to look, and it is why a clear year on a community rated policy can still bring a higher figure.
Medical inflation. The same page says: "We review premium rates annually to reflect the overall cost of providing cover. This includes medical inflation, which can be influenced by factors such as the availability of new treatments and medical technologies." It puts no number on the review, so the letter is the only place your own figure appears.
Where you live. Health+ is a regionally priced product, and the document says "if you move to a new address, your premium may change part-way through a policy year to reflect your new postcode" (page 30). So a change of address is a reason for a different premium that does not wait for renewal, and a reason to tell The Exeter promptly.
Insurance Premium Tax. Health+ premiums include it, and if the Government changes the rate, The Exeter says it will amend the premiums "to incorporate the new rate" with reasonable notice (page 28). That is the one reason on the list that comes from outside the policy. How the tax works in general is on the page on tax and cost, as we understand it and not as tax advice.
Put these together with the scale and a rise that looks odd on its face often makes sense. A member near the top of the scale with a clear year gains at most a point or two of discount, so age and the annual review can outweigh the step up.
Reading The Exeter's renewal letter
The policy document promises a letter ahead of renewal: "We will write to you before the renewal date confirming the terms of your cover for the coming year, including any changes to Health + and the revised premium to be paid." (Page 28.) Terms, changes and the premium: that is a fair order in which to read it. The general renewal price guide covers what you can change without leaving, and the fresh underwriting that can come with a move to another insurer.
Four points worth raising with The Exeter, or with the adviser who arranged the policy, once the letter is in front of you:
- The structure: confirm whether your certificate carries a No Claims Discount or the Community Rated basis, and whether that can change.
- Each member's level, if you have a discount, and the payment dates of any claims The Exeter counted between month 11 of last year and month 10 of this one (months 1 to 10 in a first year).
- How much of the change is age, how much the annual rate review, and whether a postcode or tax change played a part.
- For community rated cover, what the wider pool is and when a change in its claims reaches your premium.
Exeter renewal questions
I moved up a discount level, so why is my Exeter premium higher?
Health+ is priced by age, and The Exeter says you will normally see an age-related increase each year; it also reviews its rates annually, including for medical inflation. Steps up the scale broadly narrow as you climb, so those two can outweigh it.
Which date counts for a claim, the treatment or the payment?
The date The Exeter paid the claim. Treatment that happened in one policy year but was paid in the next is assessed on the payment date.
Why did my premium change in the middle of the year?
Health+ is regionally priced, and the policy document says a move to a new address may change the premium part-way through a policy year to reflect the new postcode. A change in the Insurance Premium Tax rate can also lead The Exeter to amend premiums, with reasonable notice. If neither applies, ask The Exeter what changed.
Where do I see how much of my premium is discount?
Your letter and Policy Certificate are the place; the policy document's own tables give percentages by level, not pounds. If the letter does not break the figure down, ask The Exeter to.
The next step
Find the certificate, note whether it shows a discount, and write down your level and the premium on the letter. Want the renewal compared with matching cover elsewhere? Requesting that comparison costs nothing: the enquiry form here arranges a phone call from a broker.