AXA Health Plan 2025 Review
About AXA Health
Originally founded in 1940 by a group of hospitals and doctors, AXA Health is one of the largest private healthcare companies in the UK. It is part of the AXA Group, one of the world’s largest insurers.
What health insurance plans does AXA Health offer?
AXA Health offers a range of private health insurance products as well as small business health insurance and corporate health insurance. Its most recent product – and the focus of this review – is the AXA Health Plan, which is currently only available to buy directly from AXA Health. It’s also the only plan you can buy via the AXA Health website.
The comprehensive Personal Health product, and more budget-friendly Health For You plan, are available to buy directly by calling AXA Health or through insurance brokers.
Build your policy from a blank canvas
The AXA Health Plan works differently to most other private health insurance policies, in that it doesn’t have any “core” cover. Instead, you can choose which elements you want and create a policy tailored to you.
This is different to most other providers, who usually include some cover – often inpatient and daypatient care and some outpatient cover – as standard.
The AXA Health Plan offers even more flexibility by allowing you to choose different cover for each member named on the plan. This means you can “mix and match” cover for your family depending on individual needs.
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How the AXA Health Plan building blocks work
AXA gives you four different cover options to create your own individual policy:
1. Outpatient diagnosis and care
This option covers outpatient consultations with a specialist, unlimited diagnostic tests and scans including CT, MRI and PET scans and outpatient surgery. It also includes up to 10 sessions of outpatient treatment each year by physiotherapists, osteopaths or chiropractors if you’re referred by a GP or go direct through AXA’s muscles, bones and joints service. There is no limit if a specialist refers you.
The outpatient diagnosis and care option also covers fees for the following when referred by a specialist:
- dieticians
- speech therapists
- nurses
- audiologists
- orthoptists
2. Inpatient and day patient care
If you want cover for treatment or tests that involve staying in hospital for the day or overnight you will need to select the inpatient and day patient option. Additional benefits include:
- Up to £120 a night for hotel accommodation for a close friend or relative – up to an annual limit of £600.
- Hospital accommodation for one parent if a child is receiving treatment.
- Ambulance costs if you need to move to another hospital or medical facility.
- NHS cash benefit of £50 a day – up to a yearly limit of £2,000 – if you have treatment through the NHS.
3. Cancer care
The cancer care option covers cancer treatment as an inpatient, day patient or outpatient, as well as unlimited consultations with a specialist. It includes the same extra benefits as the first two options, as well as a few more:
- The cost of a nurse to give you treatment at home.
- Up to £1,000 a year for wigs, head coverings or microblading.
- Up to £2,000 a year for specialist clothing.
- Up to £5,000 in total for any external prostheses needed after surgery.
4. Mental health care
This covers treatment for mental health conditions as an inpatient, day patient or outpatient. If you’re treated as an inpatient or day patient, you’ll have the same extra benefits included in that option. If you’re treated as an outpatient, you’ll be covered for diagnostic tests and scans, as well as the following:
- Outpatient consultations with psychiatrists.
- Fees charged by cognitive behavioural therapists and psychologists.
It’s worth noting that mental health care isn’t available as standalone cover. If you want this option, you need to choose one of the others as well.
What benefits come as standard with every AXA Health policy?
There are some benefits you will get as standard with every AXA Health policy which can provide some extra value. These include:
- Online GP appointments
- 24/7 health support line
- Mental health support app
- Special member offers – e.g. gym discounts and a fitness app
- Annual home test kit to check cholesterol and blood sugar levels
- Discounted health assessments
What additional options can you choose with the AXA Health Plan?
As well as giving you the freedom to build a policy that suits you, the AXA Health Plan also gives you several other choices. Each decision you make will affect the cost of the policy to varying degrees.
Does the AXA Health Plan cover pre-existing conditions?
As is standard for private health insurance, the AXA Health Plan won’t cover pre-existing conditions. AXA Health defines this as anything you’ve had symptoms of in the past three years – whether it’s been diagnosed or not.
This three year look-back period is more generous than many other health insurance policies, with the standard period being five years.
If you remain trouble-free from that condition for a continuous two-year period, it will be covered. This means you can’t have had any symptoms, treatment or advice for the condition, or taken any medication for it.
