Continuing health insurance after leaving a job
If you’re changing jobs, retiring or being made redundant and want to keep the health insurance you had through work, this guide is for you. We explain how to arrange continuation cover with your employer’s insurer, compare it with other personal health insurance policies and check whether your existing medical conditions will still be covered.
Richard Eagling is the Senior Editor at myTribe, with 25+ years in personal finance journalism and a CII Certificate in Financial Services. Previously at Moneyfacts and NerdWallet UK, his work has featured in The Guardian, BBC and The Telegraph.
Full BioCan you continue health insurance after leaving a job?
Yes, you can ask your employer’s insurer to continue your cover under a personal policy that you pay for yourself. This is usually called a “continuation offer”. Alternatively, you can compare new private health insurance policies from across the market.
If your company scheme covers an existing medical condition, keeping that covered is likely to be one of your main priorities when you choose your own policy. Your employer’s continuation offer may help you do this, but you may also be able to switch to another insurer without new medical exclusions. This depends on your medical history, your current underwriting terms and the new insurer’s acceptance rules.
When does your company health insurance end?
Your employer decides when your company health insurance ends, which may be different from your last working day. Ask HR or the scheme administrator for the exact date in writing so you know when replacement cover needs to start.
Things to do before your company cover ends
Start these checks as soon as you know you’re leaving. If you’ve already left, contact your insurer now to find out which options are still available.
- Confirm your end date -
Get your last day of company cover in writing from HR or the scheme administrator.
- Get the continuation terms -
Ask your insurer what you need to do, which deadlines apply and when your personal policy would start.
- Discuss ongoing treatment -
Tell your insurer about treatment you’re having, approved appointments, planned tests and outstanding bills. Ask what will be covered after you leave and whether you’ll need new approval.
- Include your family -
Check when each insured family member’s cover ends and whether they can continue on a personal policy.
- Compare offers -
Get a continuation quote and request a comparison through myTribe. Use our policy comparison table to assess the offers.
- Confirm the new policy -
Get the start date, cost, benefits, exclusions and any arrangements for ongoing treatment in writing before you accept.
Download your copy so you’re prepared before your company cover ends.
Keep your policy documents, quotes and written confirmations together so they’re easy to refer to.
If your employer has always arranged your health insurance, some of the language in your quotes may be new to you. Here are the key terms to get familiar with before you compare your options.
Health insurance terms to know before leaving a company scheme
A quick guide to the jargon
Underwriting and pre-existing medical conditions
Underwriting is how an insurer uses your medical history to decide what it will cover. A medical condition can count as pre-existing if you had symptoms, advice or treatment for it before joining, even without a diagnosis.
Exclusions
Exclusions are medical conditions, treatments or circumstances your policy won’t cover. General exclusions apply to everyone on that policy; personal exclusions relate to your own medical history.
Inpatient, day-patient and outpatient care
Inpatient treatment means you’re admitted to hospital overnight; with day-patient treatment, you’re admitted but go home that day. Outpatient care includes consultations and tests without admission. Your policy may set a shared spending limit for these appointments and therapies.
Hospital lists
A hospital list shows where your policy will pay for covered treatment. Lists can differ between policies from the same insurer, so look for hospitals you’d want to use. Your consultant must also be eligible under your policy.
Guided care and open referrals
With guided care, your insurer will typically suggest a handful of specialists and/or hospitals you can use when you claim for treatment, which can mean less choice than a traditional hospital list. An open referral from your GP names the type of specialist you need rather than a particular doctor.
Premiums and excesses
Pre-authorisation
Pre-authorisation is your insurer’s approval for treatment under your policy. Follow its approval process before arranging treatment, as approval from your company scheme doesn’t automatically apply to your new personal policy.
Whether you should take the continuation offer or a new private health insurance policy depends on what each policy would cover and also what it’ll cost. Continuation offers can be priced far higher than the going rate for a new health insurance policy, so comparing the offer with other options is essential.
See how to compare a continuation offer with other personal policies below.
Before paying for your own policy, check whether you could join your new employer’s scheme and when its cover would start.
