We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Medical Insurance Cost Cutting Plan Article Discussion Area

2456717

Comments

  • friar wrote: »
    My mum's insurance is coming up for renewal in January and sh is 89 in fair health.She's had insurance with ppp now Axa for 20 years but the cost is now huge.Next year will be about £7500.
    What worries me is she wouldn't get insuarance again at her age.But in April she broke her hip and went to NHS hospital who did a pretty fair job.(Private don't do accidents).
    Have asked Axa for cheaper plans.(She doesn't get glasses,hearing aid teeth or any other incidentals which my wifes HSA doea help with)
    What do you think?

    Firstly regarding canceling it altogether. It is impossible to say, neither of us have crystal balls that tell us what the future holds. She may go the rest of her life barely needing it or she may really need it next month.

    £7,500 is a huge sum of money to be paying on her PMI, though not uncommon. There are some sensible non risky options that you can investigate to reduce that premium for her. I have just looked at a way via Bupa for example (there will be others also) which would save her over £6000 per year without affecting her cover too much. Because of her age Bupa would request a GP report i.e. they will send a form to her GP to fill in and if it comes back favorably i.e. her GP doesn't put anything down on the form that Bupa thinks is likely to cost them too much. Then she will be accepted on 'Switch' underwriting (this means they will match her current exclusions with AXA/PPP and she will not be any worse off when it comes to exclusions).

    At the moment if she is paying that much, she is probably on a fully comprehensive scheme with Full OP (Out patient) cover. One good option to look at is downgrading to a scheme which has no (or hardly any) OP (Out patient) treatment and see how much that alters the premium by. I.e. she may save £4-5,000. Then in future if she needs an Private Outpatient consultation (approx £100 - £150 on average), an OP Xray (£100), OP Physio etc in the future pay cash with your huge savings. You still have full cover on In/Day patient treatment which is all the really big bills. Even though you have dropped your OP You should also still have full cover for the big scans (PET, MRI, CT) which can cost around £800and OP Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy (make sure of this).

    Moving insurer hinges on her current state of health.

    I Suggest you speak to an insurance broker who specializes in PMI and is FSA regulated.

    I have sent you a private message.
  • is there a need for private insurance? Can't NHS suffice??
  • I have been paying for PMI for over 8 years now - I took it out when I was healthy - I have since developed several medical conditions but only recently needed to make a claim for a surgical procedure. I have now been told that there are no designated private hospitals covering the scheme in Ireland . I can't change to another comany as I would not be covered for ( what are now)pre-existing conditions. It seems I have been miss-sold the policy and have been payng for years into a scheme for which I can't get either out-patient or in-patient treatment. Is there a regulator I can complain to? any advice would be welcome. C
  • PMISpecialist_2
    PMISpecialist_2 Posts: 165 Forumite
    edited 19 May 2009 at 8:23AM
    You can complain to:

    Financial Ombudsman Service
    South Quay Plaza
    183 Marsh Wall
    London
    E14 9SR

    Phone 0845 080 1800

    Email : [EMAIL="enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"]enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk[/EMAIL]

    I know many individuals and companies who have used this service to take on the insurers and have won. Their decisions are leagally binding on the insurers, but not on you, so you can still take them to court should the decision not go your way.

    I'd strongly reccomend that you contact them. As by the sounds of things you have a very strong case.
  • dacouch
    dacouch Posts: 21,636 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Thanks PMi, thats the sort of help for MSE members we like
  • jessyj
    jessyj Posts: 3 Newbie
    I have held a BUPA policy on their B scale for 22 years. I'm most grateful that I have always managed to keep up the payments as I was recently diagnosed with cancer and they have really come into their own. I am being treated in a wonderful, comfortable hospital and I have not seen a single bill!

    Before the diagnosis, I was planning to spend up to 6 months a year in Australia. After the diagnosis I was worried that I would not be able to get medical cover in Australia but I talked to BUPA International and they told me that I can extend my existing cover to worldwide, excluding USA and Canada.

