Britons living abroad are being warned that their health insurance premiums could rise by as much as 15% from April onwards. Some insurers are thought to only increase premiums by around 10% but the average could be between 12-15 %.

Speaking with the Daily Telegraph, a Bupa spokeswoman said: “The 12 to 15 per cent figure is the range we are expecting,” while Andrews Apps, director of the Sussex-based insurance company ALC Healthcare added: “people are expecting value for money; that’s going to be the issue through 2011.

“There’s greater use of plans. Instead of saying, ‘I can’t be bothered to make a claim,’ they are saying ‘I’ve got the insurance, I might as well use it.’”

The rise in ex pat insurance rates is being blamed on what insurance companies call medical inflation, which includes the increased use of more expensive medical procedures such as scanning.

The increases are also rising because of increasing overseas costs. Andrew Apps said: “More insurers will look at places with very high costs – such as Hong Kong – and adjust prices.”

Any company offering international health insurance believes that the rises are in fact in line with what’s happening in the UK.

Insurance companies are also restructuring their plans to split the areas previously covered into smaller chunks. At the moment someone in Africa is compared with someone in Europe or Asia. This will stop.

Defending this, Andrew Apps said: “It’s beneficial all round. People will be paying the right premium for the right risk.”