Private Medical insurance - How much are they allowed to increase my monthly rate?

olala

Hi, I just got a letter from my private medical insurance (BUPA International) to tell me that they increased my monthly rate by 18%. I will pay than £114 per month and an 18% increase seems to be very high as it is by far higher than the inflationary rate.
If they do this every year I have got huge payments by the time I will get retired as I have 30 more years to go.

However I checked whether I get additional benefits and it seems that they added something called "Newborn care" which only applies anyway if you register your children with their own membership (so do you pay twice than?) and an added benefit of a local air ambulance up to 5.000. (That's prob covered by the NHS, isn't it).

• Is 18% a normal increase rate for medical insurance? (I didn't send them any medical invoices in the past 2 years)
• Does anyone know who is regulating those things?
• What is the max that they can increase my rate?
• Can I opt out of the changes and keep my former rate?

Any good advice on this would be very much appreciated.

lisyloo

Is 18% a normal increase rate for medical insurance?

The costs can increase for 2 reasons.
You advancing age (which make you more likely to have health problems) and the inflationary costs in providing the services.
It looks like your policy has also added extra coverage.

I would not say it's normal to go up like that.

What is the max that they can increase my rate?

They can set the price at whatever they like.
Clearly competition and people's willingness to pay are likely to limit it in practice but I don't think there is a legal limit on what private businesses can charge.

Can I opt out of the changes and keep my former rate?

You can look at their other current products (your former policy may no longer be available) and you could look at switching to another company, but no you cannot dictate the price or coverage.
It's up to them what they offer.

olala

Thank you very much, lisyloo! Do you know if there is a consumer complaint service where I can turn to in order to find out whether this specific increase was reasonable? I ve tried the regulatory body FSA but they don't deal with single complaints.... I talked to the insurer as well but no success.

Andy_L

Unless you had a multi-year contract that gave limits on annual increases they can up your premium by what they like be it reasonable or not.
"The authorities" would only be interested if they was a monopoly/cartel situation or there was some race/sex discrimination thing going on.
Don't waste your time complaining - just shop around & take your money to where the best deal is

vikingaero

PMI payments always increase significantly in excess of inflation because of the cost of providing services which always runs well in excess of general inflation.

I would shop around. BUPA aren't always the best even though a lot of people stay loyal to them. If you have had no claims for years you should be able to get a good deal.

Think about ways of reducing the premium - higher excesses, can you afford to say pay for the first £2,500 of treatment, does your employer have a scheme you can join? etc.

lisyloo

Do you know if there is a consumer complaint service where I can turn to in order to find out whether this specific increase was reasonable?

Sorry, I'm not aware of any regulatory body that deals with this.
If your employer offers this then it's likely to be mucj cheaper (bulk buying power).

Another option is to self-insure and put away a certain amount each month into a savings account.
The plus side is that you totally in control of when and what to spend it on.
The downside is that it may not cover the costs of an expensive operation especially in the early years before you've have time to build up the fund.

shockingmoment

Try talking to them. Tell them you can't afford the policy anymore.

If that fails, try Health-on-Line.co.uk. I got a competitive policy from them, for my family, through AXA PPP.

olala

I have tried the excess fee. I think it's a good option although in my case it doesn't seem to change the rate substantially. I think it's worthwhile to look for other options or to call them again threatening with leaving.

The only thing is that I only moved here a few years ago and I really trust the doctors that I have back home and I had a few bad experiences in the UK. Since this insurance is with BUPA International I can take advantage of health service in any European country. NHS and other private health insurances allow you to go to a continental doctor only if you are on holiday abroad and have an urgent medical issue that can't wait until you have returned to the UK.

I am not aware that any of the other insurers are offering this type of insurance. Well that's probably as well why I have to pay the premium and that's why the can raise substantially without running too much rist in loosing their customers since competition is in this case limited. Any good ideas on this?