Self-employed health insurance

Why should someone self-employed purchase health insurance?

When you’re self-employed, your business may often be built around you. This can be fantastic in terms of flexibility, profitability and choice over your working environment, but it may also mean that the company is heavily reliant on you. 

If you were to fall medically unwell next month, would your business be able to continue operating without you, and if so, for how long? This could pose a liability to the success of your company, so having a health plan that coincides with your self-employment plan can help towards mitigating this risk.

Benefits of health insurance for someone self-employed

Business health insurance comes with many benefits, some being unique to your policy provider, and others which are more generally associated with private healthcare. We’ve covered this in detail in our is private health insurance worth it? post, but below you’ll find direct benefits to anyone self-employed.

1. You may have the option for fast track appointments, which could mean you see a consultant quicker in comparison to the NHS maximum waiting time of 18 weeks.
2. It can be an attractive bonus to offer employees should you expand your business.
3. You can purchase the policy through your business as opposed to funding the health insurance policy yourself.
4. You’ll have the choice of appointment times that fit with your working schedule.

‍

What to consider for your self-employed private health insurance

As with all health insurance policies, there are inclusions or exclusions to take into account, such as your hospital list, that can help refine your policy to suit you and keep the cost down. If you’re considering self-employed health insurance, we recommend that you take the following options into account:

Continuation of work policy

If you were previously employed and benefitted from company-wide health insurance, you might have the option of staying covered after you leave. You may be offered the chance to take out a personal health insurance policy that continues to cover any ongoing conditions that you were previously covered for. Bear in mind that this depends on the provider, the policy you were already on, and what your medical conditions are. You’ll usually have to make this decision within 3 months of leaving your place of work. However, if this is something you’re considering, get in touch and we’ll look at the best options available to you.

Outpatient cover

Outpatient care, which is when you receive care in a hospital without being admitted or staying for less than 24 hours, is usually available for an increased policy premium. If you don’t need your health insurance to offer this cover, opt for an inpatient-only option.

Additional cover

Additional cover options, such as dental and complementary therapies may be offered as an additional extra on your policy. If you were already considering separate dental insurance, it might be cheaper to be covered under a single health insurance policy.

Critical illness cover

Policies that cover you for critical illness mean that in the event of becoming critically ill, your policy will pay out a single lump sum to support you. This can help to offset some of the risk involved with being self-employed and the reliance your business has on you.

Income protection

Income protection may be an option, depending on your policy provider. If you’re unable to work due to an illness or because of injury, you could have some of your earnings replaced with monthly repayments through your policy.

4 or 6 week option

4, or 6 week policy options mean that if you’re able to receive your required treatment through the NHS within 4 or 6 weeks, you won’t be able to claim on your health insurance policy. Instead, you’ll receive your treatment via NHS services. This can be a great way to keep your premium down if you’re conscious of the price and don’t mind waiting 4 or 6 weeks for treatment.

Excess

Your policy excess is an amount that you pay towards the cost of a treatment when claiming. If you increase your excess, this may reduce your monthly or annual premium, but means you’ll pay out more in the event of a claim.

Hospital list

Adding or removing hospitals from your hospital list can increase or decrease your premium, respectively. If you’re self-employed, you need to bear a few things in mind. Will you regularly travel for work? If so, wider access may benefit you. If you’re working from a single location, you may have the option to reduce your hospital access to local only, thus reducing your policy.

Compare your options to find the best self-employed health insurance

Regardless of whether you’re self-employed or taking out family health insurance, anyone looking to purchase private medical insurance should go through a comparison process. In doing so, you’ll have access to the most competitive policy for the cover you need. However, as someone who’s self-employed, your time is incredibly valuable; it’s what your business is built on. Our team of industry-trained staff can do the comparison process for you, without any obligation to purchase. We independently compare your policy options across the UK’s leading providers and serve you with a single most competitive policy. It’ll save you time comparing them yourself, and it means you’ll have us on the phone to answer any other questions you may have. For more information on our other types of business health insurance, you can read about corporate health insurance and small business health insurance here.