Benenden Health care, is it worth it?

[IthinkIamAnAlien]

I have been a member for 5 years and used the service twice, once for a knee injury consultation and once for heart palpitations. I've just had the second sh*t GP consultation with them, thinking that it would be better than waiting 3 or 4 weeks at our surgery for telephone or face to face appointment. (Face to face are like gold dust now). I'm quite annoyed that the Benenden GP said doesn't sound too bad (hand arthritis) and several weeks wasn't long for a consultation. I put DH on the account, he has used it once and it costs £31.70 a month.
I'm thinking of cancelling, anyone any opinion? thanks.

I'm interested in this as I lost my employer private health insurance when made redundant.

The cover does seem a bit vague ...

It didn’t look great when I looked at it.

I’ve had it for 7 years, never used it bar the odd GP appt when I needed antibiotics or something. Until last year when I needed my gallbladder out as I had cholecystitis. NHS wait was months and months and Benenden covered it privately. It was an absolute godsend. I’m too scared to cancel it now haha in case I need it again.

Watching with interested, as joined six months ago.

I've paid for it for a long time. I've used it several times. I had a consultation with a gynae, and five weeks later had a hysterectomy, every last bit paid for. I was in hospital for 7 days and they didn't rush me to leave as I was only supposed to be in 3 days.

I'm too scared to cancel it in case something happens and I need it!

I agree the GP service is poor, the one I spoke to was useless. Just said she couldn't advise me at all 🤷

My in-laws paid in for decades and when they needed help it was so complicated to get further than the original consultation we gave up.
They were treated appallingly. I tried to help them navigate the process but it was impossible.

I’m still furious about it.

I've had it for a few years and used GP appointment. The time to get an appointment is brilliant and wired easily, lots of time slots. Options for contact, I used a phone call but I think video call might have been better. I didn't have anything too serious just a cold and admittedly the GP wasn't overly friendly but it was probably efficient

A friend has used it for lots of investigations, such as x-rays, scan etc

My husband has paid for it for years and we haven't used it much. Ive had 3 private MRI scans with them which were done very quickly in a nice private hospital. The scanner there was much nicer than NHS ones in caravans that Ive also used. Whether it's value for money I can't really say but like others have mentioned we would be scared to cancel it. Ive heard their GP service is not very good but have never used it.

I live fairly near so know plenty of people who have used it. It’s usually pretty good. Must reinstate our policy stupidly cancelled by my husband.

I'm researching health insurance and it's not that well regarded on Which, for example. I'm looking at Vitality, Axa and Bupa currently

I have it and needed physio, it was so complicated getting assessed for a referral by them I gave up. I am thinking of cancelling

I think it's worth the £31 a month. We pay that for 2 (me and DH). We've used it to access counselling, physio, ent investigation. Not big things but little ones it's useful to get resolved quicker than the NHS would prioritise.

I think the key thing is it's not health insurance but a mutual model.

Unfortunately like most things it seems the more you pay, the better the product. We are with Bupa, I dread to think how much we've paid over the years. But when I was diagnosed with cancer, the NHS badly let me down and Bupa are currently footing my very expensive treatment, they have been an absolute godsend - supportive, claiming is no hassle and they haven't quibbled over anything.

You can't really compare. Beneden is much cheaper but you have to apply for a service and they decide who will have it. I've been a member for years and to see a consultant I needed a name but my GP referred me to a service, gave up in the end.

I was with them for a couple of years. Had varicose vein treatment which they covered. As part of this original treatment I was told by the consultant I would need a top up a few weeks later. Beneden wouldn’t pay the final treatment…… so now I’ve been left with a half treated varicose vein. I cancelled my policy after that- it was terrible. They don’t cover varicose veins now but were obviously changing their policy right in the middle of my treatment

My parents have it and have used it for 4 lots of cataract surgery and hernia repair at excellent private hospitals. They think it's excellent.

I’ve never used Beneden because I could never really work out what their model was - it seemed complicated.

I’m currently with Bupa though have been with Vitality in the past. Bupa were great when I had some cardiac issues - they encouraged me to claim back the in-person payments for when I was staying in an NHS hospital and they were just generally very good.

Is it an NHS ward or private ward you get treated on if you don’t mind me asking? How did you get referred to the gynaecologist ? Was it through a NHS gp or one of their GPs?

I can’t figure out how it all works even though I’ve been a member since July.

I don’t rate their GP service either, I used it once and the GP seemed so rude. They ended up breaching GDPR so it’s currently being “investigated” internally. And I’ll be making a formal complaint about the data breach to any relevant external bodies. Initially they just apologised on the GPs behalf and tried to sweep it under the carpet.

But when I asked for the doctors GMC number and told them this was a data breach they became more serious about it.

I am not going into details of what they did as it’s pending investigation but I was fuming.

I’ve been a member for about 40 years. Haven’t used it yet!

I went to a Spire hospital in my own room.

GP refers you, you have to get permission from Benenden. They agree to it if the NHDwaiting lists are more than 3 months I think.

I needed a hysterectomy and Benenden agreed to pay straight away. It was all very quick.

It's not classed as health insurance as not everything is covered.

I only pay £16.50 a month to! I'm sure BUPA etc is much more than that.

Honestly? Cancel it.
£31.70/month isn’t worth it if you’re still waiting weeks and not being taken seriously.

For comparison, whilst going through redundancy, I got quotes for medical insurance for DH and me (in our 50s) and it was £300 per month. And we have no pre-existing conditions!

Out of curiosity, just did a couple of quick quotes.

Bupa - approx £118 per month

Axa - approx £65 per month

I appreciate they offer more, but these are basic quotes, done quickly, without the add-ons, and without filling in any detailed health forms.

So £15 per month per person seems a good back-up compared to these.