The popularity of Private Medical Insurance (PMI) policies continues to grow as figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) show that consumers are buying more and more policies with the number reaching well over the 6 million mark.

Private medical insurance has in recent times proved to be the more quality orientated alternative with patients becoming more and more disenchanted with the NHS. Going private has involved quicker treatment times, clean professional treatment centres and rooms and an all round more patient orientated service.

Access to clean hospital facilities has been a major incentive to take out PMI instead of relying on NHS healthcare, lower waiting times, easy access to specialists and the ability to see the same consultant at each session also fuelled consumers' choice to go private.

At the same time, there are an abundance of private medical insurance policies and consumers are often confused about how to find the right one. For starters, it is important to know exactly what the policy covers and whether it covers your exact needs. To that end it is worthwhile to investigate about the length of waiting periods, if an excess/or co-payment applies and if there an annual limit per person or membership. Other pertinent questions may relate to whether there are any treatments excluded or if they are restricted to public hospitals. Often a chat with your doctor can be useful in determining what you should be covered for. Looking at family history issues and your own life stage and lifestyle may help determine what problems may arise in the future and what the risks are.

It is also helpful to list priorities with regards to health insurance. Do you care most about premium charges or customer service? Do you already have doctors that you would like to keep? Does anyone in your family have a chronic illness? Different plans accommodate different needs, so it’s crucial to know what’s most important to you in a plan. This way you can really start to narrow things down by your needs, whether that means low premiums, customer service or the doctor you've been seeing for a long time.
Doing your research on mediums like the internet is invaluable. Even if you have coverage through your employer's plan, it may be worth doing some shopping. Knowing what other plans are available, the services they offer (including free services), supplementary services (e.g. dental care, vision, etc.) or significant tax-savings could lead to a plan with significant, long-term savings. What are the limitations on pre-existing conditions, if any? Be familiar with the limitations of each plan. There are many insurance plans that place restrictions on accepting clients with pre-existing conditions, including waiting periods before coverage begins.