To get private medical insurance for my family

[babyface2014]

That's it really I just want some advice on whether to do this as am in two minds. To cover me, hubby and 3 kids will cost £215 per month. I just want to know whether other mumsnetters think it's worth it ?

I only take out insurance for things that could potentially cost a lot more than I can afford e.g. house, car or travel insurance. Otherwise insurance is only worthwhile if you are the sort of person who worries and feels insurance provides "piece of mind". The odds are that you will be better off financially if you save the money in a separate savings account and use it to pay for private healthcare as and when you need it. If this wasn't the case, private insurance companies wouldn't make any money.

We have it for DH, me and our 3 and 1yo. This was promoted by my son's sudden medical issues, which included a hellish trip to a&e. Too much need and not enough staff.

The peace of mind of knowing that I can call up and see a paed/ GP and not having that awful feeling of needing a doctor to see your child and not being able to or having to wait for hours.

Our experience of a&e was just horrendous. I can't really even blame the hospital because it was just so packed. Now we have the insurance I now have the peace of mind that I can have DS whisked up to the private wing.

I'd say if you can, do! The NHS is not going to be improving anytime soon.

I wonder how much better the NHS would be if all the money people pay privately for treatment was paid into the NHS instead. People are obviously prepared to pay more for better healthcare, so as a nation, why don't we? I know somebody will come along and say the NHS wastes money and is inefficient, but it's not, the UN recently said we had the most efficient health care system in the world.

Yes, for everyone paying for private there are 10 people who insist on Calpol and paracetamol on prescription an pd stockpile expensive drugs which go to waste.

If people cut down on their need to screw the NHS out of every penny things would be a lot better.

fakename that's awful! DS1 had grommets put in last year. We saw consultant at ETN hospital in April and he recommended the procedure-said next appointment December. I mentioned we had private cover, then appointment in the Harley St hospital two weeks later. Follow up appointments at his private rooms, also in Harley St, excellent testing etc and now we have been referred to paediatric allergy specialist on Harley St (all the same health problem). His experience of getting tonsils and adenoids removed (at Portland) was also excellent, it has been well worth having the cover for all of this. Having said that, DS1 is getting amazing growth hormone treatment via GOSH (NHS).

Dh has it through work

Dd went to our GP (who is great by the way) three times and was told that her pain was growing pains. I lost it a bit and got referred privately, she had consultation and mri and physio for her actual "illness"

We have really used it this year, physio and consultation for me and an oporation in the near future and consultation and operation for another if my children

All minor stuff as i agree that the NHS is awesome....its just over burdened

I dont think we would pay for it if we didnt get it for a nominal fee, although we may well have paid for some treatment privately

Fake
A lot of the money spent on private care does get paid to the NHS though.

Most NHS hospitals have a private ward. They provide nicer surroundings and speedier access to doctors and facilities for a price.
About half the private medical treatment I've had (and I've had quite a lot) has been in NHS hospitals. Some of it I've self funded, and some of it my insurance company has paid for.

But if you think that people who value quicker appointments should just be taxed twice, I'd be interested to hear what you'd be offering in return.

If you're willing to pay the premium every month please check that it includes mental health cover. That's where you'd mostly benefit from private care if you needed it

£200 a month must be a very basic policy. Check exclusions, and the excess.

For reference, I live in Europe and my top-up health insurance, the cost of which I meet jointly with my employer, costs the equivalent of £200 a month for a family of four. That is NOT full private insurance - it's designed to cover only costs that aren't insured by our local health care system.

Good private healthcare insurance is expensive, so make sure that this policy is appropriate for your family's needs.

I almost took out private health insurance, 3 years ago, for me and my family. The terms of the insurance were quite complicated and in the end I decided not to bother. Like you, my main worry was cancer, although i was more concerned for DH as his dad died from it quite young.

I was then diagnosed with breast cancer last August (no family history) and could have kicked myself for not taking out the policy. I've now just finished my treatment (mastectomy/chemo/radio) and I'm not sure, with hindsight, whether i would have bothered getting cover.

My neighbour was diagnosed 3 years prior to me; she had private insurance and we had exactly the same surgeon and same treatment, within the same timescale, at the same hospital. The only difference was that, when she went for chemo, she wad taken through to the pricate side of the hospital which is more plush; she didn't have to wait around for treament ( id be waiting for up to two hours); she had a bed to lie on, I had a reclining chair; she had a nice prawn salad on a plate, I had a packet of sandwiches. When she had consultations with her oncologist (who also works for the nhs) she'd be in a nicer room and probably given a bit more time to mull things over with him.

The disadvantage of being a private cancer patient, however, is that you have your one consultant/ oncologist, rather than a team. As an NHS patient, your oncologist has a weekly meeting with other specialists to discuss your case, this doesn't happen with the private specialist.

I did pay for a one off consultation with a private oncologist at a different hospital, just to get a second opinion. This cost about 200 quid.

The only reason I'd consider private insurance now would be for the extra drugs that are sometimes available for private patients that haven't been approved for the nhs. You can take out an insurance policy just to cover this though, without all the frilly extras and that is something that I would have done, with the benefit of hindsight. Although, so far, this hasn't affected me in any way, it could at some point in the future.

