Aviva
AVIVA Health is part of AVIVA plc, which is classed as a composite insurer made up of separate businesses from pensions, home insurance to personal accident cover. AVIVA plc was established in 1696, its earliest constituent, the Hand in Hand, was founded at Tom’s coffee house in St Martin’s Lane, London. Established as a mutual society, the company was once the world’s oldest existing fire insurance office. It was the forerunner of the modern co-operative system.
The Hand in Hand was acquired by Commercial Union in 1905. In 2000, a merger of Norwich Union and CGU PLC formed CGNU, which was renamed as AVIVA in 2002. However, the Norwich Union brand was retained for the UK insurance businesses until 2008, when it was phased out and AVIVA became the customer facing brand across all the worldwide businesses. With over 30 years of experience in the UK health insurance market AVIVA are now the third largest PMI provider in the UK, looking after the health insurance of over 900,000 customers.
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AVIVA Health have one health insurance product called Healthier Solutions. It is one of the most flexible health insurance policies with many ways to enhance or reduce cover levels to suit a variety of budgets.
The Healthier Solutions policy also has several different excess options and hospital lists to choose from.
There are specific hospital lists just for Scotland and Ireland and you can add the NHS six-week option to reduce your premium further.
AVIVA Health - key benefits
AVIVA Digital GP – convenient access to medical advice through up to five GP video consultations per year and repeat NHS prescriptions.
Extensive cancer cover – under the AVIVA Health cancer pledge you will get extensive cancer cover as standard. The cover includes access to a dedicated oncology team and treatment and tests that may not be available on the NHS.
Joint policy and family discounts – under a family policy with two or more children under 19 you will only pay for the eldest child. There is also a premium saving for adding a partner to your policy rather than each having separate polices.
Rewards for healthy living – MyHealthCounts is an online health and wellbeing tool designed to help you improve your lifestyle and apply for up to a 15% renewal discount based on your progress.
Several hospital options – AVIVA Health offer four different hospital lists to choose from, allowing you to reduce your premium to cover only hospitals in your location.
2021
Excellent rating Over 8500 reviews
Best Individual PMI Provider 2018 & 2020
Health Insurance & Protection Company of the year 2020
Aviva Health - core cover
Here is a summary of what is included in every AVIVA Health Healthier Solutions plan:
| Benefit | Details |
| In-patient and day-patient treatment | Hospital charges, specialist fees, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and diagnostic tests are covered in full. |
| Out-patient treatment | The Healthier Solutions core cover includes full out-patient cover which can be downgraded to reduce the premium.
Cover is in full for consultations and treatment with a specialist.
Diagnostic tests such as MRI, PET and CT scans, blood tests and X-rays are included.
Specialist referred therapies are included along with GP referred mental health treatment up to £2000. |
| Additional benefits | Additional benefits under the core cover include:
- NHS hospital cash benefit, home nursing, private ambulance, parent accommodation and a hospice donation.
- Treatment for complications of pregnancy and childbirth and surgical procedures on teeth performed in a hospital are also covered under the core plan.
- GP referred treatment by a speech therapist for children and a baby bonus is provided along with stress counselling.
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| Cancer cover | Comprehensive cancer cover is included as standard and includes specialist fees, hospital charges for surgery and medical admissions, diagnostic surgery, MRI, PET and CT scans and radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
In addition, there is an NHS cancer cash benefit, post-surgery services, bone strengthening drugs, genetic testing to support treatment, molecular profiling, stem cell and bone marrow transplants, wigs and external prothesis
Cover is included for all stages of cancer including end of life care. |
| Digital GP | Access to medical advice through up to five GP video consultations per year and repeat NHS prescriptions. More on digital GPs. |
AVIVA Health - benefit options
In addition to the AVIVA Health Healthier Solutions core plan there are further options to choose from to enhance or reduce your cover:
The six-week option
Choosing the six-week option can significantly reduce the premium you will pay. You will still have the benefit of prompt cover should a GP refer you to a specialist for consultations and diagnostic tests, and any subsequent eligible out-patient treatment. In-patient or day-patient treatment will only be covered under your policy if the wait for the treatment you need is longer than six weeks on the NHS. If the waiting time for NHS treatment is longer than six weeks you will be covered for private treatment as an in-patient or day-patient straightaway.
NHS waiting times AVIVA Expert Select
As with most leading insurers AVIVA Health offer a ‘guided option’ called Expert Select. With Expert Select, AVIVA Health will offer you a reduced choice of hospitals when you make a claim. You will be offered between three or four quality assured medical facilities, including leading hospitals, all local to you with several specialists to choose from.
Under the Expert Select option AVIVA Health settle all bills in full and guarantee no shortfalls for the member to pay.
AVIVA Health pass on some of the savings in the cost of treatment and hospital charges, therefore reducing the premium you will pay.
