Family Matters: Choosing the Right Private Medical Insurance for Your Loved Ones

We’ve put together this handy guide to choosing the right private medical insurance (PMI) for your loved ones, and the benefits of finding a policy that suits your family to help you make this important decision.

Family medical insurance, or family health insurance, is a policy that provides you and your family access to private healthcare in the event of illness or injury. Depending on your level of cover, this may include family members that live at your address and options to customise your policy such as choosing where you access treatment.

Family private medical insurance comes with different options for the level of cover you choose, which you need to consider when choosing your policy. A premium option may cover a wider range of treatments, including therapy, holistic treatments and dental care, on top of the standard protection. Of course, this level of cover also comes at a higher price.

Standard cover generally includes care for an acute illness or injury, cancer cover, overnight accommodation in hospital for a parent of a sick child, care at home, and a private ambulance. Healthcare policies all include inpatient care but outpatient care varies from policy to policy. It’s important to compare policies to make sure you find the right level of outpatient care for you and your family.

What insurance companies include as standard varies according to the policy and provider and for this reason, you’ll find many options to customise your policy to include bespoke elements that suit the needs of your family.

Along with the level of cover you want, remember to factor in whether you are looking at fully underwritten or a moratorium policy. Fully underwritten plans require a full medical history, but are more detailed. Moratorium policies do not require a full medical history and are sometimes cheaper, so make affordable family medical insurance options. However, it’s unlikely they will cover you and your family for pre-existing conditions.

Your budget plays a key role in which private medical insurance you choose for your loved ones. Premium, fully comprehensive options are most expensive, but whichever option is best for you, you’ll find ways to keep the cost down.

Your excess is the amount you pay when you make a claim. You can increase your excess to reduce the cost of your insurance policy. Generally the more you pay towards your treatment when you make a claim, the lower the overall cost of your policy.

There may be specific illnesses and types of treatment that you want to make sure are in your policy, along with the ability to choose where treatment takes place, and stipulations about how quickly the cover can be accessed (for example, for NHS waiting lists longer than six weeks). Add ons and customisation affect your family medical insurance cost and these are generally premium options.

You can choose whether to pay for your private medical insurance annually or as a monthly premium. Having this option allows you the flexibility to spread out your payments if that suits you best, so you don’t have to find the full cost of the policy upfront. On the flipside, paying annual often means you pay a reduced fee.

Whatever option you decide is best for you, family private medical insurance comes with a range of benefits for you and your family:

●      Avoiding long waiting lists: Having private medical insurance means you can avoid lengthy NHS waiting lists when it comes to medical care and treatment.

●      All your cover in one place: Having a single policy that covers your whole family makes managing your healthcare easier to manage, with everything in one place.

●      No unexpected costs: Taking out an insurance policy means you won’t have to pay any unexpected, expensive medical bills. Your monthly or annual premium payment means you receive cover for whatever treatment your family requires (according to the terms and conditions of your policy).

●      Peace of mind: Having private medical insurance for you and your family gives you peace of mind that if anyone should fall ill or injure themselves, you know they will receive the care and treatment they need, without large bills and while avoiding long NHS waiting lists.

Family medical insurance might not be right for everyone and you’ll find plenty of other options to ensure your family receives cover for their medical needs. Other options to consider include:

●      Individual policies: You can take out individual policies for you or anyone in your family rather than an all encompassing policy for the whole household.

●      Joint policies: For smaller families or couples, you might prefer a joint policy option covering two of you under the same policy.

●      Children: It’s possible to take out health insurance cover for your children as a standalone option, or you may be able to add children to an existing individual policy.

●      Seniors: Senior healthcare insurance covers people over 65. This may be an option if you are looking to find cover for a family member for a parent who does not live with you.

When it comes to family, we know that nothing is more important than making sure they are safe and cared for. We also understand that no two families are the same and that what you want from a private medical insurance policy isn’t a one size fits all.

When it comes to choosing your cover, you have many factors to consider and it’s important to think carefully about what you want from your health insurance, who it needs to protect, and your budget. Once you know what you need, you can compare your options to find the best cover for you.

If you're looking for private medical or life insurance, visit usaycompare.co.uk and fill in a simple online form for a free quote.

Read more: Key factors to consider when choosing Private Medical Insurance