Pruhealth gym loophole Article Discussion

Ozzyman

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions regarding this scheme that I was hoping some of the knowledgeable people on here could help me with:

1) What exactly is classed as a pre-existing medical condition? For example, if I had a joint problem that has been niggling for a while but haven't mentioned it to the doc before, would they class it as 'pre-existing' if I tried to claim for treatment? Or what if I had mentioned symptoms to a doc who had written them off as nothing, but later turned out to be a condition that needed treatment?

2) Has anyone managed to figure out whether you can in fact cancel your gym membership (by canceling the insurance policy) within the 12 month period? I know in his article martin says it shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be some confusion.

Thanks in advance for your help.

gossfam1

Just like to add my experiences...

Went for a look around Virgin Active in Farnborough to see if I liked it enough to join. Sales rep there wonderful and helpful even when I said I was going to sign up through PruHealth. They even suggested this was the best thing to do as it was the cheepest way to get membership.

Signed up online the following day. Top cashback is tracking my £155. Received my welcome pack from Pru last week and went back to the gym to sign up with them. For those unsure about the contract terms, you sign another contract with Virgin for 12months, there is a cooling off period. But it makes it very clear you are signing up for an additional service to Pru, for which the minimum term is 12months, then a months notice.

Gym booked by induction despite not having membership card for the gym yet, and now just waiting to recieve the Vrgin active card and get fit!

So it seems from other people that the experiences are varied depending on the gym chain chosen. Virgin Active have been brilliant. I would suggest if you are unhappy with the service from the gym, let Pruhealth know, as ultimately they are running the scheme!

Libertarian

orient wrote: »

I signed up to take advantage of the free membership at my local LA Fitness. I registered for the gym membership online and prebooked my induction at LA Fitness. However when i went along to LA fitness no one had a clue about the Pru Health membership offer.

I was told that i could only have a membership card if i signed a membership application. This form had no mention of the Pru Health deal but instead was a contract to pay LA Fitness £560 for a 12 month membership. When i refused to sign i was told that i was being stupid. I was then told by the man that he really wasn't bothered as he would not be getting commission. In the end i left without a membership card.

I phoned LA Fitness's national call centre to complain and was told that they did not really know how the scheme worked either.

Having had enough of being messed around i have cancelled both my Pru Health and LA Fitness memberships. All I have lost out on is the £25 activation fee but i count myself lucky i did not get fooled into signing an annual contract for £560.

My impression is that Pru Health are trying my best to make this scheme work. This is obviously only an individual experience but i thought it worth posting as it suggests LA fitness have failed to properly communicate this scheme to their staff working in gyms and call centres.

Not unlike my experience at LA Fitness. They didn't know what to do and yes I had to sign their memebership form (albeit without any membership fees shown).

I have a low expectation of LA Fitness and find their (and other gyms that have crossed me!) ignorance/aggression distasteful. The difference is that not only do they have to try to enforce the contract, we also have the Pru involved.

I would suggest a call to the Pru (followed up by a letter) to get this sorted. If the gym deal was the primary reason for taking their insurance I would persist. There is no reason why you should not get £25 back as a minimum.

alant1000

Hi,

i am with Virgin active under a standard corporate contract, had to give 30 days notice as this was under Holmes Place to cancel so i could join again via Pru.

I now have a the Pru Health insurance, and my Virgin active expires 16th Aug.

Does anyone know if you can select a start date for the membership via Pru - i want it to start 17th so i dont duplicate the membership fees.

I rang Pru today and they are telling me to call back nearer the time if i want it to kick off on Aug 17th - but in their brochure it says it can take 10 days to arrange a membership card? So how am i meant to know when to join V.A via Pru so that 2 lots of membership dont come out of my account, without a gap in the gym membership???

:rolleyes:

alant1000

Libertarian wrote: »

Not unlike my experience at LA Fitness. They didn't know what to do and yes I had to sign their memebership form (albeit without any membership fees shown).

I have a low expectation of LA Fitness and find their (and other gyms that have crossed me!) ignorance/aggression distasteful. The difference is that not only do they have to try to enforce the contract, we also have the Pru involved.

