Private medical insurance 6 week rule

[Stuckintraff]

My employer offers a cheaper option for private medical insurance but it's subject to a 6 week rule. It's proving hard to understand but it seems you can only get treatment if the waiting times for NHS treatment is 6 weeks or longer.

How would the insurance company know the treatment times?
It can take weeks for thr NHS to respond to a referral from your GP.

Has anyone used this option? It's 50% cheaper than the standard medical insurance.

It’s definitely got it’s benefits but does also have draw backs. The NHS will advise on how long the waiting list is for a referral/treatment.

The question you need to think about really is what you would want to use this cover for. So for example cancer, the NHS will usually offer some form of treatment within 6 weeks so you’d be unlikely to benefit from private cover here. Cancer is the big one where private cover can be really beneficial as you can access other treatments/drugs, so with the 6 week period in place you’d be unlikely to ever benefit from it.

However if it was something like a hip replacement you’d probably get past the 6 weeks and be able to use your private cover.

Worth remembering as well that if you are treated for something within the 6 weeks by NHS and there are complications which may require say physio for example or further treatment, none of that would be covered by private.

It’s a way of keeping costs down but the reason the costs are lower is because it makes you less likely to make a claim as for lots of things the NHS will pick it up within that time so it’s a case of weighing up whether it’s worth it for you or not x

Thanks. Very informative.

Pretty much any condition which isn't an emergency or cancer is over 6 week wait for treatment in NHS now. Waiting lists for many investigations are also up at 3 months+
So as PP said you need to decide if you want private cancer cover or not

We have similar cover (not via an employer, we pay for it ourselves). As other posters have said, if you want it for cancer treatment then it won't be advantageous. However, my DH has back and hip problems and it has been a godsend being able to be seen/treated quickly so well worth the money.

Is it Benenden Hospital by any chance?

If it is Benenden I believe you also have to wait 6 months before you can make your first claim.