On most policies yes — Bupa is the exception, and it is a meaningful one.

What the policy documents actually say

Bupa's Direct Access service lets a member call about cancer, muscle, bone and joint problems, or mental health without a GP referral first, and that assessment carries no excess and does not consume the out-patient allowance. Aviva requires the opposite: out-patient mental health treatment is capped at £2,000 a policy year and paid only on a GP referral to a psychiatric therapist or specialist.

AXA Health and The Exeter both treat mental health as an optional add-on rather than core cover, so the referral question is moot unless the option was bought. WPA prices it as an extra too, covering in-patient and day-patient treatment up to 28 days or nights and requiring you to choose an out-patient and therapy level of £1,000 or £2,500, with structured counselling to 20 sessions.

For anyone weighing policies on mental health specifically, the referral route matters as much as the limit: a £2,000 allowance you can only reach through a GP appointment behaves differently from direct access with no excess.

The distinction between in-patient and out-patient limits matters more here than in most benefits. WPA covers in-patient and day-patient psychiatric treatment for up to 28 days or nights, but requires a separate out-patient and therapy level of £1,000 or £2,500 to be chosen alongside it. A policy can therefore cover a hospital admission generously while running out of out-patient cover part-way through the therapy that follows discharge.

Structured counselling is often counted separately again — WPA allows up to 20 sessions of it as extended therapy. When comparing, line up three numbers rather than one: the in-patient allowance, the out-patient monetary cap, and the session count for talking therapies.

Questions to put to the insurer or broker

  • Can I self-refer, or must a GP send me?
  • Is the limit monetary, session-based or both?
  • Is mental health core cover or a paid option?

Related questions

Sources

  • Source: Aviva — Healthier Solutions Terms and conditions (2025-04), read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: AXA Health — Personal Health membership handbook, October 2024, read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: Bupa policy guide — Bupa By You health insurance (BINS 14718) (2024), read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: The Exeter — Private Medical Insurance — Insurance Product Information Document (Health+) (2025-10), read 4 September 2026.
  • Source: WPA — Private Medical Insurance — Insurance Product Information Document (Complete Health) (2025-11), read 4 September 2026.

The limit behind every answer here

None of this reaches a condition you already have. Cover is written for problems that arise after it starts, so anything you have symptoms of when you apply is excluded — permanently under full medical underwriting, or until a symptom-free period has passed under a moratorium. Chronic conditions are excluded by every insurer whose wording we hold. Figures quoted come from current policy documents and change at renewal, so check the document you are actually offered.

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