Expensive Hearing Aids - advice please!

[Radiatorvalves]

Hi - I am hoping for some advice about Hearing Aids (for my 84 yo Dad). He's used Hearing Aids for a number of years - NHS, Specsavers and now he's gone to another private firm. This firm has proposed Oticon Receiver in Ear Hearing Aids which will cost £4,700. Having checked Specsavers, their most expensive are just under £3k. I am really not sure that the proposed option would be sensible - certainly not from a financial perspective (he's not made of money).

Is there anywhere sensible (eg Which?) that compares the quality of hearing aids?

FWIW he's ok at the moment, living independently, but there are signs of cognitive decline. He struggles with Apps and a complicated offering or one that is fiddly, would definitely not be suitable. The selling point of the £4,700 one is that it would enable him to hear more in noisy environments (the cheaper ones according to marketing are more about 1:1 settings). There's also a care package attached - batteries and servicing and ear wax removal etc.

If this genuinely will improve his quality of life, I am not going to stand in his way, but he's asked for my opinion, and I am worried he's being upsold something that isn't necessary. It also means he will have to cash in his savings.

Thanks in advance.

Good question. DH and I were just wondering if expensive private hearing aids are any better than NHS. Giving you a hopeful bump.

Costco!

My parents purchased very expensive hearing aids about 6 months ago. They don't understand them,forget to charge them and don't like hearing everything so loudly. They refuse to wear them. Best part of £8,000 down the drain

It seems to me like NHS ones would suit him fine! I can control mine by an app if I wish but I don’t bother. They’re Bluetooth enabled so my phone goes straight into them. You also get free servicing, batteries etc on NHS. We have a Hearing Hub that comes to our local library once a month, when I need tubes and domes replaced my DH drops it off in his lunch break and I collect it later on. There may be something like that near your DF. A few of the older folk here treat it as a social gathering!

I've just had (another) chat with him. The NHS ones are ok except for the background noise (this is important for him as he has to go to charity meetings). He accepts that the Specsaver product is ok - the problem for him is the service.

When the NHS ones go wrong (he's in Yorkshire), he apparently has to send them off. Seems odd to leave someone without an essential hearing aid - and i suspect I may not have the correct story.

He's not been thrilled with Specsaver's service (not sure why exactly), but this new chap (recommended by friends) is awfully nice, and will provide the service he wants.

I've said that's an awful lot of money for service when he's got a budget... my brother is going to talk to him. I'm going to stay soon, and may get to the bottom of the issues with Specsavers.

Aaargh! Sorry so many of you have similar questions and issues. When half of us have Apple Pods in our ears, you'd think that hearing aids would be less complicated and get cheaper....

The sending them off thing is standard. If we didn’t have the hearing hub that’s what I’d have to do as audiology no longer have a drop-in service. Check the local social media groups to your DF and see if there’s something similar. Ours is provided by an outside agency contracted by NHS.

I work for Hidden Hearing and I have a severe/profound hearing loss. Prior to working here, my life was going nowhere due to my significant challenges from my hearing loss. When I met Hidden Hearing my life changed. I would say I got value for money, even if I'd paid 10x what anyone else paid. The 'cost' advertised isn't always comparable, even when you are comparing the cost of the same 'product'. Some providers will test your hearing, recommend a 'product' and charge you a price. That's just the start of the results you may get.

If you have any issues or damage/lose the device's you could be charged additional ££££, This can soon add up on top of the cost. When you go premium, the cost you pay can include a 'lifetime of aftercare', and even this 'aftercare' can vary from different providers. The premium aftercare can, and should, include unlimited aftercare appointments free of charge for life, if the devices ever fail, replacements should be provided, preferably same day, if you ever become housebound, or can't make it to a clinic, home visits should be included free of charge, if you ever relocate, having a nationwide presence by your provider is beneficial, if the devices are ever lost, same day replacement will be beneficial, if the patient ever needs advice or isn't getting the expected results, follow up appointments and adjustments should be included free of charge.

To sum it up, even if the patient does go ahead with the expensive 'oticon', this will be his first wise choice as 'oticon' are market leaders. But if the provider does not spend time performing accurate testing with accurate equipment, or reviewing the results and making the necessary adjustments for the best results, following up on this by reviewing the data to confirm positive results, he's won't be getting value for money. 'Demant' is a global company that makes hearing aids, 'oticon' being their premium offering. Demant also make diagnostic equipment and software that is used to diagnose and test for hearing loss. 'Hidden Hearing', 'oticon' and Demant are all the same company from start to finish. If you want premium, you often have to pay premium, just make sure you choose a company that achieves premium results, and if premium results aren't achieved, they'll give you all your money back. Hope this helps you make the correct decision

Private companies can also hassle users, my husband had multiple calls from hidden hearing and now wouldn’t choose private over nhs at all.