How myTribe helped a client after retirement
Shaun Staples had private health cover throughout his working life and wanted to keep it when he retired. Although he usually researched this sort of decision himself, he contacted myTribe for help.
A specialist called to discuss what he needed, and Shaun received three quotes based on that conversation. He said the help saved him time and gave him a clearer understanding of his options.
Based on Shaun Staples’ Google review, 19 November 2025.
Contact your insurer before company cover ends. The deadlines below involve different steps: getting a quote isn’t always enough to secure continuation.
If your company cover has already ended, your insurer may let you start a continuation policy from the day after it ended. This is called backdating. You’d pay for the period between that start date and the day you arrange the policy, as well as for your cover going forward.
Before agreeing, confirm the total cost and whether any treatment you’ve had during that period would be covered.
For other company schemes or healthcare trusts, ask for their own leaver terms.
If you’re in the middle of treatment when you leave, find out how your remaining appointments will be covered before agreeing to a personal policy. Approval under your company scheme doesn’t automatically carry over.
In one Financial Ombudsman case, an authorised follow-up appointment wasn’t covered because it took place after the employee’s company cover ended. The Ombudsman found that the insurer had acted fairly under that policy.
Ask your insurer about:
- Treatment - Will the personal policy cover the condition you’re being treated for and your next appointment?
- Hospital and consultant - Can you carry on with the same consultant at the same hospital?
- Approval and payment - Will you need new approval, which policy will pay each bill, and will you have another excess to pay?
If your partner or children are insured through your company scheme, they may be able to continue their cover on a personal policy too. Ask for continuation terms for everyone currently insured, so you can confirm who is eligible, when their cover would start and what you’d pay for the whole family.
Look at what each person needs from the policy. If your partner is having treatment or one of your children has an existing medical condition, get written confirmation of what would remain covered. Check the benefits and any excesses for each family member.
Continuing someone’s existing cover is different from adding a partner or child who wasn’t on the company scheme. Someone joining for the first time may need different underwriting, which could exclude medical conditions they already have.
If your partner has health insurance through their own employer, ask whether you and the children could join that scheme. Compare the cover, underwriting terms and any additional cost with your personal policy options.
What matters is whether the insurer will keep covering your existing medical conditions or reassess them as a new application. ‘Continuation’ doesn’t describe one standard set of underwriting rules.
What happens if you start again with fresh underwriting?
With full medical underwriting, you give your medical history before joining and the insurer sets out any personal exclusions. With a moratorium, it usually checks your history when you claim, applying rules about previous symptoms, advice and treatment.
Moratorium underwriting in most cases will exclude any pre-existing conditions in the five years before you took out the policy, with exclusions being removed after 2 continuous years with no symptoms, treatment, medication or medical advice for it.
What happens when you leave a scheme with medical history disregarded?
Medical history disregarded (MHD) allows a company scheme to cover pre-existing medical conditions without assessing each member’s medical history, although the policy still has limits and exclusions. If your scheme works this way, find out which of those conditions a personal continuation policy will keep covered.
Pre-existing and chronic mean different things
A pre-existing medical condition began before you joined; a chronic condition is lasting or recurring and may need ongoing management.
Even if an insurer accepts your medical history, its general rules on chronic conditions still apply.
Could changing insurer mean fewer exclusions?
Sometimes, if the new insurer accepts a medical condition your old policy excluded. The Exeter’s underwriting guide, for example, says it can offer a policy without a cataract exclusion once both eyes have been treated, you’ve fully recovered and follow-up has ended.
Compare the overall benefits and price before deciding whether to switch.
How much would a new health insurance policy cost?
Choose an age below for an idea of what a new health insurance policy might cost. These are averages for one adult, not group leaver continuation quotes; your location, cover and underwriting also affect the price.
Based on 11,770 new-policy quotes from seven insurers, March 2026. Comprehensive includes outpatient cover (up to £1,000) and therapies.
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Once you have your quotes, use the table below to compare the cover and costs of your company scheme, your continuation offer and any other personal policies you’re considering. Work through the questions using your benefit guides and policy documents, and ask the insurer or your broker about anything that’s unclear.
