Vitality Health Insurance, our expert review

About Vitality

Vitality is a UK insurer that specialises in protection, including private medical insurance, life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection insurance.

Vitality began life in the UK in 2004 as a joint venture between Discovery, a South African financial services group, and Prudential. Originally branded as PruHealth, it acquired Standard Life Healthcare in 2010 before its life and health insurance businesses were unified under the Vitality name four years later. 

Since then, Vitality has become one of the UK’s most recognised health and life insurers, with over 1.9 million members. It’s known for its pioneering Vitality Programme, which rewards members for living healthier lives. 

What does shared value insurance mean?

You will frequently see the term “shared value” insurance to describe Vitality’s distinctive approach to health insurance, so it's worth understanding what it means before we explore the product's features.

Vitality’s shared value insurance model is built on the principle that when members are rewarded for living healthier through incentives like discounts and perks, everyone wins. Individuals enjoy better health and wellbeing, the insurer receives fewer claims, and the wider healthcare burden on society eases. Rooted in behavioural economics, the logic is that people are more likely to make lasting, healthy choices when they’re actively encouraged to do so.

Unlike traditional health insurance, which is often forgotten until you need to make a claim, Vitality’s model means you’ll need to continually engage with your policy and look after yourself to get the most value.

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Like many leading UK providers, Vitality offers private medical insurance to individuals and families as well as business health insurance. In this Vitality health insurance review, we will focus on its product for individuals and families, aptly called Personal Healthcare.

Vitality Personal Healthcare core cover explained

All Vitality policies begin with the same core level of cover, which can be tailored to your needs by adding extra benefits. Vitality's core cover is wide-reaching and includes advanced cancer cover and some mental health support as standard. Let's look at what's included.

Inpatient and day-patient treatment

All UK health insurance policies provide, at a minimum, inpatient and outpatient surgery, and Vitality's core cover is no different. It provides full cover for any costs for overnight stays, drugs and nursing you may need while in hospital, as well as any consultant fees (up to Vitality’s fee schedule).

If you are a day patient or an inpatient, Vitality will also pay the cost of diagnostic tests you may need, such as blood tests and x-rays, as well as MRI, CT and PET scans.

Outpatient surgical procedures

Vitality includes full cover for surgical procedures when you’re treated as an outpatient. However, this part of your policy doesn't cover outpatient consultations, consultant fees or outpatient diagnostic tests, which you can only access by taking additional outpatient cover. If you don’t you will have to be diagnosed by the NHS or self-pay.

‍Mental health support

Vitality provides Talking Therapies as a core benefit, which means that you can receive up to eight cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or counselling sessions each plan year, available either online or in person. Vitality health insurance also comes with a 12-month subscription to the Headspace app, which features CBT-based guided programs to help with mood and anxiety, and guided meditations.

More recently, Vitality strengthened its core mental health support by adding online access to over 150 evidence-based mental health exercises designed by psychologists.

Advanced cancer cover

Cancer cover is a key consideration for many people when choosing health insurance so it's reassuring that Vitality's advanced cancer cover is a core benefit. It offers comprehensive cover, ranging from discounted risk assessments and screenings for the five most common cancers (bowel, breast, cervical, prostate and skin cancer) to access to ground-breaking treatments like biological therapy, as well as reconstructive and cancer surgery. 

In terms of recovery, Vitality will pay the full cost of follow-up cancer consultations, although some support, such as wigs and external prostheses, have financial limits. The same applies to end-of-life care, where Vitality offers up to £1,000 per day for home care by a qualified nurse for a maximum of 14 days.

Physiotherapy

For issues with your bones, muscles and joints, Vitality health insurance allows you to self-refer for up to six sessions of private physiotherapy each year, although this must be through its Priority Physio network of providers.

Primary care

Vitality's primary care cover provides access to several supplementary services, so you can speak to a GP as quickly as possible. You can get private GP consultations online and access 24-hour medical advice through its Health Advice Line. You can also claim up to £100 per year towards private prescriptions and minor diagnostic tests, which is another welcome benefit.

Vitality core cover also provides the option to access some face-to-face GP appointments using its network of Private GPs. You’ll need to pay £20 for each consultation and, depending on your choice of hospital list, you may be limited to two per year.

Vitality’s core cover may be sufficient for some people, but others will want to customise their policy to access even more medical treatment options. The following are some of the main additional benefits that you can add to your policy:

Does Vitality health insurance cover pre-existing conditions?