It’s also worth noting that the AXA Health Plan won’t cover you for any cancer you’ve had in the past – no matter how long ago it was.
The AXA Health Plan also won’t cover you for any mental health condition if you’ve been referred to a psychiatrist in the last five years.
What’s not covered by the AXA Health Plan?
As with all private health insurance policies, the AXA Health Plan has some exclusions that will apply to every policyholder. These include:
The full list of exclusions can be found in the AXA Health Plan handbook.
How much does the AXA Health Plan cost?
The cost of an AXA Health Plan will vary depending on your age, where you live and which options you select during the quote process.
Adding extra options, giving yourself a greater choice of more hospitals or saying you want to choose your own specialist will all increase the cost of your plan.
For this review, we asked for quotes based on the following options:
- Inpatient and day patient, outpatient, and cancer cover.
- Unlimited specialist consultations.
- Guided option – with AXA Health choosing a specialist for you.
- £250 excess.
- Unprotected no claims discount.
We obtained a range of quotes for individuals of different ages, all living on the South Coast of England.
6 key differences between the AXA Health Plan and other UK health insurance policies
Choosing health cover that’s right for you means comparing how different health insurance providers measure up to each other. To help you compare the AXA Health plan, our experts have picked out six important differences:
The AXA Health Plan’s medical underwriting options
The AXA Health Plan offers all its policies with moratorium underwriting. Unlike most private health insurance, there is no option for full medical underwriting, which AXA Health told us they are still developing. It makes choosing cover more straightforward, but may not be appealing for people who want the option of sharing their full medical history.
This is a unique feature of the AXA Health Plan that sets it apart from the rest of the market. Its moratorium period is also three years, which is shorter than the standard five-year period most other health insurance offers.
A three-year moratorium period means that any condition for which you’ve had symptoms in the three years before you take out the plan won’t be covered. This is regardless of whether or not it has been diagnosed.
If you remain trouble-free from that condition for a continuous two-year period, it will be covered. It means you can’t have had any symptoms, treatment or advice for the condition, or taken any medication for it.
What discounts are there for the AXA Health plan?
If you take out an AXA Health plan, you may be eligible for certain discounts and benefits. These include:
Rewards for referring a friend
If you refer a friend to AXA Health, and they take out a private healthcare plan, you’ll both get a reward. You’ll have the choice of a £100 Amazon or M&S gift card, or a National Trust Joint membership worth £139.
Discounted gym membership
If you take out health insurance with AXA, you could save money with up to 40% off gym memberships at Nuffield Health.
Discounted health assessments
AXA Health offers its members a 25% discount on health assessments from either Nuffield Health or Circle Health Group.
Where can I find customer reviews on AXA health cover?
AXA Health has a Trustpilot customer score of 4.1 out of 5 from over 15,000 reviews, suggesting most of its customers are satisfied with the service provided. Many recent reviews are positive, praising AXA Health’s professionalism and customer service. Although some AXA Health customers mention issues with claims and some frustration around long waiting times on calls.
As always, it’s difficult to draw definitive conclusions from customer reviews in this way, as they can never give a full and complete picture.
Example AXA health insurance reviews from its customers
“AXA Health provided efficient service which helped diagnosis to be done quickly. The staff on the phone call were nice and friendly. The doctor/consultant specialists provided through AXA are brilliant, professional with expert knowledge.”
“Excellent staff, friendly and helpful. They also can’t do enough to help. Totally great. The experience is great at a time when treatment is needed.”
“Wait time of 45 mins to speak to a claims rep and still didn’t get anything resolved or answered as I was put through to the wrong team.”
How to get more information about AXA health insurance
The AXA Health website is a good place to start if you want more information about the AXA Health Plan. You can also view a generic version of the handbook once you go through the quote journey.
To see how AXA health insurance compares with other health insurers, you can read our review of the Best private health insurance in 2025.
We would always recommend speaking to an insurance broker about your options before buying a private health insurance policy. Although as things stand the AXA Health Plan is only available to buy direct.
If you want personalised guidance and a free comparison quote from one of our expert health insurance brokers, please complete our form.
Disclaimer: This information is general and what is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances. Please speak with a financial adviser or do your own research before making a decision.
