Health insurance - considering cancelling

goodwithsaving

Hello all. I'd appreciate some thoughts on my dilemma....
I have had health insurance for 3 years at £46/month and have never claimed on it. I did have an unlucky streak, but the NHS were the ones who looked after me. 
It is now due for renewal and I am seriously considering cancelling the policy. I get a little irritated when NHS patients get referred to the private system and think, 'why am I paying for it', and we already pay National Insurance for such things. 
That said, it's the peace of mind of having it when the NHS is stretched and we don't know what the plans for the health service are.
I just think £46/month could be better spent, or absorb increases in council tax etc. I can comfortably afford to continue paying it, but I still try to keep outgoings lean, save hard and put more on the mortgage.
All thoughts appreciated.

vacheron

I have never had private medical insurance, either through work or a personal policy.

I looked into it about 15 years ago and I calculated back then that, even assuming the monthly premiums didn't increase one penny over time, that I would have saved enough money after about 13 years of not paying premiums to afford an entire private heart bypass operation in cash should I have ever needed it!

Fast forward 15 years, and no hearty bypass yet needed yet    and the few small things myself and my wife have needed the NHS for... for which we also pay... we recieved an absolutely faultless service.
This reminds me, I was single when I did the original quote. I would now need to factor in the premiums for my family for the last 12 years also!


At the end of the day, like most insurance, it is a gamble and your body will throw the dice.
If you are healthy you will "lose", if you are sickly, especially long term, and/or the NHS is poor where you live, or does not offer the treatment you require, you could "win",

It is also a business and so, like gambling, the "house" must always win on average meaning the average premiums have to be more than the average person will require in treatment over that time.

Some people seem to like to insure themselves for almost everything (boiler, pet, water line, unemployment, mobile phone, funeral, extended warranties, credit card loss, etc.) and pay hundreds per month in total for the privilege. They also often claim for every small thing and so have small excesses, which both push their premiums up further.

For me, other than house and car insurance (and travel when I need it), I prefer to save those hundreds of pounds and self insure instead, and so far I am WAY ahead of where I would have been by doing otherwise.

Sandtree

Its up to you, the challenge is that as you get older your premiums will go up as your chances of claiming go up.

Generally the NHS will cover similar things to Private (and in some cases more when it comes to A&E etc) however the key difference is normally timescales. For non-urgent matters (ie not life threatening etc) NHS has 18 weeks to give you the first hospital appointment by contrast my private consultant's PA was apologetic that they couldnt see me the next day. And thats from when you get a referral, GPs are much quicker to refer people to private than NHS.

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

csgohan4

PMI is personal preference and entirely situational. If you can afford it, keep it, however if you need the money, that is something to think about

I have PMI, I have it on the basis that if I am off work, I cannot earn. I would rather not wait 3 years for a hip replacement, when I can get one done within 1 month with PMI. 

It does have it's benefits like quicker service. Obviously NHS has gold standard for cancer care and you will be seen within 2 weeks by a specialist for suspected cancer, however everything else is bronze standard. Standard referrals take many many months. 

I use a broker myself to get me the best deals every year and it is competitive, I even do the quotes manually to ensure I keep them on their toes and ensure I am getting the best deals. But they always beat the direct quotes for some reason. 

Self insure is a reasonable strategy, no wrong answer tbh. But for piece of mind and efficiency when you need it, is why  I have it. 

vacheron

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

csgohan4

vacheron said:

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

Hindsight is wonderful though. Insurance is expensive when you don't use it. 

Either way it's a gamble on saving your premiums for x years to pay for something in the future, when that something could happen tomorrow

Sandtree

vacheron said:

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

My wording was lax, I was comparing NHS cover -v- PMI cover rather than self funded private. 

If its self funded you dont ordinarily need a GP referral whereas we do for most services for PMI

csgohan4

Sandtree said:

vacheron said:

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

My wording was lax, I was comparing NHS cover -v- PMI cover rather than self funded private. 

