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

west12_2

Do classic members get little bonuses like free towels at all clubs? I know some clubs give towels to all and sundry; others charge- although £98 per month is a lot of money it's (comparatively) better value than £89 for a 'standard' Virgin that doesn't give little bonuses like that. I use the gym a lot- around 20 times a month- so don't mind paying as definitely get value from it- may consider a classic club when the Pru ends.

ImranQ

The membership consultant at the VA classic club I went to said I would get towels in all clubs. Apparently you get an 'exclusive' black membership card and she said with that I would get all the perks at all clubs incl towels. She said I could start my membership in Jan after my Pruhealth membership expires at the end of this month.

ImranQ

By the way, the £98 I have been offered is the corporate rate apparently even though my company doesnt have corporate membership. If any of you are interested in the classic membership maybe you could try to wangle the same. I think VA will be losing a lot of people next month so they will be keen to sweeten the joining deal as much as possible for ex-Pruhealth members.

fartington

you mean the ones I take home and put in my bathroom? VERY free

The_Brehon

This freebie had to end sometime, paying £38 for the whole year and access to the gym free as a platinum member. Did not know about the changes until I read the Observer today. Feel the company will lose a signifigant number of members including me, who will not re-new in March 2010:mad:

brownbabygirl

I got my renewal letter. They want £21 per month for the insurance alone (from £4 this year). I immediately cancelled my direct debit! It was good while it lasted.

uu_26

I got a letter from them about two weeks ago informing me of the changes which are due next year.

I started with the scheme when it was free gym membership providing you went 2/3 times a week, whilst I was still in my probationary period of 2 months they changed the entire scheme to so that is was linked to "Vitality Status". Obviously at the time I was outraged, as a new member I had no time whatsoever to get up to Platinum quickly enough to ensure that I had sufficiently discounted gyms.

Anyway I managed to get upto Platinum status within 7 months by doing all of the health assessments and stress tests and reading 3 articles every month etc! Also the Polar HRM and polar online thing definatly helped and great way of getting points.

When I renewed in Aug, my premium went down from £26 pm to £3 pm!! As I retained Platinum from the previous year my gym membership is still £8 pm, which I am very very happy about.

To be honest I am not at all suprised that they are changing the T&C's. I dont know how they can afford to provide free gym membership to me for £11 (3+8) pm when it would cost me £65pm to join directly with Nuffield Health, even with whatever incentive I got.

They did say in the letter that this would not effect me until my renewal was due in Aug 10 so guess everyone has a while to sort something out in the meantime, but I certainly will NOT be renewing in Aug!!!!!

daggin68_2

My policy runs out in may 2010, deffo wont be renewing
I can see why they are doing it
Ive been paying £4 per month for the last 2 years for health insurance and gym membership with very little effort in achieving this.

Does anyone know if i would still be able to claim on having a baby in April and in wont affect me cancelling?

Musicman

daggin68 wrote: »

My policy runs out in may 2010, deffo wont be renewing
I can see why they are doing it
Ive been paying £4 per month for the last 2 years for health insurance and gym membership with very little effort in achieving this.

Does anyone know if i would still be able to claim on having a baby in April and in wont affect me cancelling?

I do not see why not, as you are covered upto the end of your yearly policy and if you claim in April that is still in your policy year. I would go as far to say I would claim all I could before leaving them, remembering that you may not be covered for any future claims if you take out another policy, though I believe this claim would not be affected.

healthcare_guru

Musicman wrote: »

I do not see why not, as you are covered upto the end of your yearly policy and if you claim in April that is still in your policy year. I would go as far to say I would claim all I could before leaving them, remembering that you may not be covered for any future claims if you take out another policy, though I believe this claim would not be affected.

I wouldn't go as far as claiming all you can, as if you then try and move providers you may not have coverage as you will have pre-existing conditions. Depending on what you do claim for, the claim (or re-occurance of condition) may not transfer to the new provider. So, best move then claim. This is pretty standard for the industry.

A claim for having a child would not be effected and you can still claim this again from your future provider. Musicman is right you are within your rights to claim this within your policy year, so won't be effected by you cancelling