Compare Aviva Health Insurance

Aviva provides a core health policy or a choice of more limited essentials policies, including a cancer cash benefit and physiotherapy plans.

Aviva's private medical insurance covers:

• Treatment for illnesses, including viruses and infections, and injuries that will respond to treatment quickly
• Cover for cancer, including the initial diagnosis, the necessary treatment and aftercare
• Hospital stay charges. A large number of private hospitals are included to choose from
• Diagnostic tests including scans and x-rays
• Specialists' fees
• Outpatient visits and treatments. These include specialist consultations and treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy
• Digital GP service allowing you to consult a GP by video call

Various extra benefits are included, for example a helpline for stress counselling available 24 hours a day, discounts on gym membership and discounts for adding your partner and children to the policy.

Aviva offers add ons to increase the cover available for an additional premium. These include:

• Cover for routine dental treatment and optician's fees
• Mental health cover for the cost of inpatient and day patient treatment for mental health conditions
• Physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractor and acupuncture therapies
• The option to add no claims discount cover

• Long term conditions which cannot be cured, with the exception of cancer. This means that diabetes, asthma, epilepsy and arthritis are excluded from cover
• Conditions which you already had when you took out the policy. Aviva offers two options for pre-existing conditions: full medical underwriting and moratorium underwriting. With full medical underwriting, Aviva will look at your full medical history and exclude any pre-existing conditions. If you opt for moratorium underwriting then Aviva will only ask about conditions you had in the last five years. These conditions will be covered but only if you have been free from treatment, tests, medication and advice for two continuous years before the policy begins.
• Maternity cover: pregnancy and childbirth are excluded but Aviva will cover treatment for complications

Contact your GP or Aviva's digital GP. If they recommend a specialist, claim either by telephone or using Aviva's online service. Once your claim is approved you can then access private treatment. Most of your bills will be paid directly by Aviva but you may need to pay an excess.

Aviva can be contacted on 0800 260 0583 or via the chatbot service on their website.

Reviews of Aviva's health offering are mixed. At ReviewCentre.com it has only a 1.4/5 star rating, but at Smart Money People its rating is 3.14/5.

Pros

• Aviva allows you to tailor your policy to make it more affordable. Options available to reduce the premium include the choice to use the NHS for some conditions, with private cover kicking in if NHS treatment is not available within six weeks. You can include a larger policy excess to make the premium more affordable and reduce the number of hospitals you are able to choose from
• Cancer cover is included as standard
• Policies can be tailored to your specific needs to make them more affordable

Cons

• Aviva does not offer international health insurance and only very limited emergency overseas cover. You also need to be a permanent resident of the UK to use Aviva's cover