I would suggest a call to the Pru (followed up by a letter) to get this sorted. If the gym deal was the primary reason for taking their insurance I would persist. There is no reason why you should not get £25 back as a minimum.

in the pruhealth membership pack there is a page on the gym schemes and there are phone numbers you are meant to call at Pru who set up the scheme and send you a membership card. My understanding is that this is NOT done via LA, and thats why they may not have heard of it. The actual invoicing for membership gets done via Pru. Look it up in the membership pack you received.

rawk

I think this is a poorly worded thread/deal.

It is not a loophole - they are advertising 'Do you want free gym membership? - Join Pruhealth' on the tube!!


And yes you should be able to pick the starting date (my wife did).

Pound

There needs to be a spin off of this thread. The first year is a good deal in comparison but we still need to get that bit of plastic out our wallets.

Pruhealth do vitality points where if you get 2,000 points you become a platinum member and your current premium is deducted from next year's policy which would be seriously cheap.

There should be some thread where we share hints and tips on getting the 2,000 points. I haven't looked into too closely but vaccinations, and reading stuff on Pru's website will give you points. Can a disciplined plan get us on the way to a 100% discount?

rawk

Well - I just made it to platinum in time for my renewal this month


Here's how I did it:

Log in via the web
You'll get 100 points the first time, and you can keep track of your points.
If your policy is joint/family your partner will also get 100 points for joining up.

Fitbug
Get a fitbug through Pru health if you walk a fair bit (you get 5 points for every 10000 steps per day, 10 points for 12500 steps).
If your policy is joint/or family get a fit bug for your partner as well

It can be hard work reaching these targets, but a couple of times a week is pretty easy to make yourself do tbh - especially if you go to the gym and do any cardio.

It's quite good fun when you make the targets, but you do have to carry the gizmo around with you everywhere.

Gym
10 points per session.
Again if your partner is on the scheme they can join via the same deal too and save money going to the gym & get points!

Free Fitness test
You can have your free fitness test at any gym in the scheme - I just did one to ensure I got over that 3000 (family, 2000 single) points limit. Up to 300 points each time, twice a year for you and your partner.

Read the articles
Read the articles on food & exercise. You can get about 30 points per month. Your partner can do this too.

Create a food plan
Twice a year 200 points, and the same for your partner.

That's pretty much it. We just about made it, but it'll be easier next time around as I will finally join a gym in the scheme (my gym - LA Fitness wasn't in the scheme when I joined pruhealth). My wife joined Virgin.


I have done all of this throughout the last year and our renewal came. You get a discount of X% of your previous years unclaimed premium (without any discounts you got signing up), off of your next years premium.

Now I hadn't made platinum when the renewal quote came, but I have done now before the actual renewal occurs, so they should recalculate.

I haven't actually used this health insurance as a cheap way to get gym membership as i decided it was actually a pretty good family insurance policy so we're talking a fair whack of cash here.

My renewal for the next year should be around £200. (and that's family cover, with £0 excess, all london hospitals). Given the level of cover I'd say that in itself is a great bargain.

HTH

yalisrib

After calling both Pru and LA fitness (neither of whom had a clue of what I should do), I joined them both via the Pru website where I paid for the £25 gym activation. I then took a print out of both the Pru and LAFitness invoices to the gym where they signed me up - without me paying a penny.

Do it all online - it cuts out the wallys who have not been told by thier employers about the scheme.

Libertarian

alant1000 wrote: »

in the pruhealth membership pack there is a page on the gym schemes and there are phone numbers you are meant to call at Pru who set up the scheme and send you a membership card. My understanding is that this is NOT done via LA, and thats why they may not have heard of it. The actual invoicing for membership gets done via Pru. Look it up in the membership pack you received.

Except that:

- the brouchure is wrong - you can't join LA by calling the Pru, you do that via LA's website
- you get the membership card when you 'join' by visiting LA
- LA's website captures your bank details for the direct debit (while this may be on behalf of the Pru, the Pru already has them)

As to the actual invoicing that hasn't happened yet as I am only a couple of weeks in. The initial £25 fee was taken via the LA website.

My point is that the way this seems to be working is not consistent with what the Pru's website and documentation led me to believe. That's okay because I've got the cheap gym membership that I wanted, but if something changes (e.g. I want to cancel) I suspect that the amiguity will lead to an argument.