Martin Lewis Private Health Insurance Review

What does Martin Lewis say about Private Health Insurance for Families 2026?

Private Health Insurance helps your family to access vital medical treatment and gets you to a medical professional much faster than you might get by using the NHS currently. Martin Lewis provides his usual money saving tips and tricks to help consumers to get the cover they need and ultimately to help them to pay less each month. Our experts look at what Martin Lewis says about health insurance and how families can get more cover for less, to help protect them and their kids.

According to recent figures, there were between 6.9 and 8 million adults (13% of the population) that were covered by private health insurance in the UK in the latest reports. One of the most significant factors driving the growth of health insurance in the United Kingdom is families who wanted to take out cover to protect themselves and their children.

MoneyPeopleOnline health insurance experts for families

In this Martin Lewis family health insurance guide, our experts take a deeper look at what MSE and Martin Lewis says about medical insurance to protect families. It’s important for parents and families to understand how products like health insurance work for them and what they offer to protect our kids as well.

What does Martin Lewis say about health insurance for parents?

There are quite a few pages of content and useful pieces of advice for consumers about health insurance on Martin Lewis’s MSE website. Parents and families can use some of this information to help them to make a decision about which cover might be right for them and potentially how they can save some money on the cost of this type of cover.

Health insurance for families is different to a typical health insurance policy, because it specifically offers medical treatment for children and that’s what we focus on in our independent reviews. Martin Lewis provides some general information about health insurance or private medical insurance which can be useful to help you to get started, but also parents will need to think about things differently to get the best protection for their family.

Will Martin Lewis’ advice save me money on my health insurance policy?

Some of the things Martin Lewis says might save you some money when you’re considering buying health insurance or renewing your cover. There are a few useful tips mixed in with the guidance on MoneySavingExpert.com.

The main things have been said on MoneySavingExpert.com that would help you save money on health insurance are:

1. Try using a price comparison site like MoneySuperMarket (for full transparency MoneySuperMarket does own MoneySavingExpert.com).
2. Look for a policy that includes extra rewards and benefits. Vitality policies are the best example of this with big discounts on gym memberships and other attractive perks. Sometimes you’ll end up saving so much in discounts, you save more than you’re paying out for your policy.
3. Talk to health insurance specialist if you’re struggling to find the right cover. Ask family and friends if they’ve ever used a specific broker that they would recommend. you can also check the AMII website for a full list of health insurance brokers.
4. You can haggle with your insurance provider to try and get a better price. This might seem a little unbelievable but trust us it can work (though not every time).
5. Compare prices across the market and switch to a new provider if they’re offering the same benefits for less.

Note: The best way to find affordable health insurance it’s normally to speak to a specialist. A health insurance broker will be able to check prices and policies across the market to find you the best deal.

Do I need to look at other opinions about health insurance?

The most important opinion on health insurance is your own. However, you’re not going to have an opinion on health insurance unless you look around and do a bit of research. This is where it can be useful to look at what other people have to say.

I wouldn’t rely solely on what other people think when deciding whether to buy health insurance policy. I certainly wouldn’t rely on only Martin Lewis’ opinion. Have a good look around and see what other opinions you can find online.

The main thing that we would look at is what other consumers think. If you’re not sure about an insurance provider, the best first place to start is their customer reviews. Don’t fall into the trap of just reading what’s highlighted on their website and check independent review sites like TrustPilot to make sure you’re getting the full picture.

What has Martin Lewis said about private health insurance?

Martin Lewis and his website MoneySavingExpert.com generally support health insurance as a good idea for UK consumers.

He does also make it clear that private health insurance might not be for everyone though. The fact is that private health insurance:

• Can be more expensive if you’re older
• Will cost more for smokers
• May not be affordable for people with a lower budget

The truth is he’s right about this, health insurance can be expensive and not everyone will want or need health insurance. While private health insurance is great, it’s not something that everyone can afford. You should always consider how much you can afford to pay and if it’s worth it for you and your family.

Note: Some private health insurance providers will be a better fit for certain types of customers. If you’re determined to get private health cover, it’s worth doing your research or even speaking to a health insurance expert to make sure you don’t end up paying too much.

Martin Lewis private health insurance: 5 need-to-knows

Here are some of the main things that you should know about private health insurance before you buy based on the guidance found on MoneySavingExpert.com. While Martin Lewis didn’t write this particular guide, it’s on his website so it’s safe to assume that he agrees with what is being said.

Though health insurance policies only tend to last for one year, you’re still committing to paying for this for an entire year of your life. You should make sure you have all the facts before making any decisions.

1. You can change your policy so you’re only paying for what you need

Providers will sell basic health insurance plans that you can customise so they suit you. You can add on helpful optional extras like enhanced outpatient care.

People aren’t always aware that they can also limit their plans to save money. Choose a lower excess, go for a less extensive hospital list or choose a six week wait option and you should pay less.

