Private Medical Cover

MallyGirl

my policy with AXA was a 'continuity' offering in that I had been with BUPA before so was likely to have fixed most things that could be fixed along the way. I went through a broker.

ukdw

I carried on with my previous companies Bupa one for a few years and made a fair bit of use of it.

Annual price rises of up to 15%, (especially during the pandemic when little private capacity was available) and quite big excess charges on top of the premiums eventually led me to drop the cover and self fund instead.

Not withstanding the cost risk, at least with self funding you don't have to go to all of the stress of getting procedure codes and preauthorisation approvals etc.

ps/ Whilst they wouldn't normally budge on the annual price rises for me they would sometimes do things like offer a few months free.

Cobbler_tone

ukdw said:

Annual price rises of up to 15%, (especially during the pandemic when little private capacity was available) and quite big excess charges on top of the premiums eventually led me to drop the cover and self fund instead.

On our company scheme, the price from June 2024 to July 2025 (two increases) is up 105% as a taxable benefit. They have removed the £1,500 outpatient limit though and introduced £100 excess on first claim of the year. I prefer this approach. I had a consultation, blood tests and a scan last year and had to stump up £200 as went over the threshold. I guess it prevents any frivolous claims.

Cus

pterri said:

gm0 said:

The employee referral continuity route can be super expensive. It is not better. Same product.  Walk up new policies marketed to consumers are a huge amount cheaper - in many cases.   The key benefit is for those people who are in the middle of a "pre-existing" condition for whom continuity is essential. They have to pay the huge premium to "maintain" cover.  

If you are well and not taking any drugs presently the employer referral route is close to a scam. At least based on my experience of it. it's nowhere close to "market price".  So if you drop out of corporate cover world.  Then you either buy it - at market price - or you rely on NHS.  

Just off the phone to Aviva, they will ring back so I can go through deets but I’m dubious. Thanks for the heads up

This happened to me, I was offered a continuation policy from my employer chosen provider when I left employment, at a bargain £2300 per month! They even had the cheek to say they were pleased to tell me that I qualified for the follow on service lol).  I used a broker instead and ended up with a different provider at a similar cost to the employer (plus my tax part) I had when employed.

Edit to add: this employer chosen provider offer was a pre existing conditions included, which were minor and not ongoing. The broker sourced offer that I went with required some minor exclusions of cover based on the minor previous treatments, and this was easily acceptable for me and family, to save £2000 a month...

MyRealNameToo

pterri said:

I had AXA private medical cover through work, apparently I can continue that cover without having to declare any pre existing medical conditions. Anyone done that and have any views on whether it provides a useful discount over separate cover? I only used it twice when working but my creaking bones may need a little help in avoiding queues for medical treatment (there’s a whole question about the ethics and funding models for the NHS but let’s not go there) 

Are you sure you dont have to declare pre-existing conditions? 

Unless its a moratorium type cover you normally would have to declare pre-existing conditions but the benefit of continuous cover is that they will actually cover them (for a premium) whereas were you to approach them as a normal customer you'd declare them and they'd just decline to cover them. 

It's worth noting that long term care for chronic conditions isnt covered even if they are declared and accepted. They may cover an acute period of a chronic condition and, which is important for me, won't exclude "related conditions". 

A moratorium policy won't help me as I've been on meds since I was 2 years old and will be until the day I die so no chance of every being 2 years without symptoms or medications etc. No one will cover my pre-existing conditions ordinarily so unless I am willing to run the risk that lots of things get declined as a consequence of my pre-existing my only option was to do a continuation of cover. The price was high, not silly so, but I have nothing really to compare to as no one else will cover. 

Obviously the issue with PMI is its an annual policy and so whilst premiums may feel toppy when you're in your late 30s there is only one direction of travel in which the premiums will go as you age and inflation impacts costs. 

Albermarle

I worked for a very large company, who were also a bit tight fisted.
So although we had BUPA cover it was a bespoke but basic policy . Plus being very large they had negotiated a good price.
So when I was offered the follow on cover I baulked at the price, especially as we had made little use of the cover in previous years. If necessary we will have to pay for anything that might crop up ( due to the 2027 change in pensions- IHT ) any private medical costs will be at a 40 % discount !