    That is a great relief but the cover is very expensive, £2,200 PA at age 47. Does anyone know of a cheaper way to get the same cover from BUPA? I doubt that I would be able to change insurers now with my existing condition.
  • Hello
    I have been in BUPA almost 4 years now. I am 26, started when I was 22. Original premium was around £70 a month (for my own insurance only, no dependents). I didn't shop around as I thought BUPA was pretty much the only insurer in the UK. At the moment, insurance is £90 a month, which I consider very high. I do have quite a high cover though... select care 2 with no access. I rung them up a little while ago to see if I could reduce the premium but what they offer was basically have an access and deduct that from annual premium.

    I looked today at money supermarket and was put in touch with health on line and they gave me a much cheaper option. I also looked at go compare and realised that there are a lot of cheaper options. I don't have critical pre-existing conditions and I'm not too bothered if those aren't covered. What worries me is that I don't know anything about these other health insurance providers, I have not been able to find consistent reviews.

    I would appreciate some advice, whether I'm right in thinking I'm paying too much and if I would be at risk in changing insurance provider... so far the claims I've made to BUPA (which have involved a couple of specialist consultations and one day patient treatment) have been handled without much trouble.

    I hope you can help.
  • Wutang_2
    Wutang_2 Posts: 2,513 Forumite
    triciclo wrote: »
    Hello
    I have been in BUPA almost 4 years now. I am 26, started when I was 22. Original premium was around £70 a month (for my own insurance only, no dependents). I didn't shop around as I thought BUPA was pretty much the only insurer in the UK. At the moment, insurance is £90 a month, which I consider very high. I do have quite a high cover though... select care 2 with no access. I rung them up a little while ago to see if I could reduce the premium but what they offer was basically have an access and deduct that from annual premium.

    I looked today at money supermarket and was put in touch with health on line and they gave me a much cheaper option. I also looked at go compare and realised that there are a lot of cheaper options. I don't have critical pre-existing conditions and I'm not too bothered if those aren't covered. What worries me is that I don't know anything about these other health insurance providers, I have not been able to find consistent reviews.

    I would appreciate some advice, whether I'm right in thinking I'm paying too much and if I would be at risk in changing insurance provider... so far the claims I've made to BUPA (which have involved a couple of specialist consultations and one day patient treatment) have been handled without much trouble.

    I hope you can help.

    Hello - Health on Line are AXA, you can also 'switch' your cover, thus continuing with your existing cover (eg same conditions still insured) at a slightly higher premium - about 10% and also I think its an excess you are referring to, as having no "access" would be pretty pointless. Review Centre usually has info and also you will be private messaged by PMI Specialist who will also try to flog you PruHealth. If you do speak to a broker, make sure they know what they are on about as its quite a niche policy (in that, all companies have different areas covered - and make sure you incorporate decent cancer cover, so avoid the cheapo Moneysupermarket ones).
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • PMISpecialist_2
    PMISpecialist_2 Posts: 165 Forumite
    edited 8 July 2009 at 8:49AM
    triciclo wrote: »
    Hello
    I have been in BUPA almost 4 years now. I am 26, started when I was 22. Original premium was around £70 a month (for my own insurance only, no dependents). I didn't shop around as I thought BUPA was pretty much the only insurer in the UK. At the moment, insurance is £90 a month, which I consider very high. I do have quite a high cover though... select care 2 with no access. I rung them up a little while ago to see if I could reduce the premium but what they offer was basically have an access and deduct that from annual premium.

    I looked today at money supermarket and was put in touch with health on line and they gave me a much cheaper option. I also looked at go compare and realised that there are a lot of cheaper options. I don't have critical pre-existing conditions and I'm not too bothered if those aren't covered. What worries me is that I don't know anything about these other health insurance providers, I have not been able to find consistent reviews.

    I would appreciate some advice, whether I'm right in thinking I'm paying too much and if I would be at risk in changing insurance provider... so far the claims I've made to BUPA (which have involved a couple of specialist consultations and one day patient treatment) have been handled without much trouble.

