WPA expects most renewals to cost more: the FAQ for its Complete Health plan opens its answer on renewal with the words "Premiums generally increase at renewal". That tells you a rise is normal at WPA, not why yours is the size it is. Two parts of the figure can be looked at closely, because WPA publishes how they work: the No Claims Discount, which a claim moves on a set scale, and the excess, which you can change. Whether to take the new premium as it stands is your call; if you would like the same cover priced with other insurers before you decide, a broker can do that, and the enquiry form here is where you ask, at no charge. The reasons WPA gives come first.
WPA health insurance renewal: the reasons in WPA's own words
Two WPA documents give reasons, and their lists differ. The first is the Complete Health FAQ:
"Premiums generally increase at renewal as we take into consideration a number of factors, including, age, where you live, your level of cover, your choice of underwriting, whether you have claimed and medical inflation. Medical inflation can often be greater than the general rate, due to advances in medical and surgical technology."
— WPA, Complete Health FAQs (undated web page, captured 21 October 2026).
The second is the Complete Health brochure, effective from 1 October 2026, which says on page 19: "There are a number of factors that will affect the cost of your policy now and in the future such as your age, the number of family members, your method of underwriting, where you live and inflation." (Brochure page numbers here are the printed ones; in the PDF file each sits two pages later.)
Read side by side, the brochure names the number of family members and the FAQ does not; the FAQ names the level of cover and whether you have claimed, and the brochure's list leaves both out. One says "including" and the other "such as", so neither list claims to be complete, and neither says which factor weighs most in a given year or puts an amount on any of them. The FAQ's answer on the No Claims Discount gives a third version of the list and adds "when you joined". It does not say how the joining date feeds into a renewal, which makes it a fair thing to ask WPA.
One way to use the lists is to hold each item against your own year. You are a year older. You may have moved house, added or removed a family member, or changed an option. You may have claimed. Only the last of those has a published scale, which is where the next section goes. Medical inflation sits apart because it is about the cost of treatment rather than about you; WPA's help page on reducing a premium makes the same link, saying that "costs of private treatment continue to rise, which in turn leads to higher premiums" (WPA, Reduce my premium, undated web page, captured 21 October 2026). None of these pages shows how much any one item added to a particular renewal, so the split for your policy has to come from WPA, on the notice or in a call.
The No Claims Discount: what moves your level, and when it is counted
Most of what is specific to WPA in a renewal sits in the No Claims Discount, because the brochure sets out its scale. Its first point is that the discount belongs to a person rather than to a policy:
"Each person has their own No Claims Discount level. The table opposite shows the discount that is applied. A No Claims Discount, whether you claim or not, has a direct impact on your premiums."
— WPA, Complete Health brochure (effective 1 October 2026), page 20, read 21 October 2026.
On a policy covering more than one person, that wording points to a claim moving the level of the person who claimed rather than everyone's; how the change shows in the combined premium is a question for the notice. The percentage at each level sits in the table the brochure calls "opposite", so read your own level's discount from that table or your notice, or have the broker walk you through it on a free call-back. The same page gives the way up to the top level:
"Your discount level will increase by one level for each year you don't make a claim (up to a maximum of 73% – level 15)."
A claim-free year therefore buys one level, until level 15. The way down is steeper, and depends on the size of the claim. The brochure's chart, in its own words, reads "Up to £250 stay on same level £250.01-£500 move down a level £500.01-£750 move down two levels Over £750 move down three levels":
| Claim, as the brochure's chart groups it | What happens to your level |
|---|---|
| Up to £250 | Stays on the same level |
| £250.01 to £500 | Moves down one level |
| £500.01 to £750 | Moves down two levels |
| Over £750 | Moves down three levels |
Two readings follow. A claim in the £500.01 to £750 band costs two levels, which take two claim-free years to win back, and one over £750 costs three. A claim of £250 or under leaves the level where it is. The chart does not say whether the amounts apply to each claim or to a policy year's claims added together, so if you claimed more than once, that is the first thing to put to WPA.
Which claims count is limited by a window, and the wording is careful:
"During your first year, claims in excess of £250 which are approved for payment within the first nine months will affect your No Claims Discount. In future years, the period will typically run from the last three months of your previous policy year and the first nine months of your current policy year."
Two phrases carry the weight. "Approved for payment" makes the approval the date that counts, and that may not be the date you were treated. And after the first year, the period runs from the last three months of the previous policy year to the ninth month of the current one, so on that wording a claim approved in the final three months of your policy year falls into the next period and would count at the following renewal, not the one now arriving. WPA says the period "typically" runs this way, which leaves room for exceptions; if you claimed close to a renewal date, ask which period WPA put the claim in.
One thing the brochure takes out of the calculation: "any excess amount that you have paid will not affect your No Claims Discount" (page 20). Money you paid towards the excess does not move your level. The FAQ supplies the other half, that with a No Claims Discount "any invoices paid by WPA will have a direct impact on your future premium", and that this comes "in addition to our usual pricing factors". On that wording a level can rise and the premium still go up, because the discount is one input among the factors in the first section.
