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Joint health insurance

Get joint health insurance quotes in minutes for you and your partner

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  • Get faster access to treatment for you and your partner

  • Choice of hospitals and consultants if you need surgery or treatment

  • Get support when you need it from our trusted partner, Howden Life & Health

What's joint health insurance?

Joint health insurance covers 2 people under 1 policy. It provides you and your partner, or child, with private medical care. This gives you access to quicker treatment, helping you to avoid potentially longer queues with the NHS.

Joint health insurance is also sometimes called couples’ health insurance. If you want to add children to the cover you take out for you and your partner, you could make it a family health insurance policy as this allows you to add cover for more than one child.

How does joint health insurance work?

Imagine if you need a hip replacement, a common procedure where a damaged hip joint is swapped with an artificial one. You could wait some time to get this type of surgery done on the NHS. But with private health insurance, you’d be able to contact your private health insurer to see if the operation can be done sooner.

Private health insurance could allow you to get the procedure done in a private hospital, with a private room and access to some of the best consultants in the country.

What does joint health insurance cover?

This depends on the level of cover you choose. There are 3 levels of cover to choose from:

  • Treatment only provides the most basic level of cover and will only cover the cost of any inpatient treatment you or your partner receive at private hospitals. This includes things like operations but does not include diagnostic procedures to uncover any illnesses you may have.

  • Treatment and limited diagnosis policies cover the above as well as a limited amount of diagnostics. You may get £1,000 of diagnostic cover, for instance. Anything above that level will not be covered.

  • Treatment and full diagnosis is the most comprehensive level of cover you can get, and provides both inpatient and diagnostic treatment in full, with no financial limit set on either aspect of your private healthcare. You may also be covered for complementary treatment like physiotherapy, chiropractic care and mental health support.

You can cover either yourself and a partner, or yourself and your child, as long as you live at the same address. If you’re covering two adults, you don’t need to be married to get dual coverage.

What our health insurance expert says

"Joint health insurance can cover both yourself and your partner, or even you and your child. If you find yourself needing an operation or certain treatment in the future, your private health insurance will help ensure you are seen quicker than you would be with the NHS.

"With one premium to pay rather than 2, it could also save you money depending on the level of cover you want."

Matthew Harwood, Home & lifestyle insurance expert at Confused.com
Home & lifestyle insurance expert Confused.com logo

Is there anything joint health insurance won't cover?

Most health insurance policies won’t cover any pre-existing conditions - health issues you had before taking out the cover - or things like complications/diseases you may have developed due to drug abuse.

It’s always worth checking the cover in your health insurance policy against what you need and compare with other products. As with insurance in general, when you take out joint health insurance there tend to be a few common exclusions to keep in mind.

We compare quotes from up to 13 trusted health insurance companies

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What are the benefits of joint health insurance?

  • Having just one health insurance policy rather than two means there’ll be just one set of premiums to pay and one point of contact for your insurer, making things simpler. Plus, your policy can still cover the cost of whatever private healthcare you both need.
  • It can make more sense if you and your partner are covered under one health insurance policy rather than taking out two separate ones. Not only does joint health insurance make it easier to keep track of what you’re covered for, but it can often work out cheaper too.
  • Getting private health insurance for you and your partner means you could significantly cut down on waiting time if either of you needs an operation or specific treatment.
  • You get access to private hospitals for your health care, which means you can get your own private room as well as benefit from the expertise of world-class consultants.
  • You usually won’t need a medical to take out joint health insurance. All you’ll need to do is answer a few questions about your lifestyle habits, medical historyand whether you have any pre-existing conditions like severe asthma or diabetes. That’ll help us find our best cover for you.

How to find the best joint health insurance deal?

There’re a few quick ways to ensure you get the best deal with joint health insurance cover at the best price. Think about:

  • Your excess - the more you’re willing to pay in excess, the cheaper your joint health insurance quotes are likely to be
  • What cover you choose - if you’re looking for inpatient-only cover, then a treatment only policy may be all you need. To get the full range of private medical health insurance cover, we can help you find our best policy for you, at our best price
  • Add-ons - get optional extras like 24/7 GP access, mental health support and more. Consider whether you need these, as opting out of them may save money on your premiums
  • Look for deals - some providers may have offers throughout the year

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Who can be listed on a joint health insurance policy?

You can cover yourself or include additional applicants such as your partner, as well as any dependent children or adult children. If you’re covering two adults, you don’t need to be married to get dual coverage.

The minimum age for an applicant whose relationship is spouse, partner or additional adult is 16, the maximum age for an applicant whose relationship is a child is 24.

If you want to cover other adults such as wider family members, you can contact our friendly health insurance partner, Howden Life & Health, on 0800 172 172.

Why choose Confused.com?

  • We have a total of 13 health insurance providers on our panel, and they're all FCA regulated. This means you'll be treated fairly when it comes to what you're offered and the prices that you're charged
  • Our experts and consumer champions are dedicated to helping you find the best deal within your budget, making sure your needs are met.
  • We follow a strict editorial which helps us ensure the information we provide is honest, accurate and impartial of any insurer
  • We have a robust security and privacy policy in place and promise to look after your personal details with the utmost care.

Types of health insurance

Health insurance

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Family health insurance

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Page last reviewed: 27 October 2023

Reviewed by: Matthew Harwood

The Confused.com medical insurance service is provided by Howden Life & Health Ltd of Hadley House, Endsleigh Park, Cheltenham, GL51 4AE a trading style of Assured Futures Ltd registered in England & Wales company number 3040737. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Firm reference number 176392 as detailed on the Financial Services Register. Our service is free and compares a wide range of trusted household names. Confused.com is an intermediary and receives commission from Assured Futures Ltd which is based on a percentage of the total annual premium if you decide to buy through our website. We pride ourselves on impartiality on independence - therefore we don't promote any one insurance provider over another.