Mental Health and Wellbeing Copywriter
Aviva is one of the UK’s oldest insurers, with roots dating back to 1696. It now offers services internationally, including mental health support which we’ll explore in this article.
Aviva delivers individual health insurance as part of their Healthier Solutions policies. This includes two types of mental health cover; the first as part of its core policies, and the second as an optional upgrade if you’re looking for comprehensive treatment options.
Core cover is Aviva’s basic health insurance package. You’ll have a limit of up to £2000 in mental health outpatient treatment, ideal for accessing talking therapies or CBT sessions (cognitive behavioural therapy). As with most mental health treatments, you’ll need to be referred by your GP first.
For an additional cost, Aviva’s enhanced mental health cover supplements core outpatient cover with up to 28 days of in and day-patient treatment. It covers you for overnight stays at any of Aviva’s network psychiatric facilities, or for treatment and any ongoing support not included in its core outpatient care.
Specialist fees are also covered for inpatient treatment; however, it’s worth checking Aviva’s guidelines before making a claim to ensure your condition is covered.
Aviva also lets you reduce certain policy options, including your outpatient limit. This means if you’re looking to cut costs, you can opt to lower your outpatient level with Aviva giving you the choice of up to £2000, £1000 or £500 in treatment costs.
While Aviva doesn’t explicitly name the mental health conditions it covers, it has published several articles about the conditions covered by leading insurers. If you’re unsure whether your condition is covered, check with Aviva before making a claim.
Anxiety is a regular feeling of worry or anticipation about everyday situations. Sometimes, anxiety can manifest as physical symptoms, making daily life a struggle.
Depression is a persistent feeling of sadness, which can also cause a loss of interest in activities. Depression can also impact sleep, appetite, motivation and personal care.
Eating disorders involve an unhealthy relationship with food, often combined with concerns about body image. Common eating disorders include anorexia and bulimia.
OCD involves cycles of intrusive thought and repetitive behaviour. OCD can interfere with everyday life if the cycles of behaviours and thoughts aren't broken.
Health conditions that aren’t covered in your policy are called exclusions. Like many leading insurers, Aviva exclude chronic illnesses, treatment to alleviate symptoms of chronic illness or any acute flare-ups of these conditions. These exclusions extend to chronic degenerative illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer's disease, while also excluding developmental conditions like ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or autism.
Healthier Solutions policies don’t cover regular check-ups for mental health issues either; instead, they focus on helping you recover from specific, short-term problems through a range of support options.
Aviva doesn’t ordinarily cover pre-existing conditions - however, there are exceptions. An example might be if you declare a pre-existing condition at the start of your policy, and Aviva agrees to cover them.
Another exception may be if you’ve chosen moratorium underwriting. In this situation, your pre-existing conditions may be covered if you go two years without symptoms, treatment, or advice. This also applies to conditions that occurred five years before you joined your policy.
If you’ve switched from another insurer on moratorium underwriting, your previous exclusions will either be carried over or continue under the same rules. An exception might be if you’ve moved from a scheme with Medical History Disregarded (MHD) underwriting. In this case, pre-existing conditions are covered.
Remember - just because Aviva hasn't asked you about pre-existing conditions, you shouldn’t assume you're automatically covered.
Alongside its range of hospital lists (which we’ll cover shortly), Aviva offers a convenient, guided treatment pathway named Expert Select.
Expert Select is Aviva’s take on the guided pathway, available for both individual customers and smaller businesses. Guided pathways work outside of Aviva’s standard hospital lists to give customers a straightforward, affordable route to support.
You can access Expert Select via GP referral. Once a GP has specified the type of specialist you require, you’re ready to begin. Aviva will then give a selection of high quality hospitals, all located around 25 miles from your home. They’ll even help you make your first booking, while ensuring your selected facility meets your treatment needs.
If you’d prefer to know your hospital options upfront though, it may be better to choose from one of Aviva’s hospital lists instead.
Mental Health Pathway (corporate policies only)
Although only available via Aviva's company schemes, it's worth mentioning Aviva's Mental health pathway. Similar to other guided pathways, it gives employees speedy access to quality talking therapy and counselling; aiming to reduce sickness and provide a quick route to treatment.
It even has an expanded option which includes cover for addictions, and certain chronic mental health conditions.
Private healthcare insurers often have a network of hospitals and clinics for customers to use for diagnosis, treatment, or consultation. Aviva is no different, offering customers a network of hospitals and consultants, selected for their high standards of care.
Aviva has two routes for accessing mental health treatment. The first is its Expert Select route, which we covered earlier. The other is via its hospital lists - each covering different budgets and locations to give customers a choice of care options.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how Aviva’s hospital lists work:
While Aviva’s mental health cover is fairly standard, it certainly makes up for it with its policy additions. These handy benefits cater to mental health directly and indirectly, giving you a range of options for boosting your wellbeing.
