Tell me everything you know about private medical insurance please.

[FindingMeno]

Assume I have no knowledge at all ( I don't).
How does it work? What companies provide it? What sort of cost? Are there different levels? etc etc.
With the NHS crisis ( particularly with accessing gp treatment at the moment) I don't want to write off private medical insurance as an option before I have some facts.
Thank you for any advice anyone has.

I have it through work. It’s useless. There’s loads of stuff they don’t cover. And if they do cover your illness, you have to pay a huge excess to access care, and it’s more than we can afford.

We have it through work, ours is brilliant, covers loads of things including dental, we have dc covered too. There's a 24 hour doctor that you can call just for help or advice on anything, even if it's not for yourself. We've already used ours a couple of times and the reassurance of being seen and sorted within a week instead of the NHS 6 weeks is worth any money for us.

Don't forget you can just have a private GP appointment either in person or telephone consultation. About £100 in this area for 30 mins

@MrsPsmalls that's interesting to know.
Who do you go to though? As in, how do you go about doing that?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-health-insurance

@Violetroselily that looks very helpful.
Thank you!

We have it through my husbands work and it's been fantastic

I have had a minor operation on my foot that NHS wouldn't cover

I've had a hip arthrogram to investigate hip pain I was getting , a week after seeing them about it. It would of taken months of not years for nhs to do that for me

I've had loads of chiropractic treatment through both pregnancies and since then

My husband found a lump and was scanned a few days later to see what it was. Again days waiting rather than months on nhs

He has had a stomach scope done , GP would of just prescribed pills but private had a look to see what exactly was going on

I think it's worth it's weight in gold personally.

Our excess is once per year and £100

We have a family policy, 2 adults, 2 dc, costs approx £150pm.

Covers cancer, diagnostics, etc. Long list of hospitals you can use. Not dental.

Excess is £250 per condition per year. Doesn't cover pre-existing conditions until you've had the cover for 2 years with no symptoms for the condition in that time. When you make a claim they will check with your doctor if you've seen them about it previously.

Dh used it this year for a joint Op. Nhs referred for physio and was discharged as he is very fit and they couldn't help him strengthen it any more. Was operated on privately within weeks and recovered well, no more time off work due to flare ups. Haven't seen what our premium will increase to yet.

We got it after a spout of various accidents and illnesses that we kept having to go privately for as Nhs weren't proactive enough with diagnosis. Since then we've actually been fine (was childbirth related problems for me and recurring symptoms with toddler etc) but I like having it for peace of mind. Especially with the current backlogs. If you can easily afford it I think it's worth it, otherwise look at benenden, they offer some private benefits for much less.

We have it through dh work. It was useful to access consultant and tests which would have taken months' wait on nhs. You have to pay an excess although this is capped per person each year. I had physio on it a few years ago.

@manywildhorses I will look at Benenden. Thank you!

I had physio on it
Mine wouldn’t cover physio. Or pregnancy, or birth, or the problems they caused. Which is the majority of my problems!

Many, many years ago (25 maybe) I used to be a claims handler.

I’m sure everything has moved on and changed a dozen times since then, so very generic advice from me. If you have an underlying medical condition, or any conditions relating to, or arising from that medical condition, you need to be very certain that you check and double check exactly what you are and aren’t covered for and whether there are any limits about how many times you can claim for any new conditions that develop into long term problems (IIrc, they were called moratoriums). I remember having to break the news that people weren’t covered for what they thought they were covered for on many occasions. But I suppose reading the small print goes for any insurance policy.

We have it through husbands work and it is fantastic. Like anything though I am sure the more it costs the 'better' it is.

We don't pay any excess and have unlimited outpatient visits for different issues. My husband has just had his gallbladder out and the consultant apologised that he had to wait 6 weeks for his op (would have been well over a year with NHS).

I have just seen a consultant for something and he spoke to me for 50mins to fully explain what he thought was going on and what could be done. I am awaiting results but have next appointment booked in for two weeks time.

