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What Exactly Is Private Medical Insurance (PMI)?: Private Medical Insurance (or Private Health Insurance as it is sometimes known) insures you against the costs of private medical treatment for curable short-term or ‘acute' medical conditions.
How Do I Buy Private Medical Insurance?: You can buy private medical insurance from a variety of sources, there are now at least thirty four Insurance companies and many more brokers who specialise in Private Medical Insurance.
What Is Not Covered By Private Medical Insurance?: Private Medical Insurance plans do not cover chronic or critical illnesses which cannot be cured, for example multiple sclerosis, asthma or diabetes.
Where Would I Get Treatment?: There are a number of private hospitals in the UK – in your area there will probably be at least two hospitals at a convenient distance, depending on whether you live near a town or city.
Will My Premiums Increase As I Get Older?: Your private medical insurance premiums will increase with age because you are more likely to make a claim for medical treatment.

What does the term 'out-patient' mean?

This is the term that most private medical insurance policies use for treatment given at a hospital which does not require an overnight stay, or any recovery time.

Only the higher levels of private medical insurance cover this level of treatment, in which you do not need to have a serious enough condition to have an operation. If you do require this level of cover for the ultimate peace of mind, make sure that you get the most comprehensive level of cover. This will cost considerably more than the lower levels of cover.

Example: if you are suffering from an in-growing toenail which requires hospital attention and treatment, you will be classed as an out-patient.