    I hope you can help.

    Hi Tricolo,

    £90 per month for a 26 year old is undoubtably alot to be paying.

    There are 60+ healthcare providers out there hundreds of different schemes and thousands of variations of those schemes. So its very difficult for most people to know where to start. If you see/speak to direct agents they will almost undoubtably give you all the plus points of their company and not tell you the down sides. An independent specialist broker is definately the way to go for PMI as they have to give best advice and justify their recomendations.

    At the moment you have Bupa who are a traditional provider, very much like AXA/PPP, Standard Life, Norwich Union, Groupama, etc You will undoubtably be able to get a better deal through another of these traditional providers and probably half the premium you are curently paying.

    In time your insurance premium will go up a little bit each year if you don't claim and alot if you do claim and you will be soon paying quite alot again. I have people on my books in their 70's and 80's who pay £7000+ a year to the traditional providers (Bupa, AXA, etc)

    Bupa are excellent when it comes to customer service, but that premium doesn't warrant that service in my opinion other insurers have excellent/very good service as well!

    Two very good and very different options to look out for are National Friendly and Pruhealth.

    National Friendly (formed 1868) is a friendly society and is not a full refund scheme like Bupa etc. Premiums for someone under 50 years of age start at just £20 per month (individual) or £50 monthly (family). They Will never ever put your premiums up and you can get half your unclaimed premiums back at any point in time you wish. Pays hospitals direct still, No excesses, no hospital list to adhere to (you can use any private hospital), no six week option/wait and covers everything traditional PMI covers and dental and optical on top (which is over and above most PMI schemes).

    So whats the catch?

    When you pay your premium in (it could be £20) but lets say you opted for a £50 a month premium plus a £10 top up. Half (£25) goes into a deposit account (like a bank account) and half goes to Nationa;l Friendly for running the scheme for you.

    When you come to claim 10% of the value of the claim comes out of your deposit account and the other 90% is paid by National Friendly. The £10 top up gives you a further impressive £30,000 extra worth of claims in case your account runs dry i.e. doesn't have enough in it to pay your 10% share. The £10 top up only lasts 10 years, the idea being its a safety net and gives you 10 years to build up your pot the sizable amount and give you the cover you want without paying traditional providers a small fortune.

    National Friendly will give you 10% loyalty interest bonus on whatever amount is in you deposit account after 5 years and 2% every year thereafter.

    I have uploaded a National Friendly Brochure for you.
    http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/13429150/571wtoh466s68e3dzoq

    Pruhealth i am a member of myself and obviously a big fan as other MSE members well know (thank you Wutang).

    Why am i and may other on the Pruhealth thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=493150&page=70

    such big fans? Well i and many other MSE members on the above thread get Fully comprhensive PMI (like your Bupa scheme) via Pru for £3.46 per month AND Free gym membership too + many other very worthwhile discounts i.e. Full health screenings for £25 (£450 retail), 40 % (not up to, 40%) off Mark warner holidays, Cineworld annual pass £25 (retail £144+) nights at Champneys £40 including all three meals + massage (retail £219), Eurostar tickets to Paris £10 etc etc

    Whats the catch with this?

    You start off paying a normal premium in your first year £30-£40. Pruhealth reward you for keeping/getting fit and healthy so by doing all the things we should be doing to look after ourselves we get the rewards described above by scoring vitality points (fairly easy).

    If neither of these options appeal to you then you should probably stick with the traditional PMI providers.

    Let me know if you need any further help, info, advice, quotes ect

    I also have to point out that your past medical history is crucial as you will want all/as much as possible of this covered in the future a good broker will go through this in detail with you.
  • Wutang_2
    Wutang_2 Posts: 2,513 Forumite
    Yo PMI man - you really don't know enough about claims history/pre-existing conditions to state that they are paying too much. I would only do that if I were (for example) looking to start them off all over again (moratorium rather than CPME) and sell them a Pru policy, but I am sure that isnt the case.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 253.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.