I think it boils down to how much soare cash you have. Private insurance would have cost us about £100 a month and that's a lot of our family money. If we were a lot wealthier then it might have been worth it. Having cancer is shit and treatment isn't nice so I would have appreciated those little extras but, on balance, they aren't worth 100 pounds a month from our family pot.

Whatever you decide, check the details because it's so complicated .

I think whether it is worth it is really hard to say. In London you would have very quick access to Drs in all specialisms and if you feel it would give you peace of mind you should consider it.

I beg to differ. We're in London. DSs follow up appointment (messed up by the ward doctor) was going to be 4-6 weeks after being discharged. We arranged a private appointment 2 days later.

Do check policies carefully. We may now have to go back in to the NHS for follow up care as our policy only covers diagnosis and not ongoing treatment for what is now classed as a chronic condition. Of course, that probably means that we can't transfer this condition to another company either.

We're going to pay out of pocket for the next appointment and discuss our options with the consultant. He doesn't do any NHS work so if we choose to opt back in we'll need to ask for recommendations either from the current consultant or see if our GP can fast track at all.

I'm grateful for the private cover as it got us answers faster than if we'd had to wait for the NHS.

Sorry, just went back and read the original and realised that I got it wrong. The quick access is to private doctors, not NHS.

Katopotato most don't cover psychiatric care and those that do will only cover a maximum of about 20k for one year only.

Just seen it is with AXA , I'd recommend going with someone else. They rarely pay the consultant's full fees. Pruhealth and WPA probably the most likely to actually pay out.

The other thing about being in London is that cover (in our case at least) does not reach the price of all specialists - for example the consultant our GP recommended for referral was outside the approved range so we had a choice of switching consultant or paying the excess fee. Also if your preferred consultant surgeon uses an anaesthetist that is similarly outside the pay band then you have to pay the excess fee.

sleepwhenidie that's the point I was trying to make. AXA and BUPA are the worst for not paying the full fees as they haven't increased their fees in many years.

I worked for one of the biggest medical insurers in the UK for years, and wouldn't recommend anyone take out personal insurance (although would say that the ones provided by employers are generally worth it). Many reasons:

• Nothing pre-existing is ever covered, but most people don't realise how extensive this is. ANYTHING that could be related to a previous condition will be excluded - forever. A huge amount of claims that are rejected are down to this reason.

• The premiums go up every year way above the rate of inflation. That usually means customers take larger and larger excesses to make it affordable, and then when they claim, have to fork out £500 upfront. And trust me, the hospitals want that money upfront!

• Most big insurers now have preferred specialists and hospitals. If you go "off list", you may have to pay some of the fees yourself.

• From personal experience, cancer treatment is absolutely no different in the private sector than it is in the NHS. In fact, I have seen claims held up (only by a couple of days, but even so) whilst the costs of expensive chemo drugs are approved.

• If you claim anything longterm - e.g. arthritis - eventually, the insurer will seek to withdraw benefits for that condition, as the policy conditions state that long term conditions are not covered.

If you have the spare cash, I would put it away in an ISA or savings account and use it for the sort of thing you described - a one off consultation.

Check that you don't get it free with work.

We have it through DH's work, also Vitality, but not sure we would if we had to pay for it ourselves. We used to be with Benenden Healthcare, which is quite affordable. If you're in a city then I think it's better, in rural areas you may have to travel a long way to approved consultants/hospitals.

Sorry writing I thought you meant 'pay out' generally. Although that is true as well. I had a conversation with a consultant when he said that medical insurance is outrageous in the way they try and wriggle out of paying out on anything, in a way that home insurance or car insurance just doesn't.

I have PMI through work and have used this for nearly three years for my cancer treatment. I think the difference is in the standard of care, not in the treatment. The nurses on the unit have more time to deal with me (and know me), I see the consultant who is head of the breast unit at the local (NHS teaching) hospital. I have had some access to treatments that would not be immediately available on the NHS (these were not specific cancer drugs). If I need to go onto trial drugs I can do so.
Oh, and I get a decent lunch if I'm having treatment at that time, free parking and free coffee ...
When I started treatment, one of the consultants said that with NHS and private cancer treatment it was like a plane trip. You got to the same place at the same time, but with private you went business class.
My son has leukaemia and goes to the Oncology and Haematology Departments at the NHS Hospital - again excellent service. He sees registrars as well as the consultant but that doesn't bother him. Worst aspects are the multi-storey car park at the hospital and the overcrowded waiting area.

I think if you can afford it, then go for it. Some people don't hesitate spending £300 per month on smoking. Guess it's all about priorities and budget. I've had to use mine and personally would never be without it.

You need to understand your local set up. For instance, within a 2 hour radius of me, there are no longer any paediatricians who do any private work (far too busy desperately trying to keep the NHS service going...)

Sounds pricey to me. Check you and DPs work policies - you may get a much better deal although you may have to wait for a benefit window (once a year) to set it up X

Move to Canada....