A higher General & Medical renewal figure puts one decision in front of you: whether that figure is worth paying for the cover you now hold, or whether the cover should change, here or with another insurer. Only General & Medical can say why your own premium moved. What it does explain, on two pages of its website, is which choices make a monthly payment higher or lower: the excess and the hospital choice, with the level of cover named alongside them. Those are the parts of the figure you can find on your own paperwork and ask about, so this page takes them in General & Medical's words and turns each into a question for the insurer. If you would like the renewal priced against other insurers' cover as well, send your details through the form here and a broker authorised by the FCA will phone you back, without charge. Calling General & Medical with the questions further down is just as good a place to begin.

The settings General & Medical links to a monthly payment

The two pages are General & Medical's page on excess and its page on hospital choices. Neither is a policy document and neither is written about renewal, so they do not describe your renewal notice. What they do is name the settings that, on General & Medical's own account, push a monthly payment up or down. A renewal figure makes more sense read beside those settings, so they are worth finding on your policy schedule first:

  • the excess, and whether it applies once a policy year or to each claim;
  • the hospital choice the policy carries;
  • whether Premium Hospitals are included;
  • whether the cover is Everyday or Plus Upgrade.

Each is taken in turn below.

Excess: General & Medical's own example of a lower payment

General & Medical's excess page states the relationship and gives an example of its own:

"Remember - the higher the excess, the lower your monthly payments. For example, even an excess of £250 per claim could reduce your monthly payments by 15%!"

— General & Medical, Private Health Insurance Excess (web page, undated; read 21 October 2026).

Read the 15% for what it is. It is General & Medical's illustration of what a £250 per-claim excess "could" do, in its own word, not a rate it promises and not a figure for your policy. It also describes a choice you make rather than a change the insurer makes, so it explains why two people on similar cover can pay different amounts more readily than it explains a rise.

It still gives you something to check. If last year's schedule showed a higher excess than this year's, or showed an excess where this year's shows none, then on General & Medical's account of which way an excess pushes the payment, that difference is part of your answer. If the excess is the same in both years, it is not what moved.

Per policy year or per claim

The same page lists the amounts on offer and the two ways an excess can apply:

"You can add an excess of £150, £250, £500, £1000, £2000 or £3000. At the start of the policy, you choose whether the excess applies once per policy year or to each claim. If you choose an excess per policy year and your treatment for an eligible claim carries on into the next policy year, another excess will apply."

— General & Medical, Private Health Insurance Excess (web page, undated; read 21 October 2026).

Two things follow at renewal. The basis is chosen "at the start of the policy"; the passage does not say whether it can be switched at a renewal, so that is worth asking, and your schedule will show which basis you are on now. And the last sentence is the one people miss: on the per-year basis, treatment for an eligible claim that runs past the renewal date attracts another excess. If you have treatment under way as the policy renews, add that to your questions. How excesses work in general is on what a private health insurance excess is, and what to weigh in picking an amount is on how much excess to choose.

Choosing between a higher excess and a new insurer is easier with figures: a broker can price comparable cover at your current excess and at a higher one, side by side, on a free call you set up with the quote form here.

Hospital groups and Premium Hospitals

General & Medical's hospital choices page says it sorts hospitals into groups by what treatment costs there, and gives that as the reason it can charge less for some choices:

"The cost of treatment within different facilities can vary enormously, we've categorised these into different groups so it's more convenient for you. This also means that we can reduce our premiums to reflect the lower costs of treatment at certain facilities."

— General & Medical, Hospital choices (web page, undated; read 21 October 2026).

On that wording, the hospitals your policy reaches and the premium you pay are tied together: the group is part of what you are paying for. The same page deals with the most expensive facilities separately:

"Premium hospitals are specialist facilities, that due to their reputation and location are able to charge substantially more for their medical services. You can include Premium Hospitals for an additional monthly payment."

— General & Medical, Hospital choices (web page, undated; read 21 October 2026).

So including Premium Hospitals costs extra each month. If your policy includes them and the total has gone up, ask General & Medical whether the Premium Hospitals charge has changed, and what the payment would be without them. Neither passage says what the hospital groups are called or which hospitals sit in each, so ask for the list your choice covers and check your nearest hospital against it, whatever you decide on price. Hospital lists in general, and why a cheaper policy so often means a shorter one, are covered on private health insurance hospital lists explained.

Everyday, Plus Upgrade and Guided Care

The excess page names the other routes General & Medical offers to a lower premium, and in doing so names its levels of cover:

"You can, of course, choose a lower level of cover by choosing Everyday instead of our Plus Upgrade or by selecting Guided Care as your hospital choice. In addition, you can also significantly reduce your premiums by adding an excess amount to your policy."