Everything in this section comes from the Complete Health brochure and FAQ. On a different WPA plan the scale may not be the same, so check the level your notice shows against the product you hold.
Changing the policy at renewal: one-way steps, hospitals and the date
WPA's brochure says plainly which choice lowers a premium: "Choosing to include an excess makes your insurance premiums cheaper, as you'll be paying some of the claim costs yourself" (page 21). A WPA quote can carry either an excess or Shared Responsibility, a share of each eligible claim up to a level you pick; how the two differ, with WPA's clause, is on WPA health insurance: what it costs, and the general mechanism is on What is a private health insurance excess?. Neither the brochure nor the help page puts a figure on the saving, so take it as the direction, not the amount.
What is particular to WPA is the rule about moving back:
"You can increase your Shared Responsibility or Excess as many steps as you like, but can only reduce one step at each renewal."
— WPA, Reduce my premium (undated help page, captured 21 October 2026). The page speaks of "many of our plans" without naming them, so check that it covers yours.
The asymmetry is the point. A big step up in excess to answer this year's rise can be made at a single renewal, but undoing it takes as many renewals as there are steps. If you are weighing a larger excess after a rise, the question is how comfortably you could find the first slice of a claim, not only what the premium falls to this year.
A second dial on the same help page is the hospital list: "WPA provides an extensive choice of hospitals as standard. Other hospitals are available with the Premium Hospitals option. Premium Hospitals are often centres of excellence that are primarily based in Central London. This could save you money if you choose to exclude them from your cover." If Premium Hospitals is on your policy, whether to keep it is a question about where you would expect to be treated, and a broker can price the policy with and without the option so you can see the difference.
The IPID adds a point about timing: "The Policy renews automatically and payment will be taken unless you contact us to cancel" (Complete Health Insurance Product Information Document, November 2025, page 2, read 4 September 2026). So the working window is between the notice and the renewal date. That clause does not say how far ahead WPA sends the notice, so work to the date printed on yours. The risks of leaving rather than adjusting, mainly being underwritten again by a new insurer, are laid out on Your health insurance renewal price: what to do, and Switching private health insurance provider is the page on moving.
Seven questions for WPA and the renewal notice
Because WPA's published factors cannot be added up into your figure, the split has to come from WPA. These questions follow from its own wording:
- Which No Claims Discount level is each person on after this renewal, and which level were they on last year?
- Which claims did you count, with the dates they were approved for payment, and which period does the window cover for me?
- Do the claim bands apply to each claim or to the year's claims together?
- What does "when you joined" change in my premium?
- Has anything in my cover, options or hospital list changed, and what does the notice put against it?
- What is the premium at one excess step higher and one lower, and with Shared Responsibility if that is offered?
- Does the one-step-down rule on the help page apply to my plan?
Most of these only WPA can answer. The sixth is the one a broker can also take to other insurers for the same cover, so the figures line up side by side; this page's form arranges that introduction free of charge.
The full terms, and why other insurers' rules do not carry over
The brochure, FAQ, help page and IPID are summaries. WPA's full terms are in its policy wording, which it calls "A Guide to Your Policy", and that, or WPA itself, is where to settle any detail of how a renewal is calculated that matters to your decision, such as whether the notice sets last year's premium beside this year's. How far a WPA premium rises differs from one policy to the next, so the number to work from is the one printed on your own notice, and the broker who phones back can talk it through with you at no charge.
Other insurers word the same ground in their own terms, so none of the rules above applies to them. Freedom Health Insurance's cost page says it "currently offers a 6% reduction for annual payments", and Vitality's Personal Healthcare terms say a minimum premium applies which "can vary from time to time" (Freedom Health Insurance, How Much Does Health Insurance Cost?, undated, captured 21 October 2026; Vitality, Membership Guide, August 2024, page 40, read 10 October 2026, a copy hosted by an intermediary). If either matters to you, ask WPA whether it does anything similar.
Quick answers on WPA renewals
I had a claim-free year with WPA. Why is the premium still higher?
Because claims are only one of WPA's factors. The FAQ lists age, where you live, level of cover, underwriting and medical inflation alongside claims, and says premiums "generally increase at renewal". A claim-free year earns one level on the discount scale, but the FAQ puts that in addition to the usual factors.
Does paying an excess cost me a WPA discount level?
No. The brochure says an excess you have paid "will not affect your No Claims Discount". Claims over £250 approved for payment in the relevant period do affect it, and the amount decides how many levels you drop.
Does WPA take the renewal payment automatically?
The Complete Health IPID says the policy renews automatically and payment is taken unless you contact WPA to cancel. The notice should give the date; if you are leaving, tell WPA before it, and if you are moving, do not end the old cover until the new one is confirmed in writing.
How much does raising the excess save with WPA?
WPA's brochure gives no figure; it says only that including an excess makes premiums cheaper. The help page adds that you can raise an excess or Shared Responsibility by as many steps as you like but come down only one step at each renewal, so the cheaper figure comes with a slow route back. A WPA quote at each level shows the actual difference.
Take the notice with you into the call from the FCA-authorised broker this page's form introduces you to: with your discount level, excess and hospital option in front of you both, they can find out what several insurers would charge for matching cover.