Group Private Medical Insurance.
Faster treatment for your people, fewer working days lost to waiting, and one named adviser who runs the scheme so your HR team does not have to.
- Personal & family: same day or next
- SME up to 9 lives: 48 hours
- Larger SME schemes: 72 to 96 hours
What is group private medical insurance?
Group private medical insurance is a single policy an employer takes out to cover a group of employees for private diagnosis and treatment. One policy, one renewal date, one invoice and one adviser, instead of a folder full of individual plans. Most UK insurers will write a scheme from around three to five employees upwards, and cover can usually be extended to partners and children. The reason employers buy it is rarely the perk. It is that an employee waiting months for a scan is an employee who is not at work, and group cover shortens that wait.
Who group PMI is for
SMEs building a benefits package
Employers formalising what they offer alongside salary and pension, often for the first time.
Employers losing days to waiting lists
Businesses feeling the operational cost of long NHS waits, where the delay shows up as lost working days rather than as a healthcare problem.
Companies competing for staff
Sectors where candidates compare benefits line by line before they accept an offer, and where a good scheme keeps people as well as attracting them.
UK arms of overseas businesses
Companies headquartered abroad with a UK headcount, who need a broker who knows the UK market, the UK insurers and UK reporting requirements.
What group PMI covers
Inpatient and day-patient treatment
Consultations, surgery and hospital stays as a private patient, including procedures that need a bed but not an overnight stay.
Outpatient diagnostics and consultations
Specialist appointments, scans and tests without admission. This is where schemes differ most, and where a cheap quote usually turns out to have been cheap for a reason.
Cancer cover
From diagnosis through treatment. Depth varies materially between insurers, so it is worth reading rather than assuming.
Mental health support
Inpatient cover as standard on most schemes, with outpatient therapy and counselling on mid-range plans and above.
Digital GP and everyday support
Remote GP appointments, physiotherapy pathways and employee assistance programmes, often bundled at no extra premium.
What it does not cover
Chronic conditions that need ongoing management, accident and emergency treatment, and pre-existing conditions unless the scheme is written on medical history disregarded terms.
How group PMI is underwritten
The underwriting basis decides which claims actually get paid. It matters more than the headline premium.
Medical History Disregarded (MHD)
The insurer covers pre-existing conditions rather than excluding them. The most generous basis available, normally offered once a scheme reaches a certain size.
Moratorium
Conditions from the last five years are excluded, but those exclusions fall away after two continuous, symptom-free years on the scheme. No forms to fill in at the start.
Continued Personal Medical Exclusions (CPME)
Used when moving an existing scheme to a new insurer. The exclusions your people already have carry across, and nothing new is added. This is the one to insist on when switching.
Why the basis beats the price
A scheme that undercuts the market and then underwrites every employee individually is not cheaper, it is narrower. We tell you which of the three you are being quoted on, every time.
What drives the cost of a group scheme
Six things do most of the work on a group premium.
Headcount
Larger schemes attract better rates per life and simpler underwriting. The step changes usually come at around ten and around fifty lives.
Age profile
The average age of the group does more to the premium than any single individual in it.
Claims experience
On an existing scheme, what has been claimed drives what the renewal looks like. On a new scheme, the insurer prices on sector and demographics instead.
Depth of outpatient cover
Full outpatient, a capped limit, or none at all. This is the single biggest lever an employer can pull on cost.
Excess
An excess per person per policy year reduces the premium and filters out the smallest claims. Often the most efficient saving available.
Hospital list
A narrower list of hospitals brings the premium down. In most of the country it makes very little practical difference, which makes it worth looking at properly.
How to compare group PMI quotes properly
Comparing group schemes on the per-employee premium alone is the quickest way to buy the wrong one. The real comparison is the underwriting basis, the outpatient limit, the cancer and mental health cover, the hospital list, and how much administration the scheme is about to hand your HR team.
A scheme that looks cheaper on the spreadsheet but individually underwrites half your workforce is not cheaper in practice. It just moves the cost from the premium to the claims your people cannot make.
We hold direct agencies across the main UK health insurers, so the shortlist we put in front of you is a genuine market view. You get a named recommendation and the reasoning behind it, in plain English, not a spreadsheet and good luck.
How the scheme runs once it is live
Placing the scheme is the easy part. What an employer actually feels is the twelve months afterwards.
Joiners and leavers
Send us the change and we handle it with the insurer. No portal to learn, no forms for your HR team to chase.
The renewal cycle
We start on your renewal well before the date, so there is time to test the market properly rather than accept whatever lands in the last week.
Who your people ring
Employees can come to us directly with a claim or a question. That keeps the medical detail away from HR, which is usually a relief on both sides.
One named adviser
The same person who placed the scheme handles the renewal and knows the history. You are not re-explaining your business to a call centre every year.
When a renewal comes back badly
We go back to the incumbent with the claims data, and we market-test at the same time. Sometimes the answer is to move. Often it is to negotiate, and we will tell you honestly which one it is.
Direct relationships across this market.
Frequently asked questions
How many employees do you need for a group PMI scheme?
Most UK insurers will write a group private medical insurance scheme from around three to five employees upwards. Smaller schemes are usually offered on simplified underwriting, which means less paperwork and a quicker start date. There is no requirement to include every employee, but insurers will normally want a defined category of staff rather than a hand-picked few.
Is group private medical insurance a taxable benefit?
Yes. Where an employer arranges the cover and pays the insurer directly, HMRC treats the premium as a benefit in kind. The employer reports it on form P11D and pays Class 1A National Insurance on the value of the benefit. The employee does not pay National Insurance on it, but it does affect their tax code. Your accountant will confirm how the premium is treated for corporation tax.
Can employees add their family to a group scheme?
Usually yes. Most group private medical insurance schemes can be extended to partners and children, either paid for by the employer as part of the benefit or paid for by the employee at the scheme rate. The scheme rate is often better than the employee could get buying an individual policy on their own, which makes it a popular option even when the employer is not funding it.
What is medical history disregarded cover?
Medical history disregarded, usually shortened to MHD, means the insurer covers pre-existing conditions rather than excluding them. It is the most generous underwriting basis available on a group scheme and it is normally offered once a scheme reaches a certain size. It costs more than moratorium underwriting, but it is the difference between a member of staff being covered for a condition they already have and being told to claim on the NHS.
Can group PMI be set up alongside Death in Service and Group Income Protection?
Yes, and we would usually recommend it. Running group private medical insurance alongside Death in Service and Group Income Protection through one broker aligns the renewal dates, cuts the administration on both sides, and means one named adviser understands the whole benefits picture. Insurers will often price a bundled arrangement more keenly than the same products bought separately.
How long does it take to get a group PMI quote?
For schemes up to nine lives we typically come back within 48 hours. Larger schemes usually take 72 to 96 hours, because more insurers need to be approached and the demographic data has to be loaded properly. You can start the process by calling 01270 694939, emailing info@thebrokinggroup.co.uk, or requesting a quote through this website.
Ready to start the conversation?
Talk to a named adviser. No phone trees. No pressure. Just plain-English advice on the cover that fits your life or your business.
- Personal & family: same day or next
- SME up to 9 lives: 48 hours
- Larger SME schemes: 72 to 96 hours