Age, medical inflation and your claims history all push in the same direction — and the levers to pull back are structural, not negotiable.

What the policy documents actually say

Premiums rise with age in a way that accelerates rather than tracks inflation, and medical costs themselves rise faster than general prices. A renewal quote that looks punitive is often doing nothing more than repricing an older person against more expensive treatment.

The levers are the ones you chose at outset. Raising the excess is the bluntest: Aviva offers six tiers from £100 to £5,000, applied per member per policy year rather than per claim, so a higher excess costs you once in a claiming year. WPA offers a different lever again, Shared Responsibility, where you pay 25% of eligible claims up to a chosen ceiling.

Narrowing the hospital list is the second lever, and the one most likely to be regretted. Dropping from an extended list to an essential one saves money until the hospital you need is not on it.

The six-week option is the third. Aviva's version removes private in-patient and day-patient cover, the NHS cash benefit and the NHS cancer cash benefit where the NHS can treat within six weeks of the specialist's recommendation.

No claims discounts complicate comparisons: Aviva ring-fences dental and optical claims so they do not affect it, and AXA Health does the same for dental fees, the external prosthesis payment and Doctor at Hand consultations. A quote from a new insurer will not carry your accrued discount.

Questions to put to the insurer or broker

  • What would each excess tier save?
  • Which hospitals drop off if I move down a list?
  • Does my no-claims discount transfer if I switch?

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: 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.

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.