When the NHS ones go wrong (he's in Yorkshire), he apparently has to send them off. Seems odd to leave someone without an essential hearing aid - and i suspect I may not have the correct story

I suspect the same, @Radiatorvalves; I have Specsavers aids myself and if there's the slightest issue I can just pop into the place and get it fixed, and that includes battery supply, tube/tip replacement and cleaning as well

You didn't say if he's been back to Specsavers recently, but I'd suggest a repeat hearing test and review before he even thinks of lashing out thousands on something that may not even improve things for him

So because your husband found one private company annoying he’d never go private again?

i am assuming the NHS doesn’t do Oticon

Correct. The nhs ones he has are fantastic & connect to his phone so he can hear calls & music. If you have more money it may be worth exploring if private are better, but we had multiple calls over several years after stopping using them and he said the nhs ones were just as good. Obviously if you want a specific hearing aid the nhs may not offer it.

They definitely do, bumbaloo; I wear them myself, though it was Specsavers who dispensed them via their NHS contract

Of course there'll be various different models and I'm not sure if the NHS will fund all of them, but my own are pretty "bells and whistles" and work brilliantly (with a few tweaks along the way to accommodate my changing hearing)

I love my ones from Specsavers - I got the top spec of their own brand Advance plus but if I was going again I would get the very top Advance Elite. I spent about £3K

When I had an issue they were absolutely amazing and it was very straightforward to get help and they replaced them - I actually was amazed because I was not expecting that.

After years of NHS aids as a child / teens/ young adult I went private about 25 years ago, and have never regretted it. The difference in the quality of the aids and the customer service is huge. I had digital Phonaks while the NHS was still handing out analog aids 🙄. It changed my life and my career, having access to top of the range hearing aids made a huge difference. I’m not in the UK any more, but my private provider here does 3 monthly checkups / fine tuning the settings, cleaning and minor repairs in-house, usually on the spot. If they have to be sent away they give me a courtesy pair for the duration. They’ve offered me a trial of AI enhanced aids, which I will be taking them up on. Having said that I’ve been wearing aids since I was 8, wearing them constantly through school, uni, working etc. It’s different maybe if he’s less reliant on them or doesn’t wear them as often 🤷‍♀️

Just some advice whichever option he chooses, do make sure to check any home contents insurance to make sure the full value would be covered if lost or accidentally damaged.

The issue with the private industry is that we understand people suffering with hearing loss will often do everything they can to put off addressing their hearing loss. When people reach out for help, they do this because they want help, but there's often something holding them back. It's our duty to try and find out what it is so we can handle the issue appropriately so we can help them. We don't give up easily and we call people. If someone doesn't want to be contacted by a company, it's within their right to say no more calls please.

My dad has a friend who paid £4000 for his hearing aid, my dad has the same ones from the NHS.

Check what the NHS does.

I have Oticon digital hearing aids via the NHS. App connected, Bluetooth, the works.

Is the main issue that he wants easy access to support services?

My H wears hearing aids, one positive with his new expensive ones is that they seem to have a finer tuning for background noise etc, so seem to provide better sound.
They auto recharge in their “base”, so no fiddling with batteries.
He has lost one on several occasions, but so far I have managed to find it ( once in the garden), so I make him take them out if he is doing physical stuff. IMO the wire over the ear isn’t long enough, Im told they can’t change/wont it, So I regret not picking up on that at the initial fitting.
Unfortunately I didn't insure them as he never lost his old ones.😥

The right aid for your dad depends on his hearing loss and his lifestyle. Once he has the right aid, getting the best from it depends on having an audiologist with the time and skill to set it up properly and to tweak it as things change over time. It's not remotely like (for example) buying a car where you can compare specs, choose one and drive off with it.

If the new audiologist comes recommended, that's a good start. They should be able to offer him a trial period with whatever aids they are proposing. This should last long enough for him to decide for himself whether they are actually worth it.

The right aids should last for a few years and though the initial outlay is significant, on a cost per day basis for something that makes so much difference to your life, it's a no brainer for me at least.

@getsomehelp check your home insurance, you may find they're covered as long as you declare them. Depending on your policy there may not even be an additional fee. If they can be controlled by an app check that out too, a lot of them have a 'find my hearing aid' feature.

I'm happier with my AirPod Pro 2 hearing aids than I am with my NHS ones. They cost less than £200 when I bought them. They fit better and sound more natural. I don't wear them all day though - just a few hours when I need them. The battery wouldn't last all day.

My mum had some very expensive Specsavers ones which worked fine but kept slipping out of her ears. Specsavers were awful, I wouldn’t have anything to do with them.

You might find it useful to listen to Sliced Bread on Radio4 when they assessed hearing aids. It’s available on BBC Sounds and was first broadcast on 20 February 2025

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. Lots to think about. And I’m going to check out that podcast.