2. Don’t choose a higher excess than you can afford

It’s tempting to choose the highest level of excess because this will cut your monthly costs down. You need to remember the whole point of health insurance is that is there to support you if you need to make a claim.

If you’re claiming for expensive care and then have to pay thousands of pounds in excess you’re not really saving that much money.

The only time we’d suggest going for a higher amount of excess is if you’re only bothered about claiming for huge medical procedures that could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. In that situation, paying £1000 towards your treatment is still saving a significant amount.

3. Make sure you understand your policy

Don’t get caught out because you don’t know what you’re actually covered for. It can be frustrating to submit claims that get rejected and it’s just a waste of time on both ends.

Study your policy documents carefully so you have a good understanding of the things you’re allowed to claim for. Most of the time you won’t be able to claim for things like pre-existing medical conditions or conditions that require ongoing care (chronic conditions).

4. The claims process isn’t always going to be the same

Insurers tend to follow a similar structure for how they process claims but it’s still worth checking what you need to do with your own insurer.

With most health insurance policies you would need to:

• Get a referral from your own GP
• Contact your insurer to start your claim (you’ll need to provide some details here about what you’re claiming for)
• Your insurer will check they can pay out for this claim
• You choose a specialist from a pre approved list you agreed to when you bought the policy

5. You don’t need to talk about your medical history (but you could save if you do)

There’s two main options when you buy a new health insurance policy:

1. Moratorium underwriting: you don’t have to answer any health questions and most people go for this option because it is quicker and it’s cheaper to begin with. The main thing people get caught out with is that claims can take longer if you need to prove you haven’t had this condition before.
2. Full medical underwriting: this is where the insurer looks at your entire medical history. It can take longer to get the cover you need but your claims will normally be processed quicker. You can only save bit of money if the insurer chooses to exclude your medical conditions (not allow claims for them).

What’s so important about private health insurance?

The NHS is really struggling at the moment, and we’ve all seen the effect of this. Something as simple as a nurses’ strike can lead to the operation you’ve been waiting to have for months being pushed back even further.

We completely get why so many people now are looking at private health insurance. It’s a scary thought that you might have to wait a ridiculous amount of time for treatment that you desperately need.

Private health insurance:

• Helps you skip long NHS waiting lists
• Gives you access to private medical care without having to pay sky high costs for it
• Has flexible policies so you can choose the right amount of cover for how much you can afford
• Will usually include things like cancer cover as standard (something that many of us Will be concerned about the cost of paying for if we chose to go private)
• Will normally offer extra benefits that you can add such as mental health cover or dental cover if these things are important to you

Is private health insurance something that I need to have?

At the minute you don’t need to have private health insurance, unless you want it. Martin Lewis makes this really clear in everything that he says and that is published on MoneySavingExpert.com. Often the NHS will be able to provide the care you need without you needing to pay.

But with so many problems happening in the NHS at the moment, chances are we might all need private health insurance at some point to get the basic level of care. We’re hopeful that this doesn’t happen with us getting stuck in a system like America where basic healthcare is just unaffordable for most people.

How to buy Martin Lewis Private Health Insurance?

You can’t buy Martin Lewis private health insurance because it doesn’t exist. Martin Lewis isn’t an insurance provider or an insurance broker – he doesn’t sell health insurance he just talks about it.

He does have some useful tips though the best ways to buy health insurance which we do agree with:

1. Use a price comparison site – this can work for some people, if they have a good idea of what they want and just want an idea of price.
2. Speak to a health insurance expert – this is the option we would lean towards. Unless you’ve got a solid idea of exactly which policy and provider you want, it’s normally helpful to get some advice.

What are MoneyPeopleOnline’s views on private health insurance?

We’ve spent a lot of time explaining Martin Lewis’ views and our thoughts about them. Here’s what we think about private health insurance over at MPO.

• It’s useful and can certainly help you save money if you want to get private medical care
• There’s a good range of choices available on the market, which is good because it means you’re not stuck with only one option for an insurance provider
• What works for one person might not work for someone else, you need to think about which provider and policy would be the best fit for you
• It can be a bit complicated to understand and compare policies, which is why we write our guides to try and make things a little easier for you
• Not everyone can afford health insurance and that’s OK – don’t buy a policy if you don’t think you could afford it long term
• We’d suggest talking to a health insurance specialist or broker for full advice about health insurance and your own situation

More Martin Lewis advice

Martin Lewis talks about many other financial products and insurance policies. Below is a list of more of our Martin Lewis guides, so you can read more about his thoughts and decide on your own opinions about these products.

• Income Protection Insurance: Martin Lewis’ opinions
• What does Martin Lewis say about Life Insurance 2024?

More health insurance guides

Here are some more guides about health insurance to give you more information about how it works and what it’s used for:

• MPO guide to health insurance renewals
• Top tips for buying cheap health insurance
• What is family health insurance?
• What is the best private health insurance 2023?
• How to buy health insurance