Best private health care provider?

[Molotov]

We're considering taking out private medical insurance (UK).

We are a family of four: DH and I 31 & 37yo and: DDs 2 and 5yo.

And recommendations appreciated!

I have BUPA through work. Admittedly I don't have anything to compare it to but they sorted me out pretty quickly when I needed an operation. DH also used them last year when he had sciatica.

BUPA

I've always had BUPA. Used them a few times for myself and DS once- they were very good. That said I've not tried any of the rivals so I can't make a comparison!

Aviva are proving to be a good provider after we moved away from BUPA

Although I am talking about company policies, BUPA were getting increasingly tight on cover levels, which specialists they would allow people to see and were also intent on screwing down payments to doctors to such low levels that they were leaving the network

Thanks all for your comments. It's difficult to make an informed decision based upon the blurb on websites!

Do you work for any of the civil services

How much is healthcare roughly if you are under 30 with no health problems (bar ENT)?

I currently have healthcare through my work but will be leaving next year and I wish to keep my cover - I currently work in a private hospital!

No, neither of us work in the civil services.

I'm interested in maternity cover also: not that we're definitely going to have more children, but some HCPs cover maternity and it might be prudent to get the cover, if it might benefit ... but what exactly WRT ante-natal care? Birth? Post-natal care? I really am quite clueless and can't make sense of all the info atm

If it makes a difference, I've had one assisted vaginal delivery and none hard-fought ELCS on the NHS.

@swoosh - you should investigate the possibility of converting your company plan to a personal policy. People leaving us can do this, and you get to continue your cover on the basis of whatever your history is (medical history disregarded) and at the same premium.

@molotov - I may be wrong, but I didn't think any or the providers covered maternity provisions because of the availability of NHS services. So you simply pay for (buy) private care at the point of delivery (as it were) rather than insure for it.

The idea of private health is that with your P healthcare you don't have to wait to see a consultant or operation if needed.
If you had an accident you would still go via nhs route ie a&e

Maternity, you would still go via nhs, unless you had complications and you wanted to see another consultant privately then you would use your p healthcare to get to see the privately.
Every time you want to use your P healthcare you still have to go to your doctors to run it by them and they have to put it on your records. Then you ring the P healthcare and tell them you've been to doctors , what's wrong with you and what you want doing ie consultant, MRI scan etc
They then sent you a form and you take that to who you are going to see.
You have to keep them imformed at every stage, to see you have the cover for that.