DaveD,
Your analysis is bang on. Flex 500 Explore is the cheapest plan which covers all 3 levels of hospital cover. Once you're happy with the 500 excess,
its a very good choice. The laya childrens offer is very good value, either Flex 125 Explore 269pa( hospital cover only) or Flex 125 Choice 410pa,
(hospital and gp cover etc). Both plans mean pay for first child and the rest are free. This offer applies upto and including April 30th 2016.
The advantage of Laya is that they allow you to change plans mid-year, outside of renewal date, which means you can avail of any good offers
during the year.
Regards, Snowyb