Private medical insurance, any experiences, Recommendations or pitfalls?

Sg28

Ive been looking at getting comprehensive family health insurance for a while but im struggling to see whats exactly covered, when you would claim etc. 

Also most policies that quote a lowish monthly figure, ~£100 a month seem to have large excess' and dropping the excess ups the price considerably. But on what occasions would the excess be payable? 

And bupa seem to have a restricted network of hospitals/treatment centres?

Then theres outpatient caps too, which I don't really understand. 

If anyone has any experience I would love to hear, for example if you had an minor ailment and used the private gp service who prescribed a course of drugs would this be a claim requiring the excess to be paid?

Do the premiums increase as you age, rather than just inline with inflation?

Do the premiums increase after you make a claim? 

Sorry for all the questions, it all seems like a bit of a mine field!

DullGreyGuy

Firstly, I'd always check if you can get any options via your employer(s) as corporate schemes can be better (though not always) and if its a corporate benefit you just pay the BIK. Rates tend to be company rather than person rated too.

Its an annual policy like your home or car insurance and as such the policy can change each year, premiums will increase due to your age and any claims you've made. So forexample with a claim for around £25,000 our premiums went up about £400 a year the next year.

When we purchased our policy it didnt include any private GP cover so for most conditions you get a letter from your NHS GP to make the claim or for a minority of conditions you could self refer. Since this year they have now introduced a free remote private GP service (phone or videocalls) which dont count as a claim and so no excess or premium impacts. Remember though that outpatient prescriptions arent covered and so you will be paying cash for the medicines prescribed.

With our policy you pay 1 excess per policy year of claim. So have 1 claim in 1 year, 1 excess, have 3 claims in 1 year, 1 excess, have 1 claim that spans two policy years 2 excesses.

Levels of cover vary notably between different products and different providers, similarly how pre-existing conditions are treated etc. May be worth a free conversation with an advisory PMI broker to find a policy that best meets your needs