Pruhealth scrapping its free/discounted gym loophole in November. Discussion

cheeky

damn - just read this on another forum. Knew it was too good to last but the rise seems out of proportion IMO

Think we all need to write/email to say we will be cancelling (i will be) unless they rethink the changes. Who's got the right contacts? Think it also need a dedicated new thread as there will be lots of people looking for info in the coming weeks (havent had my letter yet)! :money:

slewis1972

I just logged into my pruhealth page and pretty unhappy. The letter they send on Friday is either wrong or not taken effect as its showing gym membership is £60.......
Bloady annoyed as the rrp price of Nuffield in Byfleet is actually £53 as have it confirmed in writing a few weeks ago from the gym itself.
I will have to contact them tomorrow and get them to explain as they even want to charge us over the odds. Suggest everyone queries there gym costs with the gym first as Pru dont seem to have a clue.

Scott

mikeymikeyuk

I have made some calls and looked into this and I will now get the gym for the price I am paying up until September 2010 as that is when my contract ends with Pru Health/Nuffield Health.
I Currently pay £12 for Health Cover and the Gym, which is a great deal.

They are going to lose hundreds if not thousands of customers over this and I will be one of them come September next year!

I certainly will NOT be paying more for my health cover, and my gym is NEVER worth £69!!! I have a fantastic David Lloyd equal distance which would cost me the same so I will be joining there instead quite frankly!!!

VERY VERY ANGRY!!!!

camason

I also received the letter this-week. We're pretty angry about this, as we signed up with the intention of getting Platinum status and remaining with Pruhealth for 2 years (thus, getting the platinum gym discount benefit for near the 2 year period).

Fortunately for us, we signed up up 2008/12/31 and our renewal is 2009/12/31. I've just checked with Pru, and because our renewal is in '09, we'll still be getting the 100% discount for the entire '10 period.

So, that's good news - but still very disapointing that this will be ending next year.

Edit: Just calculated our projected costs... our renewal will be around £9 a month (with Platinum status).

Year cost with Platinum status and 100% gym discount: £108
Year cost with Platinum status and 25% gym discount: £828
Year cost without insurance and gym direct: £960

So, when the discount changes to 25%, there will be little incentive to remain with Pru.

Charliezoo

Year cost with Platinum status and 100% gym discount: £108
Year cost with Platinum status and 25% gym discount: £828
Year cost without insurance and gym direct: £960

Surely PruHealth must realise there will be very little to distinguish them from other insurance providers?

There are a multitude of providers that offer insurance at a better price and many have UK call centres - in my experience I've found the customer services at PruHealth to be shocking!

sacherlover

I know that there are two very different sets of changes to terms and conditions for PruHealth and PruProtect.

I am a PruHealth customer, so I can comment on those:
Changes will happen at renewal after 1 January 2010. I'm one of the fortunate ones - my renewal is 30 December 2009, so all the recent changes will not impact on me until my next renewal. However, if (a very big IF) I renew in December 2010 - then I will be affected by the changes.

My understanding was that the changes for PruProtect were happening much more quickly.

Perhaps someone who is a PruProtect member would clarify how their membership is changing - not just for gym but also for pricing of things like Champneys?

Kitster

I AM FUMING AT THIS! I cant believe reading the letter that came through the door - I was already quite annoyed when my free gym went to £8 a month despite being on platinum last year - now they change it again!! Please can someone put out a template letter with the correct wording so that we can all sign a copy and send it to pru/ombudsman. Are they able to lock us into a contract for 12 months based on promises of reductions the following year then take those promises away once we are in said contract?

Also, many people have speculated on other changes introduced eg no more 100%NCD, needing 2400 points for platinum etc. Can I ask where this info is from as to my knowledge the letters we are all getting are only commenting on the 25% discount on the gym and no other rule changes.

Finally does anyone know if fitbug can still then be used without belonging to a gym as I guess one could still lose the gym membership and get almost 2000 points annually from using the fitbug alone..which is useful for getting to platinum (which is in turn only really useful as long as they still maintain 100%NCD). C'mon people power lets get something done about this...Why pay for the gym?

Berkan

hi guys...

im very annoyed when i read my letter about the changes!!! they have made two changes to the terms and conditions within a year!!!

My idea is to set up a group on facebook... Simply saying to Pru, if you do not keep the benifits as they are we will quit come the end of our policy.

What do you guys think

healthcare_guru

Berkan wrote: »

hi guys...

im very annoyed when i read my letter about the changes!!! they have made two changes to the terms and conditions within a year!!!

My idea is to set up a group on facebook... Simply saying to Pru, if you do not keep the benifits as they are we will quit come the end of our policy.

What do you guys think

What 2 changes have they made within a year?

I think a facebook group wouldn't do a lot of good to be honest, our feedback will be exactly the same as it is on here. I'm sure if Pru Health are to read a facebook page they will equally look on here and gauges our reactions anyway. Plus, unless it's logged as a formal complaint they don't have to take any action.

MoneyDummy83

Charliezoo wrote: »

... There are a multitude of providers that offer insurance at a better price and many have UK call centres - in my experience I've found the customer services at PruHealth to be shocking!

... Any suggestions on other insurance companies that offer this sort of deal? Can get work discount, but that would knock it down to about £60-80 depending on membership type.

Am also raging about this, was annoyed about the change from number of times you visited to your vitality status (mine was Gold at the time), but played the game and got myself up to Platinum. Was almost tempted to leave then.

This might be the final slap in the face for me though. Going from paying £5.50 premiums, and £50 for Virgin Classic All Clubs (72 gyms access!) per month. Looks like would now have to pay for premiums + (£120/25% = £90ish) doesn't seem worth keeping it. To be honest though, I did wonder how they were possibly even making money from this, I guess I know the answer to that now....