Who offers the best health insurance

funnymonkey

I am considering health insurance and was wondering who might be the best company at an affordable price to go with?
Many thanks

Chris4891

Depends what you mean by the best?

If you work for a large company try and get on their health insurance policy as they will usually have what's called a flat rate policy which covers all pre-existing medical conditions and the scope of the scheme sometimes includes preventative treatment too.

If that's not an option and you're going directly to an insurer then look for what used to be called 6 week waiting plans - these were policies that paid out for treatment if the NHS wait was in excess of 6 weeks. These may have been replaced by longer periods now due to the increase in average waiting times.

If you know someone who has or does still work for a government dept (nurse, police, fire service) then you may be able to get on Benenden Healthcare. I used to work for PPP / AXA healthcare but when I left after 12 months my staff policy ended and I was quoted £150+ per month for an equivalent policy. Luckily one of my grandparents had been a nurse so I qualified for BH - I currently pay £8pm - however it does have its limitations. It's similar to a 6 week plan and does exclude complex orthopedic operations, cancer or heart / transplant surgery.

It's certainly limited but does cover the more of the routine stuff that you'd be waiting months to get on the NHS.

I'm going in to have a hernia done in June that I had an ultrasound for at my doctors in February. I still haven't received the initial appointment on the NHS yet!

Take a look at their website and decide if you can tolerate the NHS for some things with the knowledge that if you need additional support BH can be a good back up for less than a tenner each.

(I'm in no way affiliated to Benenden Healthcare)

Chris4891

Also take a look at Passport2Health - they pay for private diagnosis and then if you need treatment they find your travel and treatment abroad. Not my cup of tea personally but it may suit some.

Failing that go to a broker - especially if you have a complex medical history as they can navigate to through moratoriums etc

System

I only have second hand knowledge, but have heard that Standard Life are good.

sunfield91

Chris4891 wrote: »

Depends what you mean by the best?

If you work for a large company try and get on their health insurance policy as they will usually have what's called a flat rate policy which covers all pre-existing medical conditions and the scope of the scheme sometimes includes preventative treatment too.

If that's not an option and you're going directly to an insurer then look for what used to be called 6 week waiting plans - these were policies that paid out for treatment if the NHS wait was in excess of 6 weeks. These may have been replaced by longer periods now due to the increase in average waiting times.

If you know someone who has or does still work for a government dept (nurse, police, fire service) then you may be able to get on Benenden Healthcare. I used to work for PPP / AXA healthcare but when I left after 12 months my staff policy ended and I was quoted £150+ per month for an equivalent policy. Luckily one of my grandparents had been a nurse so I qualified for BH - I currently pay £8pm - however it does have its limitations. It's similar to a 6 week plan and does exclude complex orthopedic operations, cancer or heart / transplant surgery.

It's certainly limited but does cover the more of the routine stuff that you'd be waiting months to get on the NHS.

I'm going in to have a hernia done in June that I had an ultrasound for at my doctors in February. I still haven't received the initial appointment on the NHS yet!

Take a look at their website and decide if you can tolerate the NHS for some things with the knowledge that if you need additional support BH can be a good back up for less than a tenner each.

(I'm in no way affiliated to Benenden Healthcare)

I am a retired civil servant in Benenden, but thought they had opened it up to everyone now, you might want to check it out. It's a sort of semi private organisation, worth looking at HTH

indiepanda

avogadro wrote: »

I only have second hand knowledge, but have heard that Standard Life are good.

Standard Life merged with Pru Health some years ago, which has since been rebranded Vitality.

Private Health insurance is a bit complicated, you need to think about what you want it for and how much you can afford to pay. All the companies will have a variety of policies with different cover options to suit a range of budgets.

I've been with Bupa for years as my employer uses them for our staff policy and they are the most popular insurer in the UK followed by AXA PPP and then I think Aviva (who I used to work for) and Vitality have similar market shares. Between those 4 companies you've probably got over 3/4 of the market share so you won't go far wrong with them.

If you can possibly get cover via your employer or partner's employer it will almost certainly be cheaper than buying a policy on your own - insurers take lower margins on group business - employers have more bargaining power than individuals.

ibizafan_2

I am in Benenden as a former local government employee, and in the last couple of years they have opened up to anyone. Although it doesn't cover everything, as has been said, they certainly offer cover on most of the more routine stuff. Worth a look anyway as it's such a reasonable price.

Chris4891

Whoever you decide to go with just make sure you read the underwriting clauses and then read them again!

Chris4891

If you're on any type of medication you'll probably be excluded for the condition you're taking them for and any associated conditions.

PMI companies are very good at worming out of a claim...

Good luck

zagubov

I'm with Benenden via work.

The rest of my family gave it up because it was hard to understand what they cover, there seem to be a lot of ifs and buts, so it can be genuinely quite difficult to work out what they actually will cover

I keep it on myself because of the "ask a doctor's advice" service.