Group vs. Individual Health Insurance: Why You Need Both

What group cover does well

Employer-provided group health insurance is typically low-cost or free to the employee, often has minimal or no waiting period for pre-existing conditions (a real advantage over a fresh individual policy), and requires no individual underwriting.

Where it falls short

Group cover ends the moment you leave the job - voluntarily or otherwise - at exactly the point your income may also be disrupted. It also typically doesn't build the same continuity/portability credit an individually-held policy accumulates over years (see our portability glossary entry), and employers can change the group policy's terms or insurer without much individual input.

Why a personal policy matters even while employed

An individual health policy, purchased and maintained independently, keeps building your own no-claim bonus and waiting-period history regardless of job changes - so that if group cover ever lapses, you're not starting from zero with a brand-new policy's full waiting periods at exactly the wrong moment.

The takeaway

Treat employer group cover as a valuable supplement, not a substitute for your own independent policy - the gap it leaves is invisible until you actually need cover after leaving a job.