National Friendly
National Friendly is a mutual society with its headquarters in Bristol. Founded in 1868 by Rev. Canon Portal at Albury Rectory it was set up as a deposit system allowing members to co-fund medical assistance.
National Friendly’s popularity was growing by 1900, and in 1918 they established a convalescence home to support injured soldiers returning from World War I.
National Friendly have a strong customer service focus and believe that treating customers fairly is an integral part of who they are.
When you take out a health insurance policy with National Friendly you automatically become a member of the society, giving you access to several member benefits.
Get a quote National Friendly health insurance review
The National Friendly My PMI policy offers four levels of cover; level one is the most basic and cheapest option, levels two and three are more comprehensive and include some in-patient cover and level four is the most comprehensive option with no monetary limits on cover.
The policies are based on a five-year term and members must be aged between 18 and 85.
National Friendly - key benefits
GP advice – Whichever level of cover you choose you will have access to a private GP via telephone or webcam. The service provides 24/7 GP telephone consultations, video consultations, private prescriptions and open referrals. .
Options to suit your budget – The four levels of cover with different out-patient and in-patient options allow you to choose your cover to suit your budget. There is also a ‘Guided’ option where the insurer selects the hospital and consultant resulting in a reduced premium.
Fair and predictable payments – The National Friendly policies are based on a five-year term and annual increases are only based on age and medical inflation, not on your claims history.
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National Friendly - Policy Options
Here is a summary of what is included in the Level One option. You can choose the financial limit for the benefits listed below from either £2000 or £5000 per year. We have also summarised the benefits for the levels 2, 3 and 4 below.
| Benefit | Details |
| Face to face private GP Consultations | Face to face private GP consultations which lead to a referral to a specialist. For most, treatment will start with some sort of consultation with a GP, whether that’s in person or on the phone, or even in a virtual environment. We will pay for such services, and you can use our virtual GP service as part your policy at any time without restriction. |
| Face to face private GP consultations which do not lead to a referral to a specialist. | We will pay for only one visit to a private GP per policy year which does not lead to a referral to a specialist, up to a maximum cost of £100. |
| Diagnostic consultations with a specialist | By specialist, we mean one sourced and/or authorised by our claims team. |
| Diagnostic tests | Diagnostic tests to find or help find the cause of your symptoms, including a range of camera-based investigations such as colonoscopies and endoscopies, angiograms, biopsies, ECGs, pathology tests, scans (including MRI, PET, CT) and x-rays. |
| Therapies | Cover is provided for out-patient therapies before in/day-patient treatment of a medical condition such as acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, osteopathy and physiotherapy.
In addition, cover is provided for chiropody to treat medical conditions, gait assessment and podiatry to treat medical conditions. |
| Mental Health Cover | One initial psychiatric assessment per policy year, carried out on an out-patient basis.
Up to 10 face-to-face sessions per policy year with a counsellor or psychotherapist. |
| Heart Cover | Cover for heart related conditions includes angiograms, biopsies, blood tests and ECGs. |
| Cancer Cover | Cover for cancer includes biopsies, blood tests, scans and X-rays required to diagnose your condition prior to active treatment. |
Summary of Level Two:
This covers in-patient (hospital based) treatments to a limit of £1 million for each person on the policy per year. This policy is designed to cover diagnostic scans and tests and hospital treatments after diagnosis.
Summary of Level Three:
This covers both out-patient and in-patient (hospital-based) treatments. This policy has the same limits and benefits as the level one policy, plus additional in-and day-patient benefits listed such as NHS cashback, follow ups and monitoring after surgery, dental procedures in hospital, parental accommodation, more cover for cancer and heart and a fixed cash allowance option. This policy has a limit of £1 million for each person on the policy per year.
Summary of Level Four:
This covers both out-patient and in-patient (hospital-based) treatments. The policy covers all the benefits from the Level 3 policy, plus additional benefits services such as no limits on cancer treatment. The key difference from Level 3 is that these benefits have no cash limitations unless otherwise stated.
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. National Friendly offer the following excess options:
£0, £100, £250, £500, and £1000 on all four levels of cover.
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 National Friendly 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 National Friendly 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, National Friendly 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 National Friendly, 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.
National Friendly do apply some general exclusions and limitations as below:
- Chronic conditions
- Elective treatment
- Addiction related medical conditions
- Fertility treatment
- Gender re-assignment
- AIDS and HIV
- Transplant operations
- Developmental and behavioural problems
- Sleep disorders
- Experimental treatment
- Routine monitoring, tests, and examinations
- Screening
We provide ongoing support and renewal savings on your health insurance policy for as long as you are insured.
Get a quote Summary of National Friendly
National Friendly offer a different approach to having private medical insurance with the different financial limits on cover you can choose from. The way the four plans are set up is also unique in how they focus on either consultations or diagnostics or the full cover. This does mean they can offer entry level cover for those wanting to keep premiums low. There is a strong emphasis on private GP services rather than specialist consultations. The benefits of the National Friendly policies are more limited when compared to other leading health insurance providers, but this is reflected in their competitive pricing.
There is a limit for joining National Friendly set at 85 and the policy is based on a five-year term. Annual increases are subject to age and insurance premium tax (IPT) increases rather than claims, but after five years they do have the option not to continue the cover.
Whilst it is difficult to compare the National Friendly product with the other leading insurers, it does offer a cheaper alternative to having private health cover in the form of a policy with financial caps on cover and a GP led focus. In addition, for those who prefer to have greater control of annual price increases the five-year term based on age related increases does offer this.
National Friendly - hospital list
National Friendly do not have a published list of hospitals, instead they provide access to all hospitals within the UK with some exceptions. When you apply, you’ll be asked to choose which hospital/provider option you want on your policy.
The Guided treatment option means the National Friendly claims team will be able to help find you a consultant and make sure you get the best treatment path.
Or if want free choice on where you go for treatment and/or who you see, then you can select one of two options:
- You can choose our Standard hospitals list, which just excludes a list of hospitals whose costs exceed those elsewhere in the country; or
- You can also choose our Extended hospitals list, which allows you to use any recognised hospital facility in the country, including those excluded from the Standard list.
National Friendly - policy documents
Click on the links below for the full policy terms and conditions and brochure for each of the National Friendly health insurance products.
Policy Brochure Policy Terms and Conditions 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.