What DNV health insurance costs
Premiums depend on age, where you live, the plan and how many people are on the policy. Here is what moves the price, what a guide figure can and cannot tell you, and how to get the number that applies to you.
Six things decide your Sanitas premium
Health insurance is not priced like a product on a shelf. Six inputs go in and one number comes out, and knowing which six is the difference between a quote you understand and a quote you simply accept.
- Your age — each insured person is priced individually by age. This is the single biggest mover, and it is why a household's premium is not one price multiplied by the number of people in it.
- Where you live — Sanitas premiums vary by where in Spain you'll live. Province matters, so give the real one rather than the one you might move to later.
- The plan — Residents and Residents Platinum sit at different price levels, and both are offered in specific Visa Plan versions for visa applicants. The gap between the two is not a fixed amount, which is why it is worth seeing both quoted rather than assuming.
- Who is on the policy — every person is named and priced, and published multi-person discounts then apply. Adding a person is not free, and taking one off does not simply divide the total.
- Payment frequency — How often you pay can affect what you pay overall, so it is worth asking about rather than accepting the default. We will confirm the payment frequencies available for the applicant and policy before quoting them.
- Underwriting — private insurance is medically underwritten. Acceptance and the terms offered are the insurer's decision, and they are settled before a policy, and therefore its price, is final.
Notice what is not on that list: your visa, your nationality beyond eligibility, and how urgently you need the policy. None of them moves the premium.
How families are priced
A family quote is not a family price. It is several individual prices on one policy, and treating it as one number is how people end up paying for cover somebody did not need.
Everyone on the policy is named and priced by their own age. Before we price anything we work out who should be on it, one person at a time, because the answer to "does this person need cover for the application?" is not inherited from the main applicant. Where somebody's answer is not yet settled, we say so rather than treating it as settled. Anybody can still take cover voluntarily, for their own reasons rather than for the application, and we will quote it that way.
Children are priced individually too, on the same conditions on either plan. Published multi-person discounts apply where one applies, and we will tell you which when we quote.
The practical order is: work out who needs cover, then get the household priced, then look at the total. Doing it the other way round makes the total look like the decision, and it is not.
What to have ready before you ask for a quote
An accurate quote takes about five facts. Guessing at any of them produces a number you will have to throw away.
- Everyone's age. Actual ages, not approximate ones. Age drives the price more than anything else on the list.
- Where in Spain you'll be living. The province, and the town if you know it.
- Who is coming with you, and whether each of them is applying too.
- Roughly when you want cover to start. A date you have thought about beats “as soon as possible”, which is not a date.
- How you work. This is the one people leave out, and it is the one that decides whether you should be buying anything at all.
You do not need your health history to hand to get a quote. You will need it before an application goes anywhere, and it is worth gathering early rather than late, because underwriting is the step with the least predictable timing.
How to read a quote, once you have one
Most people read a quote by finding the number and stopping. Six other things on the page change what that number means.
- Which plan is it for, and is it the visa version or the standard one? These share a name and are different products, so a quote that does not say has not told you what it is pricing.
- Who is on it? Check every person you expect to see, by name, and check nobody is on it who should not be.
- What ages has it used? A transposed birth date is a common and easily missed error.
- What province has it used? The one you are moving to, not the one you enquired from.
- What payment frequency is it based on? A total and a per-period figure are different things, and comparing one against the other is how people talk themselves into the wrong plan.
- What date does cover start, and how long does the quoted price apply for?
If any of those six cannot be answered from the document itself, ask before you pay rather than after. All six are ordinary questions and any decent adviser will expect them.
Comparing two quotes fairly
Two quotes are only comparable when four things match. If they do not, you are comparing prices for different things and the cheaper one is not necessarily cheaper.
- The same plan version. Visa version against visa version. A standard plan will often look cheaper, and it is a different product on different terms.
- The same people. Same names, same ages, same number of them.
- The same start date and the same term.
- The same payment basis. Compare like against like, and if you are not sure which basis a figure is on, ask before you draw a conclusion from it.
And then look past the price at what each one covers. A cheaper policy that does not include the thing you moved country for is not a saving, and the more expensive one is only worth it if you will use what you are paying for.
What can change the price after you buy
These are 12-month policies, and renewal is governed by the current policy terms. Premiums are set for defined periods and they change, which is ordinary for health insurance and worth planning for rather than being surprised by.
Four things are worth asking about before you commit, so that nothing later comes as news:
- What happens at renewal, to the terms as well as to the premium?
- What happens if we move? Premiums vary by where in Spain you live, so a move can matter.
- What happens if we add someone? A new baby, a parent joining you later, a partner arriving after you.
- What happens if someone comes off the policy? Removing a person does not simply subtract their share.
Ask us, and we will tell you what the current terms say. Where the answer depends on the policy in force at the time, we will say that too rather than inventing a number.
Why a price without a date is worth nothing
Sanitas premiums are set for defined periods, and they change. A guide figure with the date it was checked beside it tells you something useful. An undated one stops being true without telling you, which is why a confident-looking figure from somewhere else is worth so little by the time you read it.
So when you meet a price anywhere, including here, ask three things of it: when was it checked, who is it for, and what payment basis is it on. A figure that cannot answer all three is decoration.
So treat an undated figure as the start of a question rather than as an answer. The number worth acting on is the one built from your own ages, your own province and your own household, and it is the only one that will still be true next week.
How to keep the cost sensible
There is no trick here. There are four ordinary levers, and they are all yours to pull.
- Only cover the people who need it. This is the biggest one by a distance, and it costs nothing to check.
- Choose the plan you will use. Paying for cover beyond the network is money well spent if you travel and money wasted if you do not.
- Ask what payment options are available before you settle on one, rather than accepting whatever the first document shows.
- Get the details right first time. A quote built on the wrong province or the wrong age is not cheaper, it is just wrong.
What we would not do is choose a plan on price alone when the cheaper one does not cover the thing you actually need. That is not a saving, it is a bill you have not received yet.
Your actual number takes two facts you already know
Who needs cover, and where you'll live. Tell us those and we'll come back with a personalised Sanitas quote, checked against your own situation first.
Common questions
Why won't you just show me a price?
Because your premium depends on age, where you live, the plan and who is on the policy, a single number would fit almost nobody reading it. Ask for the quote built from your own details: it is the only figure that is actually about you.
How much does my age change it?
Age is the biggest single mover, and each person on the policy is priced by their own age. That is why a couple's premium is not one price doubled, and why a household with a wide age range is worth quoting person by person before deciding anything.
Does it matter where in Spain I live?
Yes. Sanitas premiums vary by where in Spain you'll live, so give the province you are actually moving to. A quote built on the wrong one is not a bargain, it is a number you will have to redo.
Can I pay monthly?
Available payment frequencies are confirmed with your personalised quote. When you see a monthly figure anywhere, check whether it is a payment option or a monthly equivalent used for illustration, because those are two different things and only one of them is a price you can actually pay.
Does medical history change the price?
It can change the terms rather than the list price. Private insurance is medically underwritten, and acceptance, exclusions or postponement are the insurer's decisions. We'll explain the next step before an application goes ahead.
I've seen a price quoted somewhere else — can I use it?
Ask when was it checked, who it was for, and what payment basis it is on. A figure that cannot answer those three is decoration, however confidently it is written.
Is the cheaper plan enough for the DNV?
Current central guidance does not require the Platinum plan specifically. Where private insurance is what your application needs, which plan you choose depends on the applicable standard, the current policy terms, your eligibility and the cover you want. The receiving authority makes the final decision.