Redundancy - stay or leave Bupa?

Rufty1

I am being made redundant next month. I currently have Bupa through work which is a taxable benefit.

I have had a letter from work asking whether I want to keep it on or not. But I don't know what the implications are?

Can anyone help please?
Thanks
Ruth

Kynthia

I don't really know the answer but I do remember someone saying once that the price rocketed when they had a direct plan with BUPA without the work discount. Would you be getting it at the same price your work pay?

asajj

Probably asking them is better. Ask about the price and check your payslips about how much tax you saved?

p00hsticks

It really depends on how much BUPA will charge, your own personal circumstances and state of health and how much of a 'benefit' you actually see it as being.

Your workplace will have been able to negotiate a really good rate with BUPA, and as a BIK you will have only been paying the tax on that rate, not the full amount.

It sounds like your workplace and BUPA are prepared to let you continue with the contract at a preferential rate, cheaper than if you simply approached BUPA off the street - but it will still probably be considerably more than youve been paying up to now.

You need to get a quote from them as to how much it's going to cost you each month and decide if it's worth paying for the benefits/peace of mind. BUPA's effectively like insurance - you may find it easier / cheaper to 'self insure' by just putting the money you'd spend on BUPA monthly into a savings pot that you could dip into to pay for private health care if and when you need it.

Personally I was in a similar position and decided not to continue with my membership - I was paying quite a lot from my pay (getting on for £1000 a year) for cover for myself and my partner and we only ever claimed on it once in 15 years , for a simple outpatients procedure to save my OH from having to wait months for the treatment on the NHS.

My reasoning was that if you have anything seriously life threatening, you'll end up being treated by the NHS anyhow. BUPA is good for getting treated quickly for relatively minor ailments that would otherwise see you stuck on a long NHS waiting list.

Rufty1

Thanks everyone.
Seems like another useless communication from the company that is poorly lacking in useful information.

I am waiting for my 17th procedure over the last 3 years so I have been using the benefit. I wont be able to afford to pay for it though. But it's looking doubtful that I'll get it done within the next month.

My other half is also waiting and there is no chance of that being in the next month either. Looks like we are NHS bound....

Rufty1

Have found a bit more info. The company will pay which for us is 1000 a year. At the end of the year I will get a P11T which will show how much tax I have to pay. Apparently I've had one of those before but I've never been asked to pay any tax at the end of the year before, so don't know how that works. But then I don't know if it's pro-rata if we leave mid year. We are both needed ops so it may be worth keeping for a couple of months then cancelling.....?

ratechaser

That'll be a P11D form, which is an end of (tax) year statement of benefits in kind. These are used when you're NOT getting BIKs reflected & taxed through PAYE (i.e. your regular salary payments).


My previous employer used this method, and I'd have to use the data in my P11D on my tax return to reflect the benefit and the extra tax I owed. However it's not like I ever had to send a cheque to HMRC, they would just collect that amount by adjusting my tax code to take away some of my personal allowance.