Does anyone have private medical insurance?

[Woody50]

Im thinking of taking out private medical insurance and just wondered what the pros and cons are. Is it like horse insurance where if you have an underlying condition they wont cover it? Do they put exclusions on the policy? Roughly how much would you pay a month. Also what companys are the best.
Look forward to hearing any views

 

[ihatework]

Yup, pretty similar!

Different levels of cover and an element of exclusion, company dependant.

Ive got an all singing, all dancing individual policy as a work benefit which is approx 1.2k per year. That’s with BUPA.

You can probably use a comparison site to look at variations and what you might or might not want covered.

 

[Red-1]

Yes I do, it is very comforting too. I pay around £50 or £60 a month, I think. It comes straight out, before I get paid, hence being vague.

Used it a couple of times, and what I claimed for is still covered. Old problems from before the insurance would not be covered though. Happily, I signed up when I was only 23 years old, so am covered!

 

[IrishMilo]

I have private insurance (medical & dental through BUPA) which my work pay for. Depends on your policy as to what they will or won't cover.

 

[wren123]

Yes I do, it's with bupa and I've used it. They were very good and I still have specialist nurses I can call if I'm concerned.
My sisters waited 8 months for a biopsy of a lymph node for suspected lymphoma, that's since Feb, she had it today. So I think it's essential sadly.
You can get cover for pre existing conditions with some policies.

 

[Lady Jane]

I use an advisor: www.healthinsurancespecialists.co.uk
They do all the legwork, explain it all to you etc etc. They don't charge you.
They know what pre-existing conditions will matter and for how long. It saved me a lot of boring research as previously I had it through work and then retired.
Every year when my renewal comes up they check the market. My friend used them too on my recommendation

 

[Woody50]

Yes I do, it is very comforting too. I pay around £50 or £60 a month, I think. It comes straight out, before I get paid, hence being vague.

Used it a couple of times, and what I claimed for is still covered. Old problems from before the insurance would not be covered though. Happily, I signed up when I was only 23 years old, so am covered!

Who are you with?

 

[Red-1]

Who are you with?

It is through work, not sure which actual company it is with.

 

[Michen]

Yep. Took it out as soon as Covid kicked off having not bothered before. It’s through work, think it costs me around 60/70 quid.

 

[oldie48]

I had it through work for probably 20 years and had several investigations and a couple of ops paid for. When I retired I looked at the cost and decided to pay if I needed to. This is my analysis fwiw. Much nicer to see a consultant when you need to without a long wait, saw one recently for my heart issue and cost was £180 + £92 for ECG. Worth every penny for the chance to sit and talk through my options, I could have my op privately for about £12K but I can't get it done in the current covid situation as I need to go to an NHS hospital. Advised to stay on the NHS list, which I thought was interesting. I had a hysterectomy privately in a private hospital, unfortunately it turned out to be rather less than straightforward and I had a serious haemorrage in recovery. There was only one operating theatre and one set of staff and they had started the next op so I had to wait to go back into theatre. This is something I had never considered but I would now be wary of having an operation in a private hospital as they just don't have the facilities if things go a bit pear shaped and there is unlikely to be a doctor on site in case of an emergency. Much better to go into an NHS hospital even if the food is rubbish. If you have a real emergency, I think the NHS is brilliant (usually) I got my privat insurance through work so I just paid the tax on it and would definitely do it again but if I was having to pay for myself I'd rather put the money away or pay for treatment by increasing my mortgage, borrowing or pay for it out of savings. I was with AXA and I found them easy to deal with and paid up promptly etc.

 

[Woody50]

Oldie48 thats really interesting. Thankyou

 

[Abby-Lou]

Yes get it as perk of my job used it for scan on back and physio and also scan for suspected gallstones. I also cover my parents just keep in mind like horse insurance it goes up every year !

 

[case895]

I have it through work and have used the GP service a couple of times and had ACL reconstruction surgery through it. I used the GP because I can actually book an appointment, rather than stay at home, try to phone (if you can get through) and hope to get seen.

The surgery was great. I was seen quickly, picked when and where I had the MRI and surgery and had my own room in the hospital.