How to get the cheapest Private Health Insurance

New. Get a £370 Apple Watch Series 11 for just £9 if you're young(ish), fit(ish) & go to the gym

Martin: "The NHS and its staff are true national treasures. Yet, painful as it is to write, the pandemic and cost of living crises, among other things, mean it's struggled. In recent years, even the Prime Minister has said it was 'broken'. So, no surprise, we've seen an increasing demand for Cheap Private Medical (Health) Insurance (PMI). In my X poll yesterday (Mon), 21% of people have PMI policies, up on the year before.

"PMI is a policy you pay for, so that when you need medical help, you can opt to bypass the NHS. And it covers the cost of private consultations, treatments and operations - be it hips, heart or toes - and sometimes mental health, too. Its main advantages are speed and 'hotel-like' hospital accommodation.

"It isn't cheap. It's a lifestyle choice, unaffordable for many, meaning there's a two-tier system. Costs heavily increase with age, starting from £20ish/mth in your mid-20s to double that or more by mid-50s. Below the team and I will run you through six need-to-knows including:

- Get paid £100 by using a top comparison site.
- New. Can you get Apple Watch Series 11 for £9 via PMI trick?
- Got PMI already? Many can slash costs.

"PS: A more affordable type of medical cover is healthcare cash plans, which cover selected NHS and private costs (eg, dental, physio etc). Here, you pay for treatment, send off the receipt, and it repays you up to an annual limit (some end up in profit)."

The obvious start point is to do a comparison to test the market. With PMI, though, while there seem to be many sites, most are just 'white labels' of one or two underlying comparison engines (ie, the same comparison under the bonnet but with different branding). 

So, our focus is to get you the most lucrative perks available with each, as well as for a third standalone comparison. These engines largely cover the same insurers but all have one or two the others don't...