Company-paid health insurance is booked as a staff cost — typically a staff welfare or employee benefits line — at the gross premium including 12% IPT, with no VAT to account for. Annual premiums spanning year-end are spread via a prepayment. It then drives the P11Ds, P11D(b) and a corporation tax deduction on the CT600.
- ✓Book premiums to staff welfare or employee benefits within staff costs, at the gross IPT-inclusive amount.
- ✓A policy in the director's personal name paid by the company usually hits the director's loan account, not expenses.
- ✓The bookkeeping feeds three filings: P11Ds, the P11D(b) for Class 1A, and the CT600 deduction.
The right expense line
Health insurance the company provides for its people is part of paying them, so it belongs in staff costs in the profit and loss account — most charts of accounts have a staff welfare, employee benefits or medical insurance code for it. It shouldn't be lumped into general insurance alongside buildings and liability cover: those protect the business, whereas health insurance remunerates employees, and the distinction matters for benefit-in-kind reporting later.
Post the gross premium — the invoice total including the 12% Insurance Premium Tax — with a no-VAT tax code. Insurance is VAT-exempt, so there's no input VAT to split out and nothing for the VAT return; our VAT and IPT guide covers why. Keeping a separate nominal code per benefit type (PMI, cash plan, dental) makes the year-end P11D exercise far quicker.
Where premiums cover a mix of people, split the posting to match: employee cover to staff benefits, any partner or non-employee cover to the relevant loan or current account. Management accounts benefit too — benefits cost per head is a number worth watching as the team grows, and burying premiums in general insurance hides it. If you run departmental P&Ls, allocate by covered headcount rather than splitting the invoice arbitrarily.
The director's loan account trap
Whose name is on the policy matters more than people expect. If the company holds the policy and covers its directors and staff, the premium is a company expense with the benefit-in-kind treatment everyone expects. But if a director takes out a policy personally and the company simply pays the insurer (or reimburses them), the company has generally settled the director's private bill.
The default bookkeeping for that is a debit to the director's loan account — it's money extracted, not a company expense, with no corporation tax relief. Left there, it stacks up with other drawings and can push the DLA overdrawn, triggering the section 455 tax charge (currently 33.75% of the overdrawn balance, repayable when cleared) and its own P11D implications if interest-free. Alternatively the payment can be treated as remuneration through payroll or as a benefit — but that needs doing deliberately, not discovered in March.
What your accountant files off the back of it
The premium postings feed three separate compliance jobs, and it's worth knowing which is which even if your accountant handles them all:
- P11Ds — one per covered employee. Each reports that person's share of the premium as a benefit in kind; the insurer's per-member split is the source document. Due to HMRC by 6 July after the tax year.
- P11D(b) — one for the company. Declares the total benefit and the Class 1A NIC at 15%, payable by 22 July. Note the tax-year cut-off (5 April) rarely matches your accounting year-end, so the P11D figure won't equal the P&L figure — both can be right.
- CT600 — the corporation tax return. No separate claim: the premiums (and the Class 1A) simply sit in the expenses that reduce taxable profit, generally allowable as staff costs — see corporation tax relief on premiums.
From April 2027 mandatory payrolling replaces the annual P11D cycle for benefits, moving the reporting into real-time payroll — the accounts treatment above stays the same, only the compliance route changes.
A clean year-end checklist
- Policy documents showing the company as policyholder, filed with the year's invoices.
- Per-member premium split requested from the insurer in May, ready for July's P11Ds.
- Prepayment schedule for any annual premium straddling year-end.
- DLA review — confirm no personally-held policies were paid through the company, or that any that were have been correctly treated.
- Reconciliation — the nominal code total should equal invoices less refunds; differences usually mean a missed joiner/leaver credit.
Accounting treatments vary with your chart of accounts and circumstances, so let your accountant confirm the details — but arriving at year-end with the five items above in order makes health insurance one of the easier lines in the file. If your bookkeeping runs on automated bank feeds, set a rule for the insurer's direct debit so premiums always land on the right code without manual recoding.
Frequently asked questions
What expense category is health insurance in company accounts?
Staff costs — typically a staff welfare, employee benefits or medical insurance nominal code in the P&L. It's remuneration, not business protection, so it shouldn't sit with buildings or liability insurance. Post the gross premium including 12% IPT with a no-VAT code, since insurance is VAT-exempt.
Is company-paid health insurance an allowable expense in the accounts?
Generally yes — premiums for employee and director cover are normally deductible staff costs for corporation tax, and the 15% Class 1A NIC on the benefit is generally allowable too. The deduction flows through the accounts into the CT600 automatically; there's no separate claim to make.
What happens if the company pays for a director's personal health insurance policy?
If the policy is in the director's own name, the company has generally settled a private bill: the default treatment is a debit to the director's loan account rather than a company expense, with no corporation tax relief. An overdrawn DLA can then trigger the 33.75% section 455 charge. Rewriting the policy into the company's name usually fixes it.
How do I account for an annual health insurance premium that straddles year-end?
Spread it. Expense the months falling in the current accounting period and carry the remainder as a prepayment on the balance sheet — a £12,000 premium paid 1 October with a 31 December year-end gives a £3,000 expense and a £9,000 prepayment. Monthly-billed schemes need no adjustment.
How do mid-year joiners and leavers affect the health insurance accounting?
The insurer issues pro-rata additional premiums for joiners and refunds for leavers, usually on adjustment statements. Post both to the same staff-benefits nominal code so it nets off cleanly, and accrue any refund owed but unpaid at year-end. The per-member statement also drives each person's P11D figure.
Why doesn't the P11D figure match the premium in my accounts?
Different cut-offs. P11Ds report benefits by tax year to 5 April, while your P&L follows the company's accounting year — plus prepayment adjustments shift expense between periods. Both figures can be correct at once; reconcile them from the insurer's per-member statements rather than forcing them to match.
Does health insurance appear on the company balance sheet?
Only transiently: a prepayment for annually-billed premiums covering future months, an accrual for any adjustment owed, and a creditor for the Class 1A NIC declared but not yet paid at year-end. The premium itself is a P&L staff cost — there's no asset in the ordinary sense.
What does my accountant actually file for company health insurance?
Three things: a P11D per covered employee (benefit value, due 6 July), one P11D(b) declaring the 15% Class 1A NIC (paid by 22 July), and the CT600 where premiums sit within deductible expenses. From April 2027, mandatory payrolling replaces the P11D route while the accounts treatment stays the same.
Should employee contributions to health insurance be netted off in the accounts?
Record them, don't hide them: contributions collected through payroll are best posted as a credit against the staff-benefits cost or a separate recovery line, so the gross premium and recovery both stay visible. Required contributions actually paid also generally reduce each employee's P11D benefit value.