Guided options explained Excess options
An excess is the amount you will pay towards a claim, the higher the excess you choose the lower the premium will be. AVIVA Health offer the following excess options:
£0, £100, £200, £500, £1000, £3000, and £5000.
The excess is only paid once per year if you claim and not per claim, so multiple claims can be made without paying the excess again. Excesses can only be changed at renewal and subject to ongoing claims status at that time.
Underwriting options
As with most health insurers AVIVA Health have three options you can choose from for how your policy is underwritten:
Moratorium underwriting
You do not need to disclose your medical history; a moratorium period of two years is in place for any condition for which you have experienced symptoms or received treatment for in the last five years.
Continued medical exclusions
You will need to answer a few questions regarding your medical history in the last five years and some questions on specific health conditions. The underwriting will transfer from your previous insurer rather than being re-underwritten. This option is only available to those with an existing health insurance policy with another insurer.
Full medical underwriting
You will disclose your full medical history which is submitted to AVIVA Health who will then apply underwriting terms accordingly.
You can read more in our guides section on underwriting. Our expert advisors can use their knowledge to assist you in choosing the right underwriting, considering your medical history and future medical needs.
Underwriting explained What is not covered
As with most leading health insurers, AVIVA Health policies are for cover for acute conditions and flare ups of chronic conditions. Chronic conditions, in terms of ongoing monitoring and maintenance are not covered by health insurance policies. Read more on chronic conditions here.
Private medical insurance does not cover accident and emergency situations or rehabilitation and convalescence. Most leading health insurers do not cover treatment overseas. Self-inflicted injury and professional sports related injuries are also not covered on a health insurance policy.
With regards to treatment of medical conditions you have had, or had symptoms of, before you join AVIVA Health, these will be excluded unless you have switched from another plan and have underwriting for continued medical exclusions.
In many cases pre-existing conditions can be covered, dependent on the status of the condition at the time of joining, and the time that has passed since you last received treatment or experienced symptoms. This is something our expert advisors can assist you with when selecting the best policy and underwriting for you.
AVIVA Health do apply some general exclusions and limitations as below:
- Chronic conditions
- Cosmetic treatment
- Addictions and substance misuse
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Infertility
- Experimental treatment
- HIV/AIDS
- Sleep disorders and sleep problems
Member rewards
AVIVA Health offer several member rewards when you take out their Healthier Solutions policy through their GetActive service. There are discounts available on over 3000 gyms and lifestyle products.
AVIVA Health also offer rewards for healthy living; MyHealthCounts is an online health and wellbeing tool designed to help you improve your lifestyle, you can apply for up to a 15% renewal discount based on your progress.
We always negotiate discounts at your renewal to ensure the price for your health insurance remains competitive.
Get a quote Summary of AVIVA Healthier Solutions policy
AVIVA Health offer good flexibility in their health insurance product. Their core offering is substantial, with comprehensive cancer cover as standard and specialist referred physiotherapy and osteopathy covered under the core plan.
MRI, PET and CT scans are covered in full as standard, however, if you reduce the out-patient cover then the consultations and other diagnostics are under a combined limit up to the chosen out-patient cover option. The only way to have unlimited diagnostics is to choose the full out-patient option.
AVIVA Health offer many options for reducing cover should you only want to be covered for the more costly elements of private health treatment. There are several hospital lists to choose from and AVIVA Health are the only insurer offering the NHS six-week option, which significantly reduces your health insurance premium.
The AVIVA Health cancer cover is very comprehensive and under their ‘cancer pledge’ provides support at every stage of cancer treatment. They cover stem cell and bone marrow transplants and treatments that help control the spread of certain cancers such as bisphosphonates. AVIVA pay for treatments and tests which may not be available on the NHS, where clinically proven.
AVIVA Health offer the option to add a no claims bonus protection for a slightly increased premium. This can prevent claims-based renewal increases in the year following a claim. Not all insurers offer this add on and it is a good option for those wanting to manage future premium increases.
AVIVA Health - hospital list
AVIVA Health has one hospital list with the following options you can choose from: Extended, Key, Trust and Signature, which is for Scotland and Northern Ireland only.
The Extended hospital list includes most London hospitals along with regional hospitals; the Key hospital list covers some London hospitals and regional hospitals, while the Trust list covers you only for treatment in private units within NHS hospitals.
Click on the link below to see the Healthier Solutions hospital list in detail. The list does include some legacy hospital options such as Fair & Square and Capital which are no longer available to select.
AVIVA Health hospital lists Compare AVIVA Health with other leading providers
Click on the logo’s below to read about the other health insurers benefits and our independent review of their health insurance cover.
Health insurance guides
Below are our helpful guides that provide further information about how medical insurance works and the various options available. Should you prefer to speak to one of our expert advisors we are always available on the telephone to help.