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• Underwriting — how the insurer decides which parts of your medical history are excluded. Usually either a moratorium or full medical underwriting.
• Pre-existing condition — something you have had symptoms, treatment, medication or advice for before the policy started.
• Chronic condition — a long-term condition needing ongoing management. Private policies generally control symptoms in a flare-up at most, and leave routine management to the NHS.
• Excess — the amount you contribute per policy year before the insurer pays.
• Hospital list — the set of hospitals the insurer will fund treatment at.
• Pre-authorisation — the insurer's confirmation, before treatment, that a claim is covered.

A useful way to approach it is to protect the expensive events first. Core in-patient and day-patient cover deals with surgery and hospital stays, which are the costs most people could not absorb. Out-patient cover is more likely to be used but is cheaper per claim, so capping it is a common way to keep the premium affordable. Extras such as dental and optical are convenience rather than protection.

Private health cover is not comprehensive healthcare. It will not fund emergency admissions, it rarely helps with conditions you already have, and it is not designed for long-term chronic care. If most of your concern sits in those areas, a broker should tell you so — and a good one will.