Aviva sells business health insurance through two main products. Solutions is built for SMEs with 1 to 249 employees. Optimum is the corporate plan for employers with 100 or more staff.
Both are private medical insurance (PMI). They fund eligible private treatment for acute conditions: illnesses or injuries likely to respond quickly to treatment aimed at restoring health or achieving a full recovery.
We are an FCA-authorised broker and we place Aviva schemes alongside the other insurers on our panel. This guide covers what the core cover includes, which choices change it, and what to check before you sign.
For most SMEs, the product choice is the easy part. The options, the hospital list and the underwriting you pick decide what employees can actually claim.
| Product | Who it’s for | How it’s built |
|---|---|---|
| Solutions | Businesses with 1 to 249 employees | Core cover, then options to add or reduce benefits |
| Optimum | Businesses with 100 or more employees | Corporate cover, with benefits and underwriting agreed for each scheme |
Sources: Aviva’s Solutions and Optimum product information, checked 8 October 2026.
The ranges overlap. If you employ 100 to 249 people, ask which product and underwriting terms Aviva will offer your scheme. Don’t assume the corporate plan switches on every option by default. Solutions is the starting point for smaller businesses.
Solutions core cover includes eligible in-patient and day-patient treatment, out-patient cover and cancer care. It also has two managed pathways: one for muscles and joints, one for mental health support.
Out-patient care is where many claims begin, with consultations and diagnostic tests. Check how your schedule treats scans and blood tests before an employee needs them.
Solutions includes cancer care and access to Aviva’s oncology support. Ask how the wording treats diagnosis, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, follow-up and support costs.
A broad cancer promise is not unlimited funding for every drug, preventive test or experimental procedure. Restrictions you choose, including the six-week option below, can also change cancer access.
BacktoBetter is Aviva’s route for back, neck, muscle and joint problems. Covered members over 11 can contact Aviva directly for an assessment, with no GP referral needed.
Physiotherapy is funded where the pathway recommends it, subject to the policy terms. Use the pathway before booking anything yourself, because direct access does not mean any physio of your choice.
The Mental Health Pathway gives eligible members over 11 an assessment and access to talking therapy or counselling, again without a GP referral. Aviva says out-patient monetary limits don’t apply to care through the pathway.
In-patient and day-patient mental health treatment needs the relevant upgrade. The £0 out-patient option removes all insured mental health cover, including the pathway, and cannot be combined with that upgrade.
Solutions also lists the following benefits, subject to the scheme’s terms:
The selected benefit reduction option removes cover for pregnancy and childbirth complications, infertility investigations and the specified dental surgery benefit.
The Solutions wording checked also provides a £100 baby bonus, paid once to the group member for each eligible baby born to, or adopted by, them or an insured family member. For adoption, the baby must be adopted within a year of birth.
For members on moratorium or full medical underwriting, the birth or adoption must take place more than ten months after the group member joined the policy. Ask Aviva how to submit the claim.
Sources: Solutions brochure and Solutions age-rated policy terms, GEN6901 02/2026.
We compare Aviva against the other major UK insurers on our panel. Speak to our team for straight answers and no pressure.
Solutions lets you add optional extras or trim core cover to cut the premium. The extras include dental and optical benefits, extra mental health treatment, and routine and GP-referred services. Confirm the limits and referral rules for each of the optional extras.
The routine and GP-referred services option includes specified out-patient benefits for some chronic conditions. It does not turn the policy into unrestricted cover for long-term illness.
Reductions save money, but each one has a knock-on effect:
Ask Aviva for a separate price on each change. That shows what every saving costs your staff in cover, not just what it saves you. We don’t quote an average per-head price, because premiums depend on your workforce and the choices above.
Expert Select is Aviva’s guided route. With an open referral from a GP, Aviva offers suitable hospitals and consultants for eligible treatment. It isn’t a fixed list of the cheapest doctors.
The alternative is a specified hospital list. Aviva offers Key, Extended, Signature and Trust, each with different access. Check which hospital list covers facilities near employees’ homes and offices, and whether staff can see a named consultant.
Where your team lives matters too. Some options are not available everywhere. The brochure’s in-patient and day-patient mental health upgrade isn’t offered to members living in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Isle of Wight.
The Signature list covers hospitals in Scotland and Northern Ireland and excludes hospitals in England and Wales. Ask Aviva to confirm the facilities available under your chosen option. If you choose Expert Select, check how the referral process works before anyone books privately.
Source: Solutions brochure: hospital options and benefit choices.
Underwriting decides how the scheme treats pre-existing conditions, meaning health problems employees had before joining. For a new small scheme, options commonly include moratorium and full medical underwriting. Our underwriting guide explains both in detail.
