Self-employed health insurance
Healthcare plans for the self-employed
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Health insurance for the self-employed
If you’re self-employed, you are your business – which means that you can’t afford to lose any time on the job if you get sick or injured. We’ve teamed up with Equipsme to offer easy, affordable health insurance for self-employed business owners, to help you avoid lengthy waiting lists and costly private treatment, and get you back to work as soon as possible.
- Speed - quicker access to health professionals means you'll be back in business faster
- Flexibility - different levels of healthcare to suit your needs and budget
- Cover for you and your family - you'll have the option to add your loved ones to your healthcare plan
Our health insurance plans for the self-employed
We offer two levels of cover – our Solo and Solo Plus plans. So whether you want to be covered for stress support, physiotherapy, or in-patient hospital treatment, we've got the right health cover to suit your needs.
24/7 GP access
Physiotherapy
Diagnosis
Treatment
Health check
Health support
Second opinion
Stress support
24/7 GP access
- unlimited GP appointments by phone, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- unlimited GP appointments online/via webcam
- prescription delivery service (to home, work or local pharmacy)
- open referral to diagnosis cover (“open referral” means a GP advises the type of specialism you need, rather than a named specialist)
Physiotherapy
- up to 5 physiotherapy sessions
- bills paid by AXA Health
- no excess for you to pay
Get our Solo Plus plan and you'll also get:
- three additional physiotherapy sessions
Diagnosis
- consultations, diagnostic tests, MRI scans and CT scans
- cover up until cancer is diagnosed
- bills paid by AXA Health
You'll pay no excess if you have our Solo plan.
If you have our Solo Plus plan, you'll pay £150 excess on any diagnosis or treatment.
Treatment
No treatment cover is included with our Solo plan.
Get our Solo Plus plan and you'll get:
- hospital treatment includes specialists, surgeons, room, dressings and medication
- bills paid by AXA Health
Please be aware that cancer treatment isn't included.
You'll need to pay £150 excess on any diagnosis or treatment.
Health check
- online health check
- £10 off other health checks
- vitamin D, cholesterol and diabetes blood test kit/report
Health support
- nurse helpline – speak to a healthcare professional whenever you have a medical question or health worry
- cancer/heart nurse – speak to a specialist nurse for cancer/heart patients for guidance and information about your condition
Second opinion
- get a second opinion if you’re concerned that your initial diagnosis isn’t right
Stress support
- 24/7 helpline support on a range of work, personal and lifestyle matters
- telephone and online counselling (up to five sessions)
- face-to-face counselling (up to five sessions)
- financial, legal, consumer, family care and housing support on the phone and online
How much does small business health insurance cost?
A choice of two different cover levels
Solo £27 a month
Solo Plus £39 a month
The cost of self-employed health insurance depends on the plan you choose. The Solo plan is £27 a month and includes unlimited GP appointments, a health check, nurse helplines, stress support, and the cost of diagnosis. Once you're diagnosed, you'll need to seek treatment from the NHS.
The Solo Plus plan is £39 a month. It covers everything under the Solo plan, plus hospital treatment as a private patient, meaning that once you're diagnosed, you'll get access to private treatment – whether that's in-patient care or fast access to a specialist.
Access to specialists and hospitals are via an approved AXA Health network, who will help you book your treatment.
Do you need health cover as a self-employed business owner?
There are a few reasons you should consider health insurance when you’re self-employed:
Save time
When you’re self-employed, you don’t have time to wait around to speak to a GP or to get medical treatment. If you get sick or injured, a health insurance plan can give you quick access to healthcare professionals – whether that’s a GP or a specialist.
Get back to business quicker
Getting faster access to treatment means you can get back to running your business as soon as possible, without spending months on a waiting list.
Cover for you and your family
The option to buy healthcare cover for your partner and children.
Self-employed health insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about self employed health insurance.
Having a health insurance plan in place can help you get back to work quickly if you get sick or injured. You may not have to spend as much time waiting to be diagnosed, or to receive treatment.
Our health insurance plans with Equipsme can give you access to healthcare facilities and treatment at a time that suits you. On top of that, you’ll also have access to private GPs, nurse helplines, stress support, and online health checks. You won’t be asked any medical questions when you apply – you’ll simply get a list of pre-existing conditions that are excluded from our healthcare plans.
Importantly, you’ll have the option to add your partner and children to your health insurance plan. Any family members added to your plan will have the same access to treatment as you do. You can add up to six children aged under 25 – and you’ll be able to cover all of them for just half the cost of your normal monthly bill.
In order to qualify for our self-employed health insurance plans, you must be:
a sole trader or a small business owner with no employees trading in the UK registered with HMRC for Self Assessment or on Companies House
If you have employees and you’re looking to buy health insurance, you can read more about small business health insurance here.
Unfortunately, we can’t offer our health insurance plans to anyone aged 60 or over. We also can’t cover for the following:
- partners under the age of 16
- dependants over the age of 25
- more than six children
In addition, you mustn’t have an existing policy with Equipsme.
Unfortunately, we can’t offer health insurance to business owners living in the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Depending on your business set-up, you have two options when it comes to buying a health insurance plan with us.
If you’re a sole trader or a self-employed business owner, then you’ll be able to buy health insurance for yourself, your partner, and your children.
if you’re a small business owner and you’re looking to buy health insurance for yourself and your employees, then you can read more about our small business health insurance plans.
When it comes to cancer, fast diagnosis is key to getting treatment quickly. So the Solo and Solo Plus plans will cover you until cancer is diagnosed. At this point, you’ll be guided back into the NHS for treatment, as cancer care after diagnosis is not covered.
All plans offer access to a dedicated nurse helpline, so you can speak to heart and cancer nurse specialists for information and support.
If you’re a sole trader, health insurance is considered a personal benefit so you usually can’t deduct it from your taxes. But if you can prove that you’ve had medical treatment solely for work purposes, you may be able to claim some tax relief.
As HMRC can issue penalties for paying the wrong amount of tax, you should always seek advice from a qualified accountant.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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