How much does private health insurance cost in London?

Age for age, London cover runs about 18% above our UK average. Some parts of the capital pay close to a third more. We are an independent broker based in Putney, and around two in five of the policies we place are for London clients.

Many people buy private medical insurance (PMI) to skip NHS waiting lists and choose where they are treated. The catch in London is the price.

Below we break down what Londoners pay for private health insurance by age, household, area and insurer, including Bupa, AXA, Aviva and Vitality. We also explain what pushes London prices up. Then we show how your hospital list, excess and level of cover can bring your premium down.

London health insurance costs at a glance

"Typical" here means the median. Half of our clients paid less and half paid more. We use it because a few very large policies would drag a simple average upwards.

What one person pays in London, by age

Age is the single biggest factor in what you pay. The table shows individual policies, grouped by the policyholder's age when cover started.

"Most people pay" shows the middle half of policies in each band. The range widens with age, so two people of the same age can pay very different amounts.

The sharpest rise comes at 70. A typical premium jumps by around 60% between the 60s and 70-plus. If you are approaching 70, expect premiums to climb faster from that point. Our guide to health insurance for over 50s covers the wider picture.

How does London compare with the rest of the country? Here are the same age bands for our clients outside the capital.

We have left out the under-40 comparison because we place too few young clients outside London for a fair figure.

Couples and families in London

For couples, we group by the older partner's age, since that tends to set the price.

Couple premiums climb steeply through the 60s, then flatten out. Past 70, the typical figure barely moves.

London families with children paid a typical £178 a month. Where two parents and their children shared one policy, the figure was £189. Children usually cost far less to add than another adult, so the parents' ages drive most of the price. Our family health insurance guide explains how these plans work.

How costs vary across London

London is not one price. We split our London clients into five areas by postcode and worked out a typical cost per person in each.

We weighted each area to the same age mix, so the differences reflect where people live rather than how old they are.

The UK average on the same basis is £104 per person. It drops to £73 in Scotland and £75 in South West England.

Treat the area figures as a guide. South West and Outer London each rest on more than 100 policies. The other three areas have around 30 each, so a handful of policies could shift them.

Why private health insurance costs more in London

Two things do most of the work.

Insurers price by postcode. Your home address feeds into the premium because insurers expect to pay more for hospital treatment in some areas than others. Private healthcare in London sits at the top of that scale.

Your hospital list matters. A hospital list is the set of private hospitals your policy lets you use. Most insurers offer several. Lists that include the central London hospitals cost more, which matters most if you live or work near them.

Together, they explain why cover in North London can cost nearly double the Scottish figure. Neither factor says anything about your health. They reflect where you live and where you want to be treated.

What your premium pays for

The price only makes sense next to the alternative. In July 2026, the NHS waiting list in England stood at 7.33 million cases. The median wait for planned treatment was 12 weeks, up from 7.3 weeks before the pandemic. Around 2.53 million people had waited longer than the 18-week target.

Private cover lets you skip NHS waiting lists for new conditions your policy covers. In practice, that usually means faster specialist appointments, scans and surgery, at a hospital on your list. It won't help with conditions your policy excludes, which is why the underwriting choice matters as much as the price.

Which insurers our London clients choose

Our London clients choose differently from those elsewhere.

We don't push clients towards one name. These shares show what each client chose after we compared options with them.

AXA Health. Its modular design lets clients pay only for the parts they need, which helps when London prices stretch a budget. AXA also lets you book physiotherapy directly through its MSK service, with no GP referral. Our AXA Health review covers each point in detail.

Bupa. Bupa remains a strong all-rounder, especially for people who value mental health cover. Unlike most insurers, Bupa does not class recurring mental health problems as chronic. Premiums tend to run higher, partly for the brand.

Vitality. Vitality works best for clients who will use its rewards programme. Where someone won't track activity or use the app, much of the value disappears. Once you strip out the rewards, Vitality can cost more than it first looks.

Aviva. Aviva is one of the few insurers with no upper age limit for new applicants. That matters in London, where half our clients are 60 or over. Its cancer care is among the strongest we see, running from diagnosis to five years of aftercare.

How to lower your premium in London

You can bring a London PMI premium down a long way without stripping out the cover you care about most. These are the levers we look at first.

Pick your hospital list with care. If you are happy to be treated at private hospitals near home rather than in central London, a narrower list can cut the price noticeably.

Choose the right level of cover. Comprehensive cover pays for inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment and cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Basic health plans focus on hospital stays and may limit the rest. Our guide to comprehensive vs basic cover shows where the savings sit.

Raise your excess. The policy excess is the amount you pay towards a claim before the insurer pays. A higher excess means a lower premium.

Consider the six-week option. If the National Health Service can treat you within six weeks, you use the NHS. If not, your private cover kicks in. It can reduce the premium, but longer NHS waits make it less attractive for some.

Check outpatient limits before cutting them. Outpatient care means treatment where you don't stay in hospital, such as specialist consultations and diagnostic tests. Trimming outpatient cover saves money, but some insurers remove other benefits when you do.

That last point catches people out. With Aviva, for example, reducing outpatient cover also removes cover for pregnancy complications and hospital-based dental surgery. Aviva's outpatient limit is also shared with physiotherapy and mental health, so it can run out quickly. A cheaper premium only helps if the policy still pays when you need it.

If you already have a policy, check whether you are overpaying. Our guide to whether you're paying too much walks through the warning signs, and how to reduce health insurance costs covers more options.

How we worked out these figures

Every figure comes from policies we arranged ourselves. Here is what went in.

• 307 personal private medical insurance policies for clients with London postcodes, covering 632 people.
• Policies arranged between January 2025 and September 2026.
• Business, life insurance and international policies left out.
• Clients we placed in both years counted once, using their latest policy.
• Ages taken at the date cover started.
• Cost per person worked out as the premium divided by the number of people covered.

Our figures may be higher than other averages you have seen. Many published figures come from standard quotes for a basic plan. Ours reflect the cover people actually chose. Our London clients also skew older: the typical main policyholder is 60, and half are 60 or over.

For national figures, see our guide to the average cost of health insurance in the UK.

Why use a health insurance broker in London?

A typical cost is a starting point. What matters is what your PMI would cost with the hospitals you want.

We compare insurers side by side on price and on the details that decide whether a claim gets paid. We also stay with you after the sale, at renewal and when you need to claim. Our guide to using a broker versus going direct sets out the trade-offs honestly.

Frequently asked questions