How 3 UK insurers word hospital lists in their own policy documents, quoted rather than paraphrased.
| Insurer | Plan | What the policy document says |
|---|---|---|
| Saga | HealthPlan Super | Three access tiers: the Saga Countrywide Hospital List, a Saga London Upgrade for central London facilities, and a lower-cost Guided Care route where the insurer directs the choice of specialist. |
| The Exeter | Health+ | Four treatment options set which hospitals can be used, from a guided-specialist route to an extended hospital list. |
| WPA | Complete Health | The standard list covers around 1,000 UK hospitals, clinics and scanning centres, with a Premium Hospitals option adding mainly central London facilities. |
Where they differ
- Saga includes it in the plan.
- The Exeter includes it in the plan.
- WPA includes it in the plan.
Those three axes — included or optional, capped or open-ended, referral or direct — are what separate policies that look alike on price. A plan that includes hospital lists with a low cap can be worth less than one that prices it as an option with none.
What separates them
The differences that change a claim are rarely the headline. They are whether a benefit sits in the core plan or an add-on, whether a referral is needed, what the yearly limit is, and how the excess interacts with it. Two policies at a similar price can differ on all four.
None of this covers a condition you already have. Every insurer here excludes chronic conditions, and pre-existing conditions are handled through underwriting — either declared and excluded upfront, or excluded until you have gone a defined period without symptoms or treatment.
The full document for each insurer
- Saga HealthPlan Super: every benefit we have quoted
- The Exeter Health+: every benefit we have quoted
- WPA Complete Health: every benefit we have quoted
Who is not in this comparison
This page covers Saga, The Exeter, WPA. It does not cover Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality — either because their current policy wording is not published openly, or because the document we hold does not address this benefit. Vitality, for example, keeps its plan terms behind a member login rather than publishing them, so we have no current wording to quote.
A comparison built from four documents is not the whole UK market, and saying so is more useful than implying completeness. A broker with access to a wider panel can tell you how the insurers not listed here would treat the same benefit.
Sources
- Saga — Source: Your Policy Book — HealthPlan Super, Super 4 Week Wait & Super 6 Week Wait (May 2025), read 4 September 2026. Page 2.
- The Exeter — Source: Private Medical Insurance — Insurance Product Information Document (Health+) (October 2025), read 4 September 2026. Page 1.
- WPA — Source: Private Medical Insurance — Insurance Product Information Document (Complete Health) (November 2025), read 4 September 2026. Page 1.
Each row above is our reading of the wording in the document named against that insurer. The full quotation sits on the insurer’s own page, linked below, so the figures here can be checked against the sentence they came from rather than taken on trust.
Compare hospital lists on a quote
Get a free quote and a specialist broker will call you back to compare how these insurers handle hospital lists for your circumstances — free, no obligation. See also the guide to comparing UK cover and the list of FCA-authorised brokers.
Insurers publish these documents openly and revise them at renewal, so the figures above have a shelf life. Ask for the current policy document and the benefit schedule before deciding, and check the firm on the Financial Services Register. An FCA-authorised broker can compare the insurers available through its service and explain how each would treat your history.