Our new business hub brings together 100 guides on group health insurance — pricing, tax, industries and scheme admin. UK employees average 9.4 sick days a year, absence costs employers around £103bn annually, and schemes start from just 2 employees at roughly £35–£110 per head per month.
- ✓The business hub launches with 100 guides on group health cover.
- ✓UK employees average 9.4 sick days a year; absence costs employers ~£103bn.
- ✓Group schemes start from 2 employees, averaging ~£57 per head per month.
Why a business hub
Most of the questions we get from company owners aren't really insurance questions. They're absence questions, tax questions and hiring questions. UK employees now average 9.4 sick days a year, and absence costs employers around £103bn annually. Meanwhile health cover has become the most-valued voluntary benefit — yet only around 31.5% of employers offer it, partly because the buying process assumes you have an HR department.
So we built Speedwell Health for business: one place where a director, founder or office manager can get from 'should we do this?' to a live scheme without translating broker jargon along the way. Schemes start from 2 employees — husband-and-wife limited companies included.
What's in the hub
The hub launches with 100 guides, organised around the questions businesses actually ask:
- Cost and value. What group cover costs (£35–£110 per employee per month, averaging ~£57), why group is typically 10–30% cheaper per head than individual policies, and the full pricing guide.
- Tax, done properly. Corporation tax relief, Class 1A NIC at 15%, P11D and benefit-in-kind — including the April 2027 payrolling change every employer needs on their radar.
- Size-specific guides. From two-director companies through five, ten, twenty-five and hundred-employee schemes, because the right structure changes with headcount.
- Industry guides. Construction to consultancy, care homes to creative agencies — sector absence patterns and realistic per-head pricing.
- Running the scheme. Renewals, adding and removing employees, claims data, and comparing insurers for business.
The maths for a small team
Here's how it plays out for an illustrative 10-person firm paying around the market average of £57 per employee per month: roughly £6,840 a year, generally deductible against corporation tax, with Class 1A NIC on the benefit and a P11D entry per employee until payrolling becomes mandatory in April 2027. Against that sits the cost of waiting — with NHS median waits at 12.4 weeks, one employee stuck on a list for a term can cost more in cover for the whole team, in lost output alone.
The tax figures above are general rules, not advice for your company — the tax deductibility guide covers the detail and the exceptions, and your accountant should have the final word. But the shape of the decision is consistent across most small firms we've written for: the gross cost looks like a salary line, the net cost after relief looks smaller, and the comparison that matters is against what one long absence — or one good hire lost to a rival with better benefits — actually costs.
Cover for your team, from 2 employees
Where to start
If you're new to group cover, start with small business health insurance, then the guide for your headcount. If you already have a scheme, the renewal negotiation and switching guides are where the money is. And if you just want numbers, a business quote takes a few minutes — from 2 employees, whole of market, same premiums as going direct.
As with everything on Speedwell Health, the hub follows the house rules: plain English, sourced figures, no pay-to-rank, and honest answers when group cover isn't the right call — sometimes a health cash plan or a wellbeing allowance genuinely fits a team better, and the guides say so.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Speedwell Health business hub?
It's our new home for group health insurance content at for-business.html — 100 guides covering costs, tax treatment, industry-specific advice, size-specific scheme guides and ongoing administration, written for directors and office managers rather than HR departments. Business quotes run from the same page.
How small can a company be to use Speedwell Health for business?
Schemes start from just 2 employees, including husband-and-wife limited companies where both spouses are on the payroll. The hub includes dedicated guides for two-director firms, five, ten, twenty-five and hundred-employee businesses, because the sensible structure changes as headcount grows.
What does business health insurance cost per employee in the hub's guides?
The canonical range is £35–£110 per employee per month depending on age profile, cover level and industry, with a market average of around £57. Group schemes are typically 10–30% cheaper per head than equivalent individual policies. The hub's pricing guides break the range down by team size.
Why does the business hub talk about 9.4 sick days?
Because that's the average number of sick days per UK employee per year in 2026 data, and it's the real cost group cover addresses — absence costs UK employers around £103bn annually. Faster diagnosis and treatment through a scheme is one of the few levers that directly shortens absences.
Does the business hub cover the 2027 payrolling change?
Yes — mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind arrives in April 2027, replacing P11D reporting for most employers, and the hub has a dedicated guide plus an early-registration explainer. Employers offering health cover should plan for the switch during the 2026-27 tax year.