Would you recommend your private health insurance?

[mando12345]

As per the title, I am currently with Bupa which has been fine, never claimed, but the cost is increasing massively. I can cut down my cover slightly to reduce the premium.
As I haven't ever claimed switching cover to another company is an option and I have been getting prices. However I don't want hassle claiming and two good friends have had recent claims from Bupa which were very easy.
If you have private health insurance and have claimed, was the process easy? Also is it corporate or private, my husband found it very easy to claim from his corporate policy.
I would welcome your feedback:)

[Banderchang]

I have Bupa cover and have had lots of surgery and made lots of claims. They've always been very efficient and paid what I expected. I reduced my monthly payment by adding an excess of £100 so I now pay £120 per month which covers me and DS.

[PollyPerky]

We have corporate cover and have had for over 30 years. The company has changed providers over the years but it's always been easy to claim. The thing to watch if you swap is if you would be covered for existing conditions or not. Some insurers won't cover you for 2 years for the same condition (if you change to them) and won't cover it at all if it's rated 'chronic'.
It's not the claiming that is hard - if you mean the actual admin- mostly that done via the consultant's PAs or the hospital. The main issue is to read what they cover for, and each time we use the cover we have to discuss the medical details (even for very personal issues) with their claims line to ensure they will cover it.

[mando12345]

Thanks Banderchang, increasing my excess is how I can reduce the cost.

@PollyPerky, all good points. I am fully underwritten with one very minor exclusion at the moment. I am looking at being covered under the same basis as my previous cover, this is what is being promised. Your post is a good reminder to read and query any point that is a little ambiguous (and there are many!),

[londonfeather]

I would say yes it is worth it - I count the cost with my utility bills as as non negotiable in our budget. I lost my mum to cancer a few years ago and I am so grateful that she was covered by BUPA. NHS were ready to send her into a end of life hospice the day she was diagnosed with no treatment - shock discovery for a 50year old. BUPA were fantastic - she got to see the best specialist in the UK, got her own room when having treatment at the best cancer hospitals and it made such a horrible situation that little bit more manageable and comfortable. I can't fault their unlimited cancer care - it paid out for everything and costs depending on treatment at these hospitals is £10,000-20,000 a day. Obviously you hope that no one in your family will ever need such medical care, but I think its so important that you are covered just in case.

[mando12345]

@NavyandWhite, thanks for your reply, can I ask what company you are with?

[mando12345]

@londonfeather, so sorry to hear about your mum.
Thanks for your post, I did join bupa originally because of their reputation for cancer care and they weren't bad price wise. It's just as I've got older the price has gone up, a lot!

[Blacksox]

We are with Aviva at present and have been with BUPA (corporate cover).

They are very good, responsive and efficient. Claiming is very easy.

My only gripe is the excesses (£100 for dh, £300 for the rest of us) and that their year runs from one date (1 October), not the date your treatment started. So for my ds who had to have 2 small operations last year, one in Feb and the other scheduled for early October, it would've cost us 2 lots of excess - £600. I moved the 2nd op forward by a few days to avoid the charge.

[mando12345]

Oh thanks NavyandWhite, another one to look at.

[mando12345]

Thanks Blacksox:)

[PollyPerky]

Navy I think it's important to differentiate between a 'claim' and a 'referral'. The letter from a GP is a referral to the specialist. The insurance company then has to be contacted and they have to agree to fund it all. GPs can refer anyone if the patient is able to pay (out of their own pocket or through insurance) but the insurance company have the final say over whether to pay up. In most cases they won't pay ever without a GP referral but the y don't always pay (for all conditions) even when GPs refer. There are exclusions to certain treatments.

[PollyPerky]

Just to give an example- friend was referred for 'heavy periods' to a specialist. Once the cause was determined by various tests- menopause was the cause- the insurers put a stop to /limit on payments as meno is classed as a 'natural event' not an acute condition.