If its self funded you dont ordinarily need a GP referral whereas we do for most services for PMI

Some of the PMI have a GP video facility, so you don't need to see your NHS GP to get a referral which is useful

TELLIT01

I had private health insurance through work and it made a big difference to the speed of treatment for problems with my knees.  When I first spoke to my GP about the problems with my knees he said I would need to be referred for physio, await the outcome of that and then possibly be referred to the hospital.  All that would take many months but when I then mentioned that I had private medical cover I saw the consultant within a couple of weeks and had surgery within a couple of months.  The only cost to me was the tax increase for a benefit in kind from work. 

Only the OP can decide whether continuing to pay for cover is a good investment or not.  I would think that in the current environment where millions of people will have a long wait for NHS treatment it may be money well spent.

Sandtree

csgohan4 said:

Sandtree said:

vacheron said:

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

My wording was lax, I was comparing NHS cover -v- PMI cover rather than self funded private. 

If its self funded you dont ordinarily need a GP referral whereas we do for most services for PMI

Some of the PMI have a GP video facility, so you don't need to see your NHS GP to get a referral which is useful

And some classes of service you can self refer - podiatry that can end up going to orthopedics is typically one.

TELLIT01 said:

The only cost to me was the tax increase for a benefit in kind from work. 

Only the OP can decide whether continuing to pay for cover is a good investment or not.  I would think that in the current environment where millions of people will have a long wait for NHS treatment it may be money well spent.

Some company schemes are also unobtainable in the private market and prices can be much more competitive even before you consider you only pay 20% or 40% of it.  My last time as an employee our policies covered all pre-existing conditions, £100 excess and irrespective of age/conditions etc premium was bout £800 per year gross for insured + spouse. When talking to the provider about replicating the cover on a personal basis the initial answer was no and ultimately quoted at circa £2,400 gross and will increase based on age and claims.

Right now however is complicated as certainly Bupa stopped a lot of coverages during the pandemic, with a promise of premium refunds, after the government commandeered facilities. So even the private sector has an element of backlog, though a lot less than the NHS you'd imagine. 

csgohan4

Sandtree said:

csgohan4 said:

Sandtree said:

vacheron said:

Sandtree said:

If you can afford it and being off sick would be a major financial issue then certainly I would consider keeping it. If being off sick isnt a problem then its more about would you rather a knee replacement in a couple of weeks or a few months should you need one?

However, the question does not need to be "should I go private or not". It can also be "should I have private insurance or not". 

Using your knee example, keyhole knee surgery costs around 3-4K, so using the OP's premiums he will have saved enough to pay for the op outright in just over 6 years (less if his policy does not have a zero excess).

He then has the choice whether to wait for the NHS and keep his £3-4K or use it to pay for private treatment. An option that paying premiums for 6 years would not present. 

My wording was lax, I was comparing NHS cover -v- PMI cover rather than self funded private. 

If its self funded you dont ordinarily need a GP referral whereas we do for most services for PMI

Some of the PMI have a GP video facility, so you don't need to see your NHS GP to get a referral which is useful

And some classes of service you can self refer - podiatry that can end up going to orthopedics is typically one.

TELLIT01 said:

The only cost to me was the tax increase for a benefit in kind from work. 

Only the OP can decide whether continuing to pay for cover is a good investment or not.  I would think that in the current environment where millions of people will have a long wait for NHS treatment it may be money well spent.

Some company schemes are also unobtainable in the private market and prices can be much more competitive even before you consider you only pay 20% or 40% of it.  My last time as an employee our policies covered all pre-existing conditions, £100 excess and irrespective of age/conditions etc premium was bout £800 per year gross for insured + spouse. When talking to the provider about replicating the cover on a personal basis the initial answer was no and ultimately quoted at circa £2,400 gross and will increase based on age and claims.

Right now however is complicated as certainly Bupa stopped a lot of coverages during the pandemic, with a promise of premium refunds, after the government commandeered facilities. So even the private sector has an element of backlog, though a lot less than the NHS you'd imagine. 

I am curious how much would the company pay as a premium to have these policies which covers pre exisiting stuff which is unusual for the individual to get