Key takeaways: What is a business health insurance excess?

With business health insurance, an excess is the amount your employees pay towards treatment each year if they claim. Each employee covered by the plan has their own excess and it’s usually paid directly to their healthcare provider. The amount of excess is chosen by you when you take out a business health insurance plan with us.

The level of excess you choose contributes to the overall cost of your plan. A lower excess means that your premiums will be higher than if you choose a higher excess.

Once your employee has paid the full amount of their excess, they won’t pay it again that policy year regardless of how many times they claim that year.

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What is an excess on business health insurance?

With business health insurance, an excess is the amount you/your employees pay each membership year towards the cost of treatment if they make a claim. Each employee covered on your plan has their own excess which is decided at a group level when you take out business health insurance. So if multiple employees make a claim, they will each have to pay the excess amount.

For example, if your employees treatment covered by the plan costs £1,000 and they have an excess of £100, we’ll pay £900 and they will pay £100.

How does a business health insurance excess work?

With an excess, your employee pays an amount towards the cost of treatment each membership year. Once they have paid their total excess, they won’t have to pay it again if they have more treatment in that membership year, even if they claim for a different condition. For example:

  • If your plan has an excess of £250 and your employee makes a claim for £150, they will pay £150
  • If their treatment continues and they make another claim for £200, they’ll pay £100 towards the treatment, and we’ll pay the remaining £100 balance
  • As they’ve now paid their excess in full, they won’t have to pay another excess this membership year, even if they claim for a different condition

When your employee contacts us to make a claim, we’ll let them know if they need to pay an excess. They can also see how much their excess is on their membership certificate.

How much is an excess on business health insurance?


When you take out a business health insurance plan with us, you choose the level of excess that your employees will need to pay towards treatment if they make a claim. We offer a range of different levels of excess, including £0, £100 and £250.

The level of excess you choose contributes to the overall cost of your plan. For example, a lower excess means that your premiums will be higher than if you choose a higher excess. A higher excess will mean that your employees will need to pay more towards treatment if they make a claim.

Who do my employees pay their business health insurance excess to?

After your employee has had their treatment, we’ll send them a claim update with details of who to pay and how. They don’t need to pay anything until they get this.

Will my employees have to pay a separate excess for each health condition they claim for?

Once your employee has paid their total excess, they won’t have to pay it again if they have more treatment in that membership year, even if they claim for several conditions. 

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