If you already have a company scheme, ask whether Aviva will carry over existing underwriting terms when you move. Continuity needs to be agreed; it should not be assumed.
Changing underwriting can remove cover for pre-existing conditions your current insurer pays for. The new policy’s benefits and exclusions also apply, even where previous underwriting terms are continued. Read our guide on switching health insurance before you cancel anything.
Whichever option you pick, restrictions on chronic conditions still apply. These are conditions that need ongoing monitoring, management or treatment.
There are exceptions within the wording. For example, eligible unexpected acute flare-ups may be covered until a condition is stabilised, and the optional routine and GP-referred services benefit provides limited cover for specified chronic-condition services. Cancer has its own cover rules. Check the terms for the condition and benefit concerned.
Aviva’s Optimum corporate private medical insurance is for businesses with 100 or more employees. Benefits and underwriting are agreed scheme by scheme, so the Solutions schedule doesn’t transfer across unchanged.
Some corporate schemes run on Medical History Disregarded terms. Where that’s agreed, personal medical-history exclusions do not apply. General exclusions, benefit limits and authorisation rules still apply, so it isn’t the same as covering every pre-existing condition.
If fertility, neurodevelopment, gender identity or menopause support matters to your workforce, ask for the exact eligibility, limits and treatment scope in the proposed contract. Check which services are insured benefits and which are separate wellbeing support.
The Aviva group also offers group income protection, life insurance and workplace pensions. Some employers like one provider for the whole package. A good deal on workplace pensions or group income protection does not tell you how much medical cover a health scheme provides. Compare the health scheme on its own.
We review your current underwriting terms before recommending a switch and explain any differences in cover. There is no advice fee for our business health insurance comparisons.
Like most business insurance of this type, Solutions excludes fertility treatment, most cosmetic treatment and treatment for addiction or substance misuse. Personal medical history terms also apply.
Investigations into infertility can be covered where that benefit has not been removed. Some other listed benefits qualify general exclusions, so read the schedule and policy wording together.
Aviva offers wellbeing services alongside the insurance, including the Aviva Digital GP service, mental health resources and Get Active discounts. Ask which services your scheme includes, such as a stress counselling helpline. Some wellbeing services are non-contractual, so Aviva can change or withdraw them. Eligibility and service terms apply.
A digital GP referral doesn’t guarantee that the test or treatment it leads to is covered. Employees can use MyAviva to view their cover and manage claims. Walk staff through MyAviva when the scheme starts, so they check cover before booking anything.
For a wider view of what an employer scheme involves, see our business health insurance guide. Staff who leave can read about continuing cover after leaving a company.
Solutions starts at one employee and runs to 249. Optimum, the corporate plan, is for businesses with 100 or more staff, so the two ranges overlap. Availability and underwriting depend on Aviva accepting the scheme.
No. Healthier Solutions is Aviva’s individual and family policy, with its own benefits and options. If you are buying personally for yourself or your family, compare Healthier Solutions. A company arranging cover for a director or employee may also be eligible for Solutions, so the right route depends on who is buying the policy and the scheme’s eligibility.
Out-patient mental health support comes through the Mental Health Pathway as standard, unless a selected reduction removes it. The £0 out-patient option removes all insured mental health cover.
In-patient and day-patient care needs the relevant upgrade, which is unavailable with the £0 out-patient option and in certain locations.
Usually, yes. Where an employer arranges and pays for private health insurance, it is normally a taxable benefit in kind for the employee, and the employer generally pays Class 1A National Insurance on its value.
The benefit can be reported through registered payrolling arrangements or on a P11D where it is not payrolled. Check the reporting requirements and your own position with your accountant.
Yes. We quote Aviva against AXA Health, Bupa and other insurers on our panel, because underwriting terms, benefits and hospital lists vary. See our Bupa business health insurance review and AXA Health review for comparison.
Employees can manage claims through MyAviva. Eligible members can access BacktoBetter and the Mental Health Pathway without a GP referral where those benefits are included.
For other treatment, check the referral and authorisation rules in your scheme before booking. A referral alone does not confirm that Aviva will pay.
My Health Protected Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 785132). This guide is general information, not personal advice. Policy terms change, so always check the latest Aviva documents and your scheme’s terms before you buy.
This site is run by My Health Protected, an FCA-authorised broker. Our guides compare UK private health insurance providers and are reviewed regularly against current insurer wording.
We are members of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII).
The information on this site is for general guidance only and not professional advice. For tailored advice or a personalised quote, contact us directly.
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Patrick Baxter is the founder of My Health Protected, an FCA-authorised independent health insurance broker based in London. LinkedIn →
