Private health insurance

Jmoo

Hi

I've started a new job and one of the "perks" suggested is private health insurance via Bupa. It's about £100 a month and doesn't seem too steep if I can get some of my health concerns sorted. But I'm worried there will be hidden costs that on the fact sheet I'm not yet aware of. Is there anything I should be looking out for?

Sandtree

Most policies don't cover pre-existing conditions and so "get some of my health concerns sorted" may be optimistic... there are some corporate private medical insurances that do (acute flare ups, not routine maintenance).

The second is to understand the "£100"... is that the BIK? Is that the declared value so you'll just pay the tax on that? Is this a net salary payment? Your HR should confirm

Jmoo

Sandtree said:

Most policies don't cover pre-existing conditions and so "get some of my health concerns sorted" may be optimistic... there are some corporate private medical insurances that do (acute flare ups, not routine maintenance).

The second is to understand the "£100"... is that the BIK? Is that the declared value so you'll just pay the tax on that? Is this a net salary payment? Your HR should confirm

• The scheme disregards your medical history

• You will have access to breakthrough cancer drugs and treatments.*

• You get extended cover and support for mental health conditions

• Bupa’s Anytime HealthLine telephone service** offers 24/7 help and advice. You can speak directly to a nurse and, if you need more advice, a GP will call you back.

This is the guff from the website

I hope you can advise if this is what you're asking, it doesn't quite make sense to me.

As the cost of this benefit is taken from your net pay, no income tax or national insurance contributions savings apply. Any payment of benefit is made ‘free of tax' according to current legislation.

Sandtree

Jmoo said:

I hope you can advise if this is what you're asking, it doesn't quite make sense to me.

As the cost of this benefit is taken from your net pay, no income tax or national insurance contributions savings apply. Any payment of benefit is made ‘free of tax' according to current legislation.

So yes, you simply pay £100 per month and there are no other considerations from a pay/tax perspective... presumably an excess to pay if you claim

Last time I was an employee you got free cover for yourself, yourself plus partner or family depending on your situation/what you wanted. Each had a stated value of £900, £1,300 or £1,500 respectively. But as this was a perk not coming out of the net pay you had to pay the BIK (benefit in kind) so you effectively paid 20%, 40% or 45% (depending on your tax band) of the declared value... so a family person in the lower rate had £300 of extra tax deducted per annum for the benefit.