Vitality may cover a pre-existing medical condition, although this will depend on when you had your symptoms and received any treatment.

The underwriting option you choose will also influence whether any pre-existing conditions will be covered. Full medical underwriting involves reviewing your complete medical history, so if the underwriters decide that a previous condition is no longer a risk, they could potentially include it. 

Moratorium underwriting initially excludes any medical conditions you've experienced in the five years before your policy starts, meaning older conditions may still be covered. Additionally, if two consecutive years pass without any issues related to a condition after your policy starts, Vitality should cover it again under moratorium underwriting.

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What’s not covered by Vitality health insurance?

Vitality health insurance contains a number of general exclusions to be aware of. These include:

These general exclusions will be in addition to personal exclusions you may have for any pre-existing medical conditions. A full list of what is not insured is shown in Vitality's Personal Healthcare plan terms and conditions.

How much does a Vitality health insurance policy cost?

The price of a Vitality policy depends on a range of factors including your age, location, the cover options you select, your choice of hospital list, your excess and the type of underwriting.

Customising your plan by adding extra benefits such as outpatient cover, therapies cover, extended mental health, optical dental and hearing cover, and worldwide travel cover, will increase your premium. 

Your choice of who will treat you and where can also significantly affect the cost. Consultant Select is the most affordable option, and is typically 10%-14% cheaper than the Countrywide hospital list. Meanwhile, London Care is around 35-45% more expensive than Countrywide based on the scenarios we analysed.

The price of Vitality health insurance for a 30-year-old living in the East of England ranges from £49.85 per month to £78.34 depending on the hospital list chosen, and from £58.49 to £98.04 for an equivalent 40-year-old (based on an excess of £250, unlimited outpatient cover, underwritten on a moratorium basis). For a 50-year-old, the equivalent monthly premiums range from £71.49 to £130.01.

For a more detailed view of the cost of Vitality health insurance check out our guide.

Vitality Health Insurance gives you plenty to consider, so it’s essential to understand how it compares against other health insurers. What are its strengths, and where does it fall short? Here are six key differences that our experts have picked out:

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Vitality health insurance lets you specify the type of underwriting you would like applied to your policy. This choice will vary depending on whether you are purchasing a new health insurance plan or switching a policy from another insurer.

Underwriting for people with no existing health insurance

If you are buying a new health insurance policy your two underwriting options are:

Moratorium underwriting

If you want a policy set up quickly without having to fill in a medical questionnaire, Vitality offers moratorium underwriting. With this option, it will defer reviewing your medical history until you make a claim.

Under moratorium underwriting, any condition you’ve had symptoms of, or received treatment, medication or advice for, during the five years before your policy starts, will usually be excluded. These broad exclusions can create some uncertainty, as you won’t know exactly what’s covered until you make a claim and Vitality reviews your records.

However, there is an element of flexibility built in, which means that Vitality will start covering a condition again if you go two continuous years after your policy starts trouble-free.

Full medical underwriting

If you're happy for Vitality to spend some time asking you questions about your medical history you can choose full medical underwriting. Your policy will be based on your medical history, so you will know from the outset whether any prior conditions are excluded. These conditions will be listed on your Vitality membership certificate as personal medical exclusions.

Be aware that Vitality charges a slightly higher premium for full medical underwriting.

Underwriting for people with other health insurance companies

If you already have private medical insurance with a different health insurer you may have a couple of underwriting options:

Continued moratorium

If you're switching your health insurance to Vitality, you may be able to keep the moratorium terms from your previous policy. This option, known as continued moratorium, allows Vitality to backdate the moratorium period to when your original cover began with your previous insurer. However, Vitality can also apply new personal medical exclusions, which would take effect from the start date of your new policy with them.

Continued personal medical exclusions

If your previous policy was on a full medical underwriting basis you may be able to carry over the same underwriting terms when you switch to Vitality. You will need to complete a short medical declaration, which Vitality will use to determine whether it will maintain the same personal medical exclusions or add extra ones.

As we have mentioned throughout this guide, a significant part of Vitality's ethos is encouraging healthier living. It does this via rewards for staying active, tracking your health and engaging in mindfulness, all while helping you save money. The greater your efforts, the more points and rewards you earn.

