By clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. This enables W? to receive an affiliate commission if you make a purchase, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Saga provides a range of services aimed at customers aged over 50, including private health insurance. Saga Health Insurance is underwritten by BUPA Insurance Limited.
As well as health cover, Saga also offers a range of general insurance – including car insurance, home insurance, travel insurance, and pet insurance – plus holidays, cruises and a few other financial products.
Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.
Choose life insurance, health insurance, income protection and/or critical illness cover via LifeSearch and get a £50 John Lewis gift card.
Get a quotePolicy must be active for 90 days before gift card is issued. T&Cs apply.
Which? members can log in to see our full Saga health insurer review, including how it's been scored by customers and whether the brand is a Which? Recommended Provider.
If you're not a Which? member you can get access to this and all of our reviews by signing up.
Saga offers four core private health insurance plans:
All four plans also get you an NHS cash benefit for up to 20 nights per year, access to Saga's online and telephone GP Service, and a 24/7 health line.
No matter which plan you select, you can tailor it to adjust the hospital lists you have access to, adjust your excess, add cash benefits for everyday health costs, and add Extended Cancer cover.
In line with most health insurers, there are a few things that Saga excludes as standard from all its policies. These include anything related to pregnancy and childbirth, fees for outpatient drugs or dressings, and treatment for chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma. It also excludes treatment for any pre-existing conditions anyone on your policy has experienced in the last three years.
Your age, where you live, your lifestyle (such as whether you smoke) and various other factors can all affect the cost of private health insurance. Those in their early 50s are likely to pay less than those in their 70s, for example.
To give you an idea of possible costs, we used Saga's website to get quotes for annual cover for a couple (aged 55) living in south London. We assumed that they were in good health, didn't smoke, and had no pre-existing medical issues.
| Provider | Policy name | Quote for a 55-year-old couple |
| Saga | Healthplan Super (with Extended Cancer Cover) | £2,305 |
Table note: These are illustrative quotes obtained from Saga's website in January 2025. When getting quotes for all providers, we selected cover that provides full inpatient care and full outpatient care, comprehensive heart and cancer cover, diagnostic tests and scans, and some cover for complementary therapies (such as physiotherapy) for a non-smoking couple, in good health, living in south London. Where possible, we excluded mental health, dental and optical cover from our quotes. We selected the standard hospital and specialist lists. We selected no excess, but did select a waiting time if offered. We opted not to protect our no-claims discount. Saga does not offer cover for those under 50, so we were unable to get a quote for a 35-year-old couple, as we did from other providers.
We also got quotes for the same scenario from other leading private health insurance providers: Aviva, Axa Health, Bupa, Vitality, and WPA. Of the six providers we checked, Saga was the second cheapest for this scenario.
It's always worth shopping around for private medical cover though, as insurance underwriting is a complex system, and the best-value provider for one customer may not be the best value for another.
You can buy Saga private health insurance directly from Saga, via general price comparison sites such as Compare the Market, or through specialist life and health insurance brokers.
Even if you've got a quote from Saga that seems reasonable, we recommend doing a comparison with other providers, to make sure you're getting the right policy for your needs, at the best price. If you're confident about the features of cover that you need, a price comparison site can be a good way to compare prices. But bear in mind that it can be hard to get exactly like-for-like cover, as features and cover limits can vary between providers.
If in doubt, speaking to a specialist broker can help you understand your options better and ensure you're getting the right cover, especially if you have more complex needs.
The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) and Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) have searchable directories of brokers that specialise in this kind of cover.
Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch. Find out more
If you're confident that Saga is the right provider for you, there are several ways to keep costs down, including:
Switching private health insurance may not be as straightforward as switching other types of insurance, such as car or home insurance, particularly if you developed any health conditions while you held your previous policy.
Private health insurance providers usually exclude conditions that started before you signed up with them, even if they were covered by your previous provider. So, if you're thinking of switching to get a better deal, check carefully what the terms of the switch would be and if you'd risk losing valuable cover.
To make a private health insurance claim with Saga, you'll need to follow these steps:
Find the right private health insurance policy using the service provided by LifeSearch.
Find out more