Health insurance

Cash plans
These provide a cash payout if you have to spend time in hospital and it's up to you how you spend the money. Some plans also cover the cost of treatments too, up to set limits, like physiotherapy, osteopathy, acupuncture, dental care and optical care, as well as the cost of NHS prescriptions. But if you have any condition before you took out the policy, it is not normally covered.

Key pros and cons of cash plans

Pros

• Could be useful if you would struggle to pay bills if you had to stay in hospital
• Can often include day to day items, like paying for glasses or prescriptions
• It's often quite cheap

Cons

• It won't speed up you getting any treatment or get you better facilities
• Sometimes you need to have the policy for a set time before you can make a claim
• If it covers treatment costs, there may be maximum limits for different claims, so you may end up having to pay some of the costs yourself

Things to consider when taking out cash plans: