Pruhealth gym loophole Article Discussion

Musicman

Charliezoo wrote: »

I get your point but I sure many, many policy holders have been paying for this service with Pruhealth with no intention of ever claiming (myself included, I have a separate policy with another insurer for this purpose).

I just have the policy for the gym membership alone and its customers like me that Pruhealth are going to lose, and I expect that will run into thousands.

I can see that it will run in to 10 of thousands, as I suspect that a lot of people use the Pru to obtain cheap Gym membership and as a result they were losing money, as the insurance premiums were not covering the subsidy that they were having to pay for gym membership. I know a few people at my health club that did that, but they were members of the club before changing over to Pru Health and they could see a good deal. In fact that was the reason I moved to Pru Health, though I was looking at Health Insurance too.

Come my renewal, I will see what the benefits are of staying with Pru Health against taking out insurance elsewhere and Gym.

west12_2

I cannot believe what a massive mistake they're making! Although I understand PruHealth needs to claw its way into profitability, the decision to reduce the discount to a flat 25% is going to trigger a massive loss of customers. They acquired customers advertising cheap gym membership - the tube car panels in London last year literally used the URL 'why pay for the gym'. They sought to attract loads of customers who were looking for a good deal for gym pricing - not even customers who were especially health conscious.

Now this deal has gone, all those customers they acquired in tha way are going to be majority hacked off. there is literally no reason to stay. If they really need to increase profitability, a far better model would be to hike up premiums, reduce the gym discounts to something more realistic (like 10% on Bronze, 20% silver, 30% gold, 40% plat), and make platinum actually a challenge. instead they're breaking all their promises (I understand it's not illegal, but it is just an understanding with customers) and I cannot envisage it'll be anything less than a bloodbath.

Interjector

I am involved in this industry and of all the insurers available to me, by far the best is Pru Health, in terms of cover and price.
To say that you insure with them just for cheaper gym membership is bonkers. Even more so when you say you have no intention of claiming! I wish I could be that confident about my health in the future.
The fact is if you want the best PMI on the market you have to consider the one element that separates all UK insurers, and that is cancer cover. Pru impose no time limits on expensive new cancer drugs not available on the NHS (see yesterday's Daily Mail front page), provide cover for palliative care and are generally recognised as offering the best cancer cover, and are one of only 3 insurers getting Gold Standard recognition in the Mercers report on behalf of Cancerbackup charity. Most UK insurers impose time limits on paying for cancer drugs, and this information is normally hidden in their small print.
If you want cheap gym membership, go and barter with the manager. If you want medical insurance, go to an expert, as it is an extremely complex form of insurance.

Quentin

Interjector wrote: »

If you want cheap gym membership, go and barter with the manager. If you want medical insurance, go to an expert, as it is an extremely complex form of insurance.

Why take that attitude on this moneysaving site?

If your attitude was the right one, then why did the "best" insurer (your word, buried amongst all your other pro pru spin) sell its policy on the back of cheap gym membership?

Interjector

Quentin,
I take that attitude because I have never seen such ridiculous comments. I do not work for Pru and have no axe to grind. Their ethos on PMI is based on keeping their clients healthy, which is why they promote gyms. If they are healthy they are less likely to make claims. If you want to save money on gym membership and have no interest in private medical insurance, do not take out this form of insurance with anyone. Personally I insure my family because I know they will go into a clean hospital (never been a case of Cdif or MRSA in a private hospital), there'll be no wait and MOST IMPORTANTLY in a worst case scenario they will get access to cancer drugs unavailable on the NHS and will have them paid by the insurer. And as these drugs can cost £70,000 per annum and work, what else do you do in that situation. Furthermore I will not insure with any insurer who imposes time limits on these drugs, and believe me, that is most of them in the UK. The gym thing is a bonus, and I don't use it.
By the way, I do not indulge in 'spin', as my comments are based on fact. All UK insurers offer pretty much the same cover when it comes to routine procedures for hips, hernias etc and use the same hospitals, same consultants. Where they differ is with regard to cancer. If there is a better insurer than Pru in this regard, I'd like to know.

Quentin

Interjector wrote: »

The gym thing is a bonus, and I don't use it.

Fair enough.

But what is the relevance to you putting up posts praising pru in a thread on a moneysaving website devoted to exploiting a gym membershiop loophole (provided by non other than the pru??)

(I'm sure you will see how it is very hard to accept you have no axe to grind on behalf of pru - if not why are you posting here, calling posts regarding the gym "ridiculous"?)

I see healthcare guru thanks you for coming here. Are you his/her other half?

brownbabygirl

Quentin wrote: »

Fair enough.

But what is the relevance to you putting up posts praising pru in a thread on a moneysaving website devoted to exploiting a gym membershiop loophole (provided by non other than the pru??)

(I'm sure you will see how it is very hard to accept you have no axe to grind on behalf of pru - if not why are you posting here, calling posts regarding the gym "ridiculous"?)

I see healthcare guru thanks you for coming here. Are you his/her other half?

:beer: Great minds think alike. They are probably one and the same.

Interjector

Quentin,
I refer you to Charliezoo 21st Nov 6.09. He's paying for two PMI policies, ostensibly to save money. I do not need to be a moneysaving expert to see the obvious flaw in that arrangement.

Quentin

What has Charliezoo's arrangements got to do with the posts you are making about your high opinion of the pru in this (gym loophole) thread?

Charliezoo

Interjector - I know I will not claim with Pru as I already have a virtually free health insurance policy through work which has far better cover. It has absolutely nothing to do with how confident I am in my own health.

I did take out PruHeath cover simply for the perks - gym membership, screenings etc and think its crazy that you don't realise how many people are doing the same as me.

I pay £30 per month with PruHealth and this includes free gym membership at a gym which is normally £60 per month, up until Pru changed the T&C I couldn't see any flaws at all in that. Why do you think it ever appeared as a good deal on this website at all?