Read a renewal letter in three passes: the new premium versus old (increases combine medical inflation with your age-band step), any cover changes — limits, excesses and hospital lists can change at renewal and are often buried in the documents — and your options. Loyal customers rarely get the best price, and switching insurers on CPME terms can preserve your cover for conditions developed since you joined.
- ✓Renewal increases stack medical inflation on top of your age-band step — ask for the split.
- ✓Cover terms can change at renewal; the changes live in the documents, not the headline letter.
- ✓CPME switching lets many people move insurer without losing cover for conditions developed since joining.
Pass one: decode the increase
A typical renewal increase has two engines. Medical inflation — private treatment costs rising faster than general prices — hits everyone. Your age-band step hits you personally: insurers price in bands, and crossing into a new one adds its own increase on top. On the market's age curve, a mid-level premium moves from ~£58/month at 45 to ~£66 at 50 to ~£76 at 55 — so a chunk of your rise was always coming, claims or no claims.
Your letter won't usually separate the two. Ask. 'How much of this increase is my age band, and how much is general repricing?' is a question insurers can answer, and the split tells you whether your rise is normal or worth challenging. Our guide to renewal increases covers what a typical rise looks like.
Pass two: find what changed besides the price
Renewal is when insurers can change your terms, and the changes rarely make the headline page. Go through the documents looking for these:
| Where to look | What can quietly change |
|---|---|
| Benefit schedule | Outpatient limits trimmed or restructured; therapy or mental health caps adjusted |
| Hospital list | Hospitals added or removed — including the one nearest you |
| Excess terms | Excess amounts, or whether the excess applies per year or per claim |
| Policy wording | Definitions of chronic conditions, pre-authorisation rules, digital GP terms |
| Loyalty wording | 'We've applied a discount' can mean a reduced discount versus last year |
None of this is necessarily improper — policies are annual contracts and terms evolve. But a premium that rose 8% while the outpatient limit quietly fell is a much bigger real-terms increase than the letter suggests, and you can only spot it by comparing this year's schedule against last year's.
The loyalty problem
In home and motor insurance, the FCA banned 'price walking' — charging renewing customers more than equivalent new ones — in 2022. That ban does not extend to private medical insurance, and while practices vary by insurer, the general pattern across insurance holds: the best prices chase new customers, and inertia is priced. The longer you auto-renew without checking the market, the more likely a gap has opened between your premium and what an equivalent new customer pays.
The counterweight is that renewal is also when you have leverage. Insurers would rather requote you — different excess, leaner hospital list, adjusted outpatient cover — than lose you. A ten-minute call asking 'what can you do on this premium?' is the highest-hourly-rate work most policyholders ever do. Have your alternatives ready before you dial: a market quote for your age and postcode turns 'I'm thinking of leaving' from a bluff into a fact, and retention teams price facts differently.
Benchmark your renewal in minutes
Pass three: know your switching rights
The reason people accept weak renewals is fear of losing cover: conditions you've developed since joining are covered now, and a new policy would normally exclude them as pre-existing. That's exactly the problem continued personal medical exclusions (CPME) switching solves: the new insurer takes you on with the same exclusions you had when you first joined — no fresh underwriting of everything that's happened since. Not everyone qualifies and terms vary, so read our CPME switching guide before assuming you're locked in.
Frequently asked questions
Why has my health insurance renewal letter gone up when I haven't claimed?
Because most of a renewal increase has nothing to do with your claims: medical inflation raises everyone's premiums, and crossing an age band adds a personal step on top — mid-level cover moves from ~£58/month at 45 to ~£76 at 55 on the market curve. Ask your insurer to split the increase between age and repricing.
What cover changes should I look for in my renewal documents?
Compare this year's benefit schedule against last year's: outpatient and therapy limits, the hospital list (hospitals can be removed), excess amounts and whether the excess applies per year or per claim, and chronic-condition wording. A modest premium rise alongside a trimmed benefit is a bigger real-terms increase than it looks.
Do loyal health insurance customers pay more at renewal?
Often, yes. The FCA's 2022 ban on price walking covers home and motor insurance but not private medical insurance, and across insurance the best prices generally chase new customers. Benchmark your renewal against the market for your age, and use the renewal call to negotiate — insurers would rather requote than lose you.
Can I switch insurer at renewal without losing cover for conditions I've developed?
Often, via continued personal medical exclusions (CPME) switching: the new insurer honours your original exclusions rather than re-underwriting everything since. Eligibility and terms vary — typically you need continuous cover and a clean-ish recent claims picture — and you should never cancel the old policy until the new one is confirmed.