Health insurance

prings17

I'd like some advise on whether I should take out private medical insurance. I'm a 52 year old male, (probably a little overweight for my height) sole trader and I'm suffering with moderate ankle pain. They are ok on short trips but if I go for a decent walk they start to hurt, especially my right ankle, which in turn affects my fitness. My GP's have given me physio the last couple of times I've been to see them about it but that does nothing but makes them more swollen than they are now. Is taking health insurance out just going to be a "costly physio session" or will it help?

Aretnap

Private medical insurance will usually not cover conditions which you are already aware of at the time you take it out. So it will be no help at all for your ankles I'm afraid.

The exception would be if you took out a policy with a moratorium rather than a pure exclusion in our existing conditions, but even then it would require you to go several years without symptoms or need for treatment before you could claim for any re-emergence of the problem.

dunstonh

In the pecking order of insurance, PMI is quite low down.   Its the sort of thing you would consider if your life assurance and income protection needs are covered in full first.

My GP's have given me physio the last couple of times I've been to see them about it but that does nothing but makes them more swollen than they are now. Is taking health insurance out just going to be a "costly physio session" or will it help?

That would be a pre-existing condition.   For that to be covered you would need to find an employer that offers group PMI as part of their employment package.    Individual PMI won't cover pre-existing conditions (otherwise we would all wait until something medical is needed at take it out then).

SiliconChip

It doesn't sound to me as if your GP has actually diagnosed what the issue is. When you say that the GP has given you physio do you mean that the GP themself has done something that they claim is physio to your ankle (surprising if so as a GP is very unlikely to be a trained physiotherapist) or have they referred you to a phsyiotherapist, either NHS or private, who hasn't done a lot to help?

I'd suggest that you should try to go back to your GP and insist on a proper diagnosis, which may well include a referal to a musculo-skeletal clinic and having x-rays taken of the joints to determine if there is any bone wear that's causing the pain, for example due to osteoarthritis (which is what cause my ankle pain, although it's usually overriden by the knee pain which stops me doing things before the ankle hurts too much). I'm not sure what you think insurance would do for you, getting to the root of the problem should be your first task.

MalMonroe

Hi, might you be thinking of just paying for private healthcare, something like Bupa's pay as you go - see info in this link -

https://www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg

rather than taking out private medical insurance - which may well not cover you for existing medical conditions, as others say.

As you are a relatively young sole trader, it may be wise to have some kind of insurance cover, in case you are not able to work for any reason, if you don't already have it. There are different kinds of insurance though - 

There's some info from Compare the Market in this link - https://www.comparethemarket.com/health-insurance/self-employed/

As SiliconChip says above, it sounds like you really could do with a proper diagnosis, too. 

DullGreyGuy

dunstonh said:

In the pecking order of insurance, PMI is quite low down.   Its the sort of thing you would consider if your life assurance and income protection needs are covered in full first.

Would say it depends more on personal circumstances. PHI is probably above PMI but for a sole trader it can be fairly high if days off sick are days unpaid. Personally I'd prefer to get back to work within my deferment period on my PHI than be off for 3-6 months waiting for PHI to kick in or fix problems that wont keep me off but keep me below standard. 

prings17

Thank you for all your replies. My immediate concern now is to go back to my GP's and get a referral to a specialist. Thanks again everyone for your help.

stuhse

Find out what your yearly premium would be..and save it every year...maybe pay it into your pension.  If you decide to go private at any stage, use what you have saved to pay for it.