UK Consumers and Health Insurance: 2025

The UK health insurance market has surged post-pandemic, with double-digit premium growth driven by record claims, rising medical inflation and concerns about NHS backlogs. Corporate cover is fuelling this growth in both PMI and health cash plans. Personal cover is growing, but more slowly due to affordability constraints.

Interest in health insurance is growing, but only a minority are willing to bear the full cost of comprehensive coverage. This gap between expectations and affordability is limiting market growth, with cost remaining the biggest obstacle to broader adoption.

Younger adults are driving consumer interest, with 53% of Gen Z expressing a desire to purchase cover within the next two years. This highlights a substantial untapped market, provided price and value perceptions can be aligned. To successfully engage these younger consumers, products and marketing should emphasise lifestyle and wellness aspirations and preventative healthcare.

There is an opportunity to move beyond basic rewards to create experiences that unite members around shared health goals. A winning strategy embeds the insurer into the daily routine of the customer, using community-led initiatives and gamified rewards. By doing this, providers can shift from being a reactive safety net to an essential, proactive partner in their customers’ long-term well-being.

This report looks at the following areas:

Market Definitions

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

This Report examines the UK market for health insurance, with a focus on PMI (private medical insurance). The Report also touches on other health cover options, including health cash plans (HCPs) and healthcare trusts.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

PMI is designed to cover the costs of private treatment for what are commonly known as acute medical/surgical conditions (ie curable short-term illnesses or injuries). The main advantage of having this cover is that it ensures prompt access to treatment should the policyholder become ill or injured.

The market for PMI can be segmented into two sectors: Personal PMI – policies arranged by individuals; and Corporate PMI – group schemes arranged by an employer for some or all employees.

There are also policies that are designed to cover diagnosis only or treatment and aftercare only.

HCPs provide cash benefits to cover everyday costs associated with primary care treatment (eg dental examinations), hospital treatment (though not the treatment itself) and post-operative care. The majority of plans do not cover the full cost, but pay a fixed rate usually between 50% and 75%. Plans may also include protection cover, wellness services and telephone helplines.

Unlike PMI, HCPs work on the basis of ‘guaranteed acceptance’, meaning that subscribers are not required to undergo a medical examination and premiums are not based on claims history. Some plan providers adjust premiums according to different age bands, although most do not. Some also impose an upper age limit for joining or offer reduced benefits to those over a certain age.

Healthcare trusts are where individual companies (typically larger companies) provide a form of PMI which is administered by insurance companies. The employer sets up the trust and establishes a fund that is used to pay for the medical treatments of its beneficiaries. This provides health cover for employees and their dependents. Subscribers can receive hospital attention or undergo operations in private hospitals more quickly or at a more suitable time that can be offered through the NHS.