Ex wife having to drop her health insurance

[croyde]

Private cover has made available treatment for aggressive breast cancer, that even her GP said that she would not have under the NHS.

Plus the fact that scans and checks for everything are done pronto with 24