Large business in the UK are still valuing the benefits of having private medical insurance for their staff but may be considering cutting down their level of cover to keep employees happy. Recession hit workers are having to pay the P11D tax on their benefits and those on lower incomes are finding this difficult. Rather than cancelling their cover altogether, many companies still want to keep their private health insurance because they recognise the importance of looking after their employees and the return in productivity and efficiency that comes about from doing so. So now it seems that employers might be considering to switching to a policy that has a much lower premium, not just to save themselves money but also the amount of tax their staff are having to pay.


One way they can save money is to change from a traditional level of cover to a cash plan policy which are renowned for providing good benefits but at a much lower cost. Other ways of saving money includes altering the excess amount, and even some more unusual methods. Gareth Ashley-Jones at Aon Consulting told employeebenefits.co.uk, "Clients are asking for more creative solutions, with some structuring PMI with different excess levels. Employees who choose a high excess can reduce the premium and therefore the tax. Many employees do not need the 'full monty' plan. It is a big expense for someone on a low salary. Employers can also reduce costs by using options such as six-week plans, where private treatment is paid for only if the NHS cannot carry it out within six weeks."

Increasing numbers of people in the UK may be getting quotes for cash plan private medical insurance after a huge increase in premiums by the large traditional policy providers. Bupa, the biggest private health insurance company in the country, has increased its prices by 14 percent in the last two years, and similarly PPP Healthcare has upped its costs by 12 percent. This is simply too much for some people, especially with more and more redundancies and lay offs meaning that people do not have as much disposable expenditure as they used to. Cash plan private medical insurance is an excellent way for people to cut costs while still having a number of health benefits.


Over the past year the number of people in the UK who have a traditional private health insurance policy has fallen dramatically. Over 10 percent of people used to be covered, but this has dropped to just 6.3 percent according to research by Laing and Buisson. Cash plan private medical cover on the other hand has been booming recently, with the sale of policies increasing a massive 180 percent over the past 12 months. Companies as well as individuals are discovering the advantages of switching to this more affordable health insurance, with 14 percent of businesses in the UK now offering cash plan health cover for their staff. This can be seen especially among smaller businesses with over a quarter of those with less than 100 staff now providing cash plans for their employees.

Freedom Healthnet has beaten the majority of other private health insurance providers on the cost of all four of the different levels of policy it offers in a review by Which?. Included in the research were prices and comparisons between 54 of the country’s top private medical insurance companies, like AIG, PruHealth, Saga and AXA-PPP. Freedom Healthnet’s Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus policies were slotted under the modular health insurance policy section, referring to the fact that extra services like physiotherapy are available to the customer at a small extra cost. Not only were Freedom’s policies cheaper on all occasions except when comparing the fully comprehensive cover to an average policy, but the maximum age for policy holders was also considerably higher. Freedom Healthnet covers people up to the age of 75, up to 11 years more than BCWA’s personal health policy.


Three of Freedom’s policies – Gold, Platinum and Diamond were up to a third less than some of the competitor’s offerings in the comparison. A woman aged 33 years old would expect to pay £14 with Freedom Healthnet, compared to £50 per month with Norwich Union’s Health Solutions. Being a cash plan private medical insurance provider allows Freedom to cut it’s premiums significantly while still offering a good level of private medical cover. By paying it’s customers a cash lump sum to cover the cost of medical treatment, it allows patients to make savings from being able to offer a payment upfront to the clinic or hospital. Freedom then passes on the savings to its policy holders, giving them the best deal possible.