Let's start with Aviva’s most direct mental health resource—its mental health support suite. This addition supplements the basic cover in Aviva’s core package with helpful video resources that help policyholders gain insight into their conditions.
As part of this support, Aviva’s Stress Counselling helpline gives policyholders a safe, confidential place to discuss whatever is on their minds. The best part? It’s run by trained counsellors who specialise in advising people on a variety of subjects, whether they stem from home, work, or elsewhere.
Aviva’s MyHealthCounts is an online health assessment similar to Vitality’s health discount program. After completing the assessment, you’re given a ‘Q’ score; the higher your score, the lower your health risk. Your ‘Q’ score—while giving you insight into your current health—is also used to calculate the discount you receive on your base premium at renewal.
Aviva’s Get Active initiative is a great way to maintain your mental health. You’ll have access to tons of cost-saving offers from top sports clubs and gyms, letting you make fitness a regular part of your wellbeing routine.
Aviva’s Digital GP app lets you video chat with your GP, saving you the time of waiting for local appointments. You’ll be able to get expert advice at no extra cost, while easily requesting repeat prescriptions for essential wellbeing medication.
Aviva’s mental health cover is built into its Healthier Solutions core cover, making it hard to price as a standalone component. To give you a better idea around overall cost, myTribe investigated the pricing of Aviva’s individual policies. We based our investigations on the following customer profile and policy options:
The quotes we received back showed the following:
Overall, Aviva offers a competitive monthly price for their flagship product. For those needing comprehensive treatment, it’s worth bearing in mind that the above quotes don’t include enhanced mental health cover.
In most cases, claiming against your policy will increase your premium at renewal. This rule applies to all conditions covered in your policy, including mental health. With Aviva, this premium increase (or reduction, depending on whether you’ve claimed ) is governed by their No Claims Discount (NCD) scale.
Aviva’s NCD scale determines your renewal premium by assessing the amount and value of claims made in the previous policy year. Each insurer has a different NCD scale, with Aviva’s scale featuring fifteen levels. If you’re a new policyholder, you’ll start at level 12, which gives you a 69% discount on your base premium.
You’ll then move up one level for each claim-free year, increasing your renewal discount. For claims over £250, you’ll drop down three levels and, as a result, receive a lower discount. Don’t worry too much though, as smaller claims of £250 or less won’t impact your discount. It works separately for each person on a policy too - so if you add your partner and they decide to claim, this won't affect your personal discount level.
To help you understand the impact of claiming for treatment, we’ve put together an easy-to-understand breakdown below.
Aviva also offers a Protected NCD policy option. By adding Protected NCD to your policy you’ll retain your NCD level and keep your current discount, even if you make a large claim.
You can start using your mental health cover right away. This includes claiming for treatment. However, it’s worth being patient as some insurers may want to check you’re not claiming for a pre-existing condition—especially when claiming shortly after your policy starts.
You’ll also have access to your policy additions right away. This includes Aviva’s 24-hour Stress Helpline or Digital GP app - both useful if you need immediate wellbeing support.
If you’re unsure when your policy starts, you’ll find your start date in the welcome documents sent after your policy application was approved. If you can't find them, call Aviva's customer service helpline for a new welcome pack.
Aviva has a 4.1/5 on Trust Pilot, earning it ‘great’ status. Of 38,959 customer reviews, 72% gave Aviva 5 stars, frequently praising its efficient claims process, straightforward online setup, and competitive pricing. On the other hand, only 16% of customers opted for a 1-star review, highlighting issues with policy management and customer service responsiveness.
Aviva’s Healthier Solutions policies deliver generous mental health cover. They set themselves apart by covering up to £2,000 of out-patient treatment in their standard Healthier Solutions policy—a benefit that's often a costly add-on with other insurers. You also have the option to supplement this with Aviva’s mental health policy add-on; offering in- and day-patient treatment cover for a reasonable cost.
The only real negative is its NCD scale - with large mental health claims dropping policyholders three levels and receiving a significantly lower discount on renewal premiums. That said, Aviva offers a Protected NCD add-on that lets you preserve your policy discount even if you make a large claim for treatment.
Overall, Aviva’s mental health cover is flexible and practical. While it doesn’t offer any novel or innovative concepts like Vitality, its impressive treatment options paired with several wellbeing-friendly extras make Aviva a solid choice for individuals and families.
Want to know how other insurers’ mental health cover stacks up against Aviva? Then look out for our next article, where we’ll look at the mental health cover offered by Axa.
Related guide: What does Bupa offer in terms of mental health cover?
Related guide: What does Vitality offer in terms of mental health cover?
If you’d like to learn more about private health insurance, how it works and which options might work for you, contact myTribe today.
Disclaimer: This information is general and what is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances. Please speak with a financial adviser or do your own research before making a decision.
Dan is a mental health and wellbeing writer. He works with professionals and organisations; helping them spend more time supporting their clients. Previously, Dan worked as literature manager for one of the UK’s largest insurers, before spending time writing e-course material.
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