Assured Fertility IVF package - has any one used them?

[closephine85]

Just that really! Looking into various options and their package seems to suit us a little better than the Access Fertility ones. However, no one really seems to have heard of them (not even the lady who answered the phone at the clinic they offer packages with!). So I just wondered if there’s any one out there who has used them?

[closephine85]

Anyone...?

[Blankspace4]

I might be wrong (so def double check) but I think these types of ‘packages’ (ie guaranteed results or your money back) are actually provided by an insurance company and are nothing to do with the clinical side of things. So from a treatment perspective, probably irrelevant (as it’s your clinic that counts there) but worth checking what the package does and doesn’t include (check the small print!) as well as the financial standing of the insurer (is it a subsidiary of a larger insurer / company or a recent start up, for eg) before making a decision.

I would expect your clinic to have a little more information if they are advertising / marketing their services! Worth also asking what’s in it for them (does your clinic receive a commission or is the arrangement entirely separate between you and the insurer).

Best of luck xx

[Blankspace4]

I’ve just looked further for you and Assured Fertility is a subsidiary of a company called Chrysalis Finance, based in manchester and FCA regulated. Still worth doing your homework but I hope that helps. All the best x

[closephine85]

Thanks Blankspace, I guess the fact that I haven’t found any one who has used them and the lack of knowledge from the clinic just makes me a little nervous. I will be doing more research before committing to anything.

[jemimafuddleduck]

Have a look on YouTube @closephine85 - I think a lady called Jules Furness has used them and she does a video on them x

[closephine85]

Found it, thank you that’s really helpful! Nice to see someone else has/is using them

[TTCer2018]

I used them and it was an awful experience. Please remember insurance companies are businesses set out to make money. They stack the odds in their favour.

Jules mentioned she used them but said it wasn't a review anyway as she hadn't finished the process with them. I think she had been asked a lot of questions about them. I can't find her video now though. I think she took it down and she has hinted things haven't been easy with them so I would watch this space, as I am guessing she can't say anything publicly yet if she is having a dispute with them

[closephine85]

Hi TTC, could you tell me why it was awful? Did your cycle fail/did they refund you?

[TTCer2018]

Hi, check the contracts. They only give a refund if you do 3 cycles but it's common for people not to get 3 embryos through PGS testing to have those 3 cycles... Which then means you won't get the 3 cycles or the 100% refund. Even if they don't insist on PGS, if you don't get your 3 blastocysts again you end up in the same situation as far as I can see.

Their advertising is quite different to their contract and the things they insisted on with us were not evidence based at all

Don't want to get in trouble talking about them as I guess this is my opinion, but I wouldn't ever touch then again and fear for anyone else who does personally

[mumto2babyboys]

Consider going abroad. It's cheaper which means you can do more cycles than in the uk therefore better chance of conceiving

[TTCer2018]

Yes. If you feel comfortable going abroad it could be worth it. Just make sure you check people's reviews a s ask in support groups about clinics as I saw that Jules Furness mentioned above had a bad experience abroad. There are a few clinic such as in Spain and Greece I always hear good things about

Hope you find your way. It is a bit overwhelmed knowing what choices to make in all this isn't it

[kandylu]

We used assured but I am 45 so needed to use donor eggs. We had tried 3 IVF cycles with my eggs and had 2 miscarriages and a failed attempt. The money back guarantee appealed to us. My husband went over the contract and it all looked genuine, a baby or your money back was in the contract.

I think our chance of success was around 90% over 3 attempts and if the donor didn't produce 3 embryos they would try again with her or another donor. She produced one which ended up being successful, our boy was born in July this year.

Obviously, we are so happy to have a baby at last that we only have good things to say. It was expensive, we went to Spain for the transfer and going direct would have been cheaper but everything was arranged for us and we liked the guarantee part.

If we were starting again, we wouldn't hesitate to use them again but we had a baby, if it didn't work we might think differently.

[TTCer2018]

Wow giving a success rate if 90% would make me very suspicious. The max any clinic can give is 60% with donor eggs

Also everyone I have spoken to with this insurance has said if they haven't had 3 emrbyos, they have had to pay more money. Perhaps you got in at the beginning when they might have been trying to create good news stories.

The contract certainly isn't a baby or your money back now. There are a lot of hoops to jump in order to get the money back!

Glad you got your baby before they changed it though . Congratulations x

[kandylu]

I think the percentage they told us each time was 70% and when we spoke to the clinic in Spain they said one chance was around 75%. I am not good at working out chances but 3 goes at 70% each time might be giving that high rate. Obviously that rate could have been positive test result, I can't remember, and that unfortunately doesn't always mean a baby.

Maybe the 3 embryos thing has changed, at the time it was there. We checked because we wondered what would happen if the donor didn't produce them as we thought that was down to the clinic in Spain to choose the right person.

I guess its down to each individual to look at the contract before signing. We went through ours and at first it said 28 week viable birth or something like that. My husband spoke to them and told them to change it so it stated baby in your hand as what was originally talked about or we wouldn't continue and they did change it.

We had the treatment at Instituto Bernabeu in Alicante who do their own pregnancy guarantee program so we did wonder if Assured were just piggybacking off them for a profit because it was a lot more that dealing directly with them. We chose to pay more because we thought it might be easier to deal with someone in this country.

Our boy was born in July this year so it has been a while since going through everything with them .

[mumto2babyboys]

Ivf has a 25% success rate or less... globally

[mumto2babyboys]

Congrats to those ivf has worked for and well done

as it's not an easy journey!! X

[closephine85]

Just wanted to update as after posting this thread we did decide to go ahead with Assured. We chose their package because we wanted to have PGS testing and because we thought it was a better fit for us over the ones Access fertility offer. We did a lot of research before signing on the dotted line. We had a friend who is a lawyer look through the contract and I asked Assured to give us an estimated refund amount based on each scenario (e.g no embryos, 1,2,3 etc). So we knew what to expect.

Unfortunately our cycle didn’t go well and we ended up with no embryos making it past day 3. This meant we had nothing to freeze and nothing to PGS test. However, Assured have refunded us what we expected based on the conversations we had with them in advance (in fact a little more).

Although our cycle didn’t go to plan (understatement!) I don’t regret using Assured. Just make sure you thoroughly understand the contract and each scenario before entering into it.

[mumto2babyboys]

How much did they refund compared to how much you spent? What %

Sorry to hear it didn't work

[closephine85]

They refund you what you paid for the package, less the cost of the treatment you had had up to that point. They apply a discount to the clinic fees so it basically works out as though you had just paid outright for the round but with discount.

I think probably the most frustrating scenario with regards to the refund would be to have 2 embryos and 2 failed transfers as this is the one that would result in the lowest refund due. However, you are still just paying for the treatment you have had (discounted) up to that point. So you don’t lose money as such, you just don’t qualify for the full refund as to do that, you have to have 3 embryo transfers as it says in the contract.

[mumto2babyboys]

Awh. Hopefully next time it works for you and thank you for explaining x