So reassuring. That is what you are paying for. If you need tests/opinion you are able to access that fast. The eventual treatment will mostly be the same but the time saved will be massively different (unless you are on a two week cancer pathway then the NHS is very good)
With ours we also get to choose which consultant we see which is nice.

We used to have it through my husband's work. Never used it. Then we had children and used it much more. We pay for it ourselves now.

The main thing is that you get referred to a specialist far more quickly. Think days rather than weeks or months. It makes a massive difference if you are worried about your child.

Just recently we had my dd referred. Consultant appointment , then mri, then follow up consultant appointment within the space of 2 weeks. What she has is quite specislist so she's under an NHS paediatric team because the resources don't exist in the private sector, doctor just referred her over. However, even though we have ended up with the NHS anyway (still a great service) we are far further along the journey than we would have been under the NHS.

There's even the possibility that her condition could have gone into remission whilst waiting and would not have been spotted.

£100 excess per person per year

So worth it's weight in gold.

I also have it through work with BUPA. I've used it and saw a consultant, had full set of blood tests, MRI scan and 2 procedures in the space of 3 months (which included 2 weeks over Xmas when nothing happened). By comparison it took 14 weeks to get an NHS consultant appointment an they had a 26 week wait for the 1st procedure. And that was before Covid!
I previously had surgery that my consultant wouldn't do privately even though he did private work as he said the hospital didn't have the right specialist team.
Mine is £100 excess per year (or maybe per case), I think it covers cancer and 10 sessions of physio a year. They also £50 a night if you stay in an NHS hospital.
Another advantage is that the private consultants often do evening appointments so much easier if you work "9-5".

It varies hugely depending on your policy and what premiums you're prepared to pay. I get mine through work and it's fab £100 excess per year and covers pretty much everything, including pre existing conditions, I've used it lots!

Really interesting reading all of these. Thank you!
I still don't really understand where you go when you go private, say for example you need to see a gp, or you have a suspect lump or bump you want checked, or if you request a health check up ( can you even do that?)
Talk to me like I'm a toddler...

I've used mine in the following circumstances:

• To see a rheumatologist when I was suffering from joint pain; insurance covered most of my initial appointments to get a diagnosis (including bloods and x rays). Once it became routine, they stopped paying and I took over but I could have continued my care on the NHS.
• Referral to a psychiatrist when I was suffering from PTSD and several sessions with her. They would have paid for me but I stopped seeing her.
• Referral to a surgeon when I had gallbladder problems - insurance covered diagnosis (scans etc), surgery and aftercare. I was referred on a Tuesday and had surgery the following Monday.
• DH has used it for physio on a couple of occasions and when he had a dodgy ankle

Sorry, I realised that didn't answer your question. All of them I was referred to by my NHS GP and saw them in private consulting rooms / private hospitals.

Some you can self refer to, others you need a referral letter by your nhs gp. You ring the claims line and ask. You may only be covered for certain clinics or doctors, or have to pay more towards an alternative provider.

Generally you get what you pay for.

Around here you will struggle to find someone who will accept vitality or Bupa and if they do there may be extra charges for you to cover or a longer wait. If they are prepared to accept the rates the insurers pay either it tells you they are desperate and struggling to get self payers or just getting established.

We've got it through work. It's brilliant. Can be referred through NHS or private GP and we've been seen v v quickly for everything from DS needing counselling to me needing a colonoscopy and DD having her tonsils removed.

It depends, for physio you can just call up bupa and they'll often authorise a number of sessions straight off or they'll have someone call you and discuss it.

Most stuff you have to go to your NHS GP and get referred. Though I've also been referred by a physio too.

I find if you call your GP and say you need a private referral it'll happen pretty fast. It must tick a box of having solved the problem without paying for the referral or something.

Thank you so much for everyone who has taken the time to answer