Cutting Medical Cover on Car Insurance

falcieri

I have been looking at a cheaper renewal on my car insurance. I can save about £50 but when I look at the details, the medical cover on these other policies is a lot less eg £5000 vs £30000. Is it worth taking the risk or should I stick with the higher quote? If I had a big medical situation I would be covered by my parents private medical cover separately if I needed help. But is it worth £50?

Bigphil1474

If it doesn't prove you with any additional benefit, then it's not worth it. No point being covered twice. Basic cover should include things like cost of ambulances in case of an accident.

Sandtree

Are you sure you are looking at "medical cover" and not Personal Accident cover?

Most comp policies provide PA which pays a lump sum upon a number of serious injuries (eg loss of limb) but dont cover private medical insurance. When I first trained as a claims handler I asked our trainer, who'd worked for the company for 20 years, how you put a PA claim into the system and she didn't know... goes to show how often claims are made on it!

Most also have a "medical expenses" but this a relatively token cover, again rarely claimed on, and mainly considers things like OTC painkillers etc with the expectation that actual treatment is taken on the NHS. Some now explicitly state physio isnt covered by this section now (eg Aviva)

Neither are intended to be a substitution for PMI cover 

EssexExile

What do you need medical expense cover for in this country?

Sandtree

EssexExile said:

What do you need medical expense cover for in this country?

Hence why its often token... one area that can often be an exception is physiotherapy where its not uncommon for GPs etc to state it would help however NHS funding is limited, waiting lists long etc and docs will recommend private treatment if you can afford it.

400ixl

Also look at the legal protection add on as well. You can get policies which cover a whole household for less than it is on a single policy, so if you have multiple cars in the house this can save a decent amount.

Jenni_D

You need to be careful and read the legal protection terms for the household insurance - they may not cover motoring legal issues. (Likewise motor legal protection likely doesn't cover household legal issues).