Start with the benefits you’d most value, such as access to your preferred hospital or cover for consultations and tests. A higher excess or lower outpatient allowance may bring the premium down, but could leave you paying more yourself when you need care.
Look beyond the first year, too. Ask how claims could affect your no claims discount and renewal premium. Even without a claim, your price can rise as you get older and treatment costs increase.
BA, MA, CIPD, CeMAP
Expert advice
Before you choose a cheaper policy, ask the insurer to quote for a “continuation” of your existing group scheme, they will usually ask several qualifying questions which may impact the premium instead of adding exclusions for pre-existing conditions.
If you’re already having treatment, get confirmation that it will cover your remaining appointments with your existing consultant and facility you have been using.
You can then weigh up the saving against anything you’d have to pay for yourself should you decide to opt for a more affordable plan excluding those conditions.
Which private health insurance plans do we rate most highly?
Each year our team spends considerable time researching and assessing the best health insurance providers to help people like you cut through the marketing and see the important policy differences. The following insurers are our top five for 2026.
Bupa By You ComprehensiveFind out why
Mental health cover is included as standard, making this plan worth considering if that’s a priority for you. Whether an existing mental health condition stays covered depends on your continuation or underwriting terms. Read our Bupa review.
WPA Complete HealthFind out why
You can choose outpatient benefits separately, so you can put your budget towards the cover you want. If you’re 66 or over, discuss your joining options with the insurer. Read our WPA review.
The Exeter Health+Find out why
We like its protection for smaller claims: paid claims totalling up to £300 in its claims review period won’t reduce your no claims discount. The discount is only one part of your renewal price, though. Read our Exeter review.
Vitality Personal HealthcareFind out why
Healthy activities can improve your Vitality status and help control renewal increases. That gives you something you can influence, although age, claims and rising healthcare costs still affect the price. Read our Vitality review.
Aviva Healthier SolutionsFind out why
You can reduce the premium by choosing a higher excess or less outpatient cover. We’d compare the saving with what you’d then pay towards consultations, tests and treatment yourself. Read our Aviva review.
Can I arrange continuation cover after I have already left?
You may be able to, depending on your insurer’s deadline and eligibility rules. Contact its leaver team to ask which continuation options are still available and when your personal policy could start. If backdating is offered, confirm the cost and whether treatment during the gap would be covered.
What if my new job includes health insurance?
Find out when your new employer’s scheme starts and which existing medical conditions it covers before deciding whether you need a personal policy. For example, if your old cover ends on 30 April and the new scheme starts on 1 June, that leaves a month’s gap. Check cancellation terms and costs before buying insurance just for that gap.
Can I continue health insurance after redundancy or retirement?
Continuation may still be available. Freedom’s group leaver terms include redundancy and retirement, subject to eligibility and deadlines. If your leaving package extends your cover, get its end date from HR.
What if I decide not to continue private health insurance?
You can use NHS care you’re entitled to, or pay for private treatment yourself. To move ongoing private treatment to the NHS, ask your GP or consultant about referrals, records and waiting arrangements. Your private appointment won’t automatically transfer. See NHS hospital referral guidance for England.
Sources for continuing health insurance after leaving a job
Sources checked on 12 October 2026. Links throughout the guide support specific points.
- Bupa: leaving your company scheme
- AXA Health: group leaver options
- Vitality: leaving a company scheme
- Aviva: Solutions continuation terms, page 44 (PDF)
- WPA: company scheme leaver options
- The Exeter: underwriting guide, page 3 (PDF)
- Financial Ombudsman Service: decision DRN-5282891 (PDF)
- Freedom: Elite group leaver terms, page 16 (PDF)
- General & Medical: leaving a company scheme
- GOV.UK: tax on employer-provided health insurance
- NHS: hospital referrals in England
More questions? Search our site to find the answers
Disclaimer: This is general information, not personal advice. Speak to a qualified broker before making a decision. Our broker partners compare policies from a panel of leading UK health insurers, but not all insurers may be available.