What a health cash plan actually is
A cash plan refunds everyday, predictable health costs — dental check-ups and treatment, eye tests and glasses, physiotherapy, chiropody, prescriptions — up to fixed annual limits per benefit, for a low fixed premium. There's generally no medical underwriting, children are often covered free, and premiums aren't age-rated. It is not private medical insurance: it will never fund an operation or cancer treatment. Many households run both — the cash plan for the predictable, PMI for the catastrophic.
Cash plan market facts · 2026-07-17
- UK health cash plans are a £479 million market (LaingBuisson, end-2024 data, published October 2025).
- Verified entry prices (July 2026): Medicash from £7.20/month; Westfield Health £8.58; BHSF from £9.63; Benenden cash plan from £11.32; Simplyhealth from £23.
- Westfield Level 1 (£8.58/mo): dental £45, optical £45 per 2 years, therapies £200/year — the clearest published tier table.
- 12% Insurance Premium Tax applies to cash plans as to PMI (gov.uk rate; BHSF's price includes it).
Compare and choose
- All providers compared — prices and cashback limits, dated.
- Best health cash plans UK, ranked
- Cash plans for dental costs
- Cash plans for families
- Cash plans for over-60s
- Cash plan vs health insurance — which do you need?
Frequently Asked Questions
A low-cost plan that refunds everyday health costs — dental, optical, physio, chiropody — up to fixed annual limits, from £7.20/month (Medicash, July 2026). No medical underwriting; not a substitute for private medical insurance.
Entry tiers verified July 2026: Medicash from £7.20/month, Westfield Health £8.58, BHSF from £9.63, Benenden's cash plan from £11.32, Simplyhealth from £23. Higher tiers with bigger cashback limits run to ~£52/month (Westfield Level 5).