For a group scheme, effectively yes — SME and corporate cover is almost always placed through a broker, because the schemes and underwriting aren't sold well direct.
How it works in practice
Group private medical insurance is broker territory in a way personal cover is not. The schemes, the multi-life underwriting, and the more favourable terms that come with size — such as medical history disregarded on larger groups — are not really consumer-direct products. Trying to place a scheme yourself means missing most of what makes group cover worthwhile.
A broker rates your workforce across insurers, sets the scheme up, and manages the repricing at each renewal. Because the age profile of the staff drives the premium more than headcount does, and insurers weigh the same group differently, that comparison is where the cost is decided.
The good broker also advises on structure, not just price — who is eligible, whether a cash plan or full group private medical insurance fits, and how the benefit-in-kind tax works for the people covered. Those decisions shape the value of the scheme as much as the premium does.
So for anything beyond a single director paying through their own company, a broker is the normal and sensible route. The more people involved, the more a broker is worth having.
Questions to put to the insurer or broker
- How many insurers would you rate my group across?
- What group size unlocks medical history disregarded?
- Should we run a cash plan, full cover, or both — and how is the tax handled?
Related questions
- Are comparison sites the same as private health insurance brokers?
- Broker or direct: which is the better way to buy private health insurance?
- Can a broker get me cheaper private health insurance than going direct?
- Can a broker help me get private health insurance with a pre-existing condition?
How this site fits in
This explains how UK private health insurance brokers work in general. Health Insurance UK is not itself a broker and is not FCA-authorised; when you request a quote we introduce you to one selected FCA-authorised broker, which is responsible for any regulated advice, and we may be paid for the introduction. Always check any firm on the FCA Financial Services Register before you act, and remember a broker cannot cover a condition you already have — that is set by underwriting, not by who arranges the policy.
Get a free quote — a specialist broker calls you back, free and with no obligation.
Or see how UK cover compares and the FCA-authorised broker list.