The Vitality Programme

When you take out a Vitality health insurance policy you can download its member app and connect your smartphone or fitness tracker to monitor your daily activity. After you set up your health profile, you’ll be enrolled in the Vitality Programme and can earn points by staying active, whether that’s walking your dog, going for a run or hitting the gym. For example, tracking 12,500 steps in a day gives you eight Vitality points. 

As well as earning you rewards, these points contribute to your Vitality status (Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum) which can reduce the annual increase on your renewal premium, lower your plan excess and unlock bigger discounts from its Status Reward partners. 

Membership discounts

Vitality also offers you a range of exclusive members discounts on top brands to support your journey to better health and fitness. These include:

• 50% off flexible monthly gym membership at Virgin Active, Nuffield Health Gyms and PureGym
• 50% off of a pair of running shoes for each year
• Up to 40% off selected health trackers
• An Apple Watch Series 10 from £39 upfront
• Up to 25% cashback on selected Waitrose health products.
• £379 off Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking 
• 75% off one, two and three-night spa stays and days at Champneys

Weekly rewards

When you earn 12 activity points each week you can pick between:

• A free handcrafted drink from Caffè Nero
• 25% off a freshly made meal from itsu
• 50% off a cinema ticket at ODEON, Vue or Northern Ireland cinemas

Monthly rewards

Vitality recently added a new element to its rewards programme. Each week that a member earns 12 activity points, they can play an app-based game to find Stanley (Vitality’s dachshund mascot) hidden on a gameboard. Based on how many “Stanleys” they find they can select up to three of the following monthly rewards:

• A free freshly made meal from itsu
• A free cinema ticket at ODEON, Vue or Northern Ireland cinemas
• A free on-demand movie rental from Rakuten TV
• A free Italian classics meal from Carluccio’s
• 30% off up to four online advance tickets at Merlin Attractions
• A free Amazon gift card

Refer a friend

Vitality members can receive a £100 gift card for John Lewis or Amazon if they refer a friend who takes out Vitality health insurance that costs at least £25 per month. You can make up to ten referrals each calendar year.

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Vitality is one of the best-reviewed UK financial services companies, having amassed over 53,000 customer reviews. It has a Trustpilot score of 4.4 out of 5, which is impressive considering its high number of reviews. However, these are based on all of its products and services, such as life insurance, so it's worth filtering the results to see what its health insurance customers say.

Vitality’s health insurance reviews frequently praise its “great customer service” and helpful and professional staff, and most customers seem satisfied with the efficient way that their claims and queries have been dealt with. 

Example Vitality health insurance reviews from its customers 

“Quick, personable and direct assistance on a claim I'd only uploaded minutes earlier - thanks Vitality.”

“They clearly explained the process for booking a doctor’s appointment at a nearby private hospital and helped me understand my options. The support was professional, helpful, and efficient.”

“I’ve been with Vitality for a while and used to really value the rewards system. But the recent changes are really disappointing.”

However, the most recent reviews have been scathing about changes to Vitality’s rewards programme. In particular, a spate of reviews have criticised its new play rewards, whereby you can unlock extra rewards each month by collecting Stanleys through a gamified experience on its app. 

Some customers have likened it to “gambling”, and others have described it as a marketing gimmick that has taken “away the link between effort and reward”. The overall feeling is that one of Vitality’s unique selling points - its active rewards - has been watered down. Some customers report receiving fewer rewards than before despite maintaining the same level of activity.

Is it worth having Vitality health insurance?

Like most health insurance policies, a Vitality plan can provide you with fast access to private healthcare at a time and place that suits you. Given the long NHS waiting times for medical treatment and tests, most people are likely to value the benefits of health insurance.

Whether Vitality is worth having will depend on your healthcare needs and if you are active enough to benefit from its rewards. If you are someone who embraces a healthier lifestyle, Vitality health insurance may be hard to beat.

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How to get more information about Vitality health insurance 

To learn more about Vitality health insurance visit its website and download its product guides. You should always research a health insurance policy before making your choice. With Vitality’s unique features, like its ABC pricing and its rewards programme, it’s especially important to check that it fits your lifestyle.

To compare Vitality health insurance against other providers head over to our review of the Best private health insurance in 2025. You can also see how Vitality fares in terms of price in our research on the cost of private health insurance.

When comparing health insurance providers speak to an insurance broker before purchasing a policy. You can get a free comparison quote and expert help from one of our health insurance brokers by completing our form.