Do you need it? I'm not sure if you've accessed the NHS recently

Not wanting to start any political debate, but I think experiences of the NHS are quite variable. Our recent experiences as a family have been pretty good. We can even get a GP appt pretty quick.
A&E gets a bit stressful though, especially later in the evening. Not sure how the staff stay such good natured.

westv

MyRealNameToo said:

pterri said:

I had AXA private medical cover through work, apparently I can continue that cover without having to declare any pre existing medical conditions. Anyone done that and have any views on whether it provides a useful discount over separate cover? I only used it twice when working but my creaking bones may need a little help in avoiding queues for medical treatment (there’s a whole question about the ethics and funding models for the NHS but let’s not go there) 

Are you sure you dont have to declare pre-existing conditions? 

Unless its a moratorium type cover you normally would have to declare pre-existing conditions but the benefit of continuous cover is that they will actually cover them (for a premium) whereas were you to approach them as a normal customer you'd declare them and they'd just decline to cover them. 

If it's a continuation of a work cover then wouldn't they know about those already?

MyRealNameToo

westv said:

MyRealNameToo said:

pterri said:

I had AXA private medical cover through work, apparently I can continue that cover without having to declare any pre existing medical conditions. Anyone done that and have any views on whether it provides a useful discount over separate cover? I only used it twice when working but my creaking bones may need a little help in avoiding queues for medical treatment (there’s a whole question about the ethics and funding models for the NHS but let’s not go there) 

Are you sure you dont have to declare pre-existing conditions? 

Unless its a moratorium type cover you normally would have to declare pre-existing conditions but the benefit of continuous cover is that they will actually cover them (for a premium) whereas were you to approach them as a normal customer you'd declare them and they'd just decline to cover them. 

If it's a continuation of a work cover then wouldn't they know about those already?

No, there was no declaration under the company cover because all conditions were covered

Claims were paid from a health bond that the employer funded so there is no financial risk on the insurer other than admin costs exceed the fee they are paid to administer claims etc. 

Albermarle said:

Do you need it? I'm not sure if you've accessed the NHS recently

Not wanting to start any political debate, but I think experiences of the NHS are quite variable. Our recent experiences as a family have been pretty good. We can even get a GP appt pretty quick.
A&E gets a bit stressful though, especially later in the evening. Not sure how the staff stay such good natured.

Need is a very difficult thing to define... personally I am self employed so if I dont work I dont get paid. For me I feel I need cover to get back to work quicker in the event of a notable illness etc. Whilst my wife doesnt work I didnt want to pay for cover for me and not have cover for my wife with us ending up with different treatment if we came down with the same thing. 

I do have recent experience, I had an issue with a joint that the gp defined as "weird" but nothing showed up on x-ray. Referred to rheumatology on the NHS and given an initial appointment for 7-8 months time. Put a claim on PMI, was seen within a week, had MRI and various other tests and within 2 months had a diagnosis, an immediate treatment and a long term treatment. 5 months later saw the NHS consultant, she works with the one I saw privately, and the NHS now is managing the long term treatment. 

Diddidi

I went through this decision process when I was made redundant and then decided to take early retirement. I had various quotes from different providers and in the end just decided to put into a savings account what I would have spent on a policy (£300 per month). That way, I have total control of the funds, no messing about with authorisations and, if I never use it, then it goes to my estate. If I need treatment I’d go for for NHS but perhaps pay for tests etc privately to reduce the waiting game. Having said that, DH was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and NHS was brilliant.

leosayer

After taking redundancy at the end of last year, I rang BUPA to get a quote for continuing cover for my wife and I:

1. Continuous cover including existing conditions with £1k excess was £5,780
2. As a new member excluding existing conditions with a £1k excess including 65% NCD was £2,595.

I ended up speaking to a broker ActiveQuote who are mentioned on the MSE page linked below and we now pay £120 per month for my wife, myself and our 20 year-old son for BUPA cover like no.2 above.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-health-insurance/