— General & Medical, Private Health Insurance Excess (web page, undated; read 21 October 2026).

From that sentence, Everyday is a lower level of cover than Plus Upgrade, and Guided Care is one of the hospital choices. It does not set out what each level includes, what Guided Care involves, or how much either move changes a premium, and no figure for them appears on this page for that reason. Your renewal notice or schedule should name the level and hospital choice you are on. If either differs from what you remember buying, that is a reason to call before anything else.

Age, claims and the price review: questions for General & Medical

The excess and hospital pages are about settings you choose, not about how General & Medical reviews a price at renewal. The passages quoted here say nothing on how often a premium is reviewed, whether age or claims history enters the figure, or whether a year without a claim earns anything, so none of those is offered here as the reason for your rise. Each is a fair question to put to General & Medical.

Other insurers do write their methods down, and those methods belong to them alone. AXA Health's renewal infographic (April 2025, read 21 October 2026) says it builds the higher cost of care at older ages into its price, and Aviva's no claim discount leaflet (GEN6431, January 2026, read 21 October 2026) moves a member up one level on its scale at renewal when no claims have been paid for them in the previous 12 months. Neither says anything about a General & Medical policy; they are on the AXA Health renewal page and the Aviva one. Why renewal figures move across the market in general is explained on your health insurance renewal price: what to do.

Your list for the call to General & Medical

Have the renewal notice and last year's schedule in front of you. Ask for the answers in writing, or note the date and the name of the person you spoke to. The questions that the paperwork can settle come first.

Comparing this year with last

  • Which of the settings above (excess amount, excess basis, hospital choice, Premium Hospitals, Everyday or Plus Upgrade) differs from last year's policy, if any?
  • Has the monthly payment itself gone up, or has something else changed, such as the way it is paid?
  • Has any benefit or limit been added, removed or altered? If so, ask to see the wording that changed.

On the cost of the increase

  • What would the monthly payment be for exactly last year's cover, if the notice is for something different?
  • What has caused the increase on my policy? Ask for General & Medical's explanation in its own words.
  • Does age, or any claim made in the past year, play a part in the new figure?
  • Is the increase the same for everyone on the policy, or does it differ by person?

On changing the policy instead of leaving it

  • If I raised the excess, what would the payment become? The 15% on the excess page is an example of what an excess "could" do, so ask for the figure on your own policy.
  • If I moved from Plus Upgrade to Everyday, or to Guided Care as the hospital choice, what would I lose and what would I pay?
  • Would any change affect conditions already covered under my policy? A lower level of cover is a benefit question as well as a price one, so ask before agreeing to anything.

On treatment that crosses the renewal date

  • My treatment carries on after the renewal date: if my excess is per policy year, how will the second excess apply in my case?
  • What is the last date to change or cancel for this renewal?

One answer may settle several of these. If the replies are clear and the figure is one you can live with, asking has cost you nothing.

If the answers leave the figure too high

Suppose the explanation leaves you where you started, or every option General & Medical offers costs more than you want to pay. The next route is a price for similar cover from other insurers. The catch is underwriting: a new insurer may assess your health afresh, and a condition that began during your General & Medical years could be treated as pre-existing there. Before cancelling anything, ask whoever quotes whether they will carry your current underwriting over, and on what terms; the general renewal page explains why this matters.

A broker can put that question to several insurers in one conversation and price like for like. That is several insurers, not the whole market, and the result will not necessarily be cheaper than your renewal.

Short answers

Does General & Medical say a higher excess lowers the premium?

Yes, on its excess page: "the higher the excess, the lower your monthly payments". It illustrates this with a £250 per-claim excess that "could" reduce payments by 15%, which is its example, not a figure for your policy.

Which changes does General & Medical say bring a premium down?

Its excess page names three: adding or raising an excess, choosing Everyday instead of Plus Upgrade, and choosing Guided Care as the hospital choice. What each would do to your payment, and to your cover, is for General & Medical to tell you for your own policy.

Are Premium Hospitals included in my policy?

Your schedule will show. General & Medical's hospital choices page says they can be included "for an additional monthly payment", so they are not part of every policy's price.

Does a second excess apply if my treatment runs past renewal?

With a per-policy-year excess, yes, on General & Medical's description: if treatment for an eligible claim "carries on into the next policy year, another excess will apply". For a per-claim excess the passage does not say, so ask.

Your next step: put the schedule and the renewal notice side by side, mark any setting that has changed, and make the call. If you want other insurers' prices before the renewal date passes, the quote form here brings you a call back from a broker.