Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

posted 3rd September 2025

Posted 2 days ago

By Darren Lewis

Knowledge Hub
Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK

With growing pressures on the NHS, many employees now view private medical insurance as a priority when choosing an employer. Finding the right health insurance policy for your business isn’t always straightforward. With varying levels of cover and a wide choice of insurers, it can be difficult to know which provider offers the best service and value.

For small businesses, it’s an important decision to get right. A well-chosen health insurance scheme can help attract and retain talent, reduce absence through faster access to care, boost morale and, in turn, productivity, and show your people that their wellbeing is a priority.

This guide to choosing the best health insurance for your small business analyses customer feedback, independent ratings, and expert opinion to help you to pick the right provider for your company.

Small Business Health Insurance - The Basics

  • Standard cover: In-patient and day-patient treatment, cancer care, mental health support, 24/7 Digital GP access.
  • Optional add-ons: Outpatient & diagnostics, therapies, dental & optical cover, travel cover.
  • Typical cost: £25–£85 per employee/month.
  • Common exclusions: Pre-existing or chronic conditions, fertility, cosmetic procedures, overseas care (unless covered by add-on).

Best Small Business Health Insurance Providers in the UK

The top small business health insurance providers in the UK are Aviva Health, AXA Health, Bupa, Vitality Health and WPA. Each stands out for different reasons — from value and flexibility to innovation and customer service.

To help you compare them side by side, we’ve brought together their Defaqto ratings, Trustpilot scores, with expert broker insights and overall rankings in the table below:

How We Calculated the Overall Ratings

To give you the most balanced view of each insurer, we combined three trusted sources of information:

  • Defaqto Star Ratings – an independent measure of product quality and features.
  • Trustpilot Reviews – real customer feedback based on thousands of experiences.
  • Broker Rating – expert opinion from our trusted business health insurance broker partners, based on how insurers perform in practice with SMEs.

We converted each of these into a score out of 5, then applied the weightings above to create one overall rating for every provider.

This approach means our rankings reflect:

  • Product quality
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Real-world broker expertise

So you can be confident the results aren’t just based on good marketing, but on actual data, reviews, and professional experience combined.

Rank Provider Defaqto Trustpilot Broker Insight Overall Rating
#1 Bupa ★★★★★ 4.4/5 ★★★★½ (4.8/5) 4.8/5
#2 Aviva ★★★★★ 4.5/5 ★★★★½ (4.7/5) 4.7/5
#3 AXA Health ★★★★★ 4.1/5 ★★★★½ (4.6/5) 4.7/5
#4 Vitality ★★★★★ 4.0/5 ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) 4.6/5
#5 WPA ★★★★★ 4.6/5 ★★★★☆ (4.4/5) 4.6/5

Method: Overall Rating = Defaqto (40%) + Trustpilot (30%) + Broker Insight (30%). Broker Insight shown as a star score out of 5, based on broker feedback for SME performance.

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Scroll down to read a more detailed review of each provider and see which one is the best fit for your business.

Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews
Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

Aviva Health

  • Defaqto: 5 Stars (Solutions & Optimum)
  • Trustpilot: 4.5/5 from 25,000+ reviews

Aviva Solutions Product Overview

Aviva’s “Solutions” plan is specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It combines comprehensive cover — including cancer care and mental health as standard — with competitive pricing. Other features such as outpatients and diagnostics can be included easily, giving SMEs control over their costs

  • USP: Most Competitive Product for SMEs
  • Broker Comment: "Aviva keeps things simple with competitive prices and a good mix of benefits, which makes them appealing to a lot of businesses. The main drawback is they’re not the most modern when it comes to admin — some bits still involve paper forms and documents, which can feel a bit old-school."

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Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

AXA Health

  • Defaqto: 5 Stars (Business Health plan)
  • Trustpilot: 4.1/5 from ~16,000 reviews

AXA Health Business Product Overview

AXA Health offers modular SME plans, letting businesses add mental health, therapies, or outpatient care. Used by over 1000s of businesses across the UK.

  • USP: Best product for flexible policy options
  • Broker Comment: "AXA is well known for looking after their customers and has a wide range of cover options, even beyond the standard cover, like travel and dental. The only thing to watch is that their prices can sometimes be on the higher side compared with others."

Get an AXA Business Quote

Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

Bupa

  • Defaqto: 5 Stars (Bupa Select)
  • Trustpilot: 4.4/5 from 36,000+ reviews

Bupa Select Product Overview

Bupa’s SME plans (2–249 employees) are among the most comprehensive in the UK. Standard Cover includes cancer cover, scans, mental health, and digital GP services.

  • USP: Recognised brand. Winner of Best Group Health Insurance Provider 2024 (Health & Protection Awards).
  • Broker Comment: "Bupa is the biggest name in private health insurance and has built up a strong reputation over the years. They’ve invested a lot in digital tools, which makes life easier for small businesses, but their cover options aren’t always as generous or flexible as some of the competition."

Get a Bupa Business Quote

Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

Vitality Health

  • Defaqto: 5 Stars (Vitality Business Health)
  • Trustpilot: 4.0/5 from 25,000+ reviews

Vitality Business Health Product Overview

Vitality’s SME cover blends full medical protection with wellbeing incentives. Perks include discounted gym memberships, tech rewards such as the free apple watch reward, and lifestyle discounts. It encourages healthy behaviour while offering mental health support.

  • USP: The most innovative with its rewards programme
  • Broker Comment: "Vitality has shaken things up in the market with a fresh approach. Their digital systems are very slick, and they offer lots of extras through their rewards and partner programmes (like discounts and freebies if you stay active). It’s especially popular with businesses that want to give staff something engaging as well as practical."

Get a Vitality Business Quote

Best Small Business Health Insurance in the UK – The Reviews

WPA

  • Defaqto: 5 Stars (WPA Complete Health)
  • Trustpilot: 4.6/5 from ~4,000 reviews

WPA Business Health Insurance Product Overview

WPA is a not-for-profit insurer with a reputation for personalised service and transparent policies. Popular with sole directors and SMEs wanting attentive support.

  • USP: Best rated for customer service
  • Broker Comment: "WPA is a not-for-profit provider, which means they’re focused on service rather than shareholders. They’re known for going the extra mile for customers and giving you the ability to really tailor a plan to your needs. The only catch is that because they’re so flexible, it’s not always straightforward to do a like-for-like comparison with the big national insurers."

Get a WPA Business Quote

Check Out Our Guide To Renewing Your Health Business Insurance

To Summarise

Small business health insurance is one of the most effective benefits you can provide to your team. It helps staff access treatment faster, reduces absence, and shows your commitment to employee wellbeing.
Based on Defaqto ratings, Trustpilot customer reviews, and broker insight, here are our top providers for 2025:

  • Best overall: Bupa – 5-Star Defaqto, 4.4/5 Trustpilot, broker rating 4.8/5. The strongest all-round product with it's award winning cover.
  • Best value: Aviva Health – 5-Star Defaqto, 4.5/5 Trustpilot, broker rating 4.7/5. Competitive pricing with solid cover for smaller businesses.
  • Best flexibility: AXA Health – 5-Star Defaqto, 4.1/5 Trustpilot, broker rating 4.6/5. Modular plans ideal for tailoring benefits to SME needs.
  • Most innovative: Vitality Health – 5-Star Defaqto, 4.0/5 Trustpilot, broker rating 4.5/5. Reward-based partner benefits model which encourages engagement and healthier lifestyles.
  • Best customer service: WPA – 5-Star Defaqto, 4.6/5 Trustpilot, broker rating 4.4/5. Highly rated for personal service, especially for micro-businesses.

Last word

As well as looking at insurer reviews and ratings for many businesses its about right the policy that works for them in terms of price and cover.

At Compare My Health Insurance, we partner with highly rated business health insurance brokers who offer free, independent advice, whole-market comparisons, and renewal support.

Rather than an "off the shelf" quote, they perform a bespoke fact-find to match your budget and cover priorities, giving tailored recommendations for your business.

We’re proud to be rated Excellent (4.9/5) on Trustindex, with 100% of businesses surveyed in the last 3 months saying they would use us again.

That means when you come to us, you’re not just comparing policies — you’re backed by trusted experts who put your business first.

FAQs

Is small business health insurance tax deductible?

Can a sole traders get health insurance?

Can employees add dependents?

How much does small business health insurance cost?

Can I choose which employees are covered on the scheme?

What happens if an employee leaves the company?

Are pre-existing conditions covered?

What are the benefits of using a health insurance broker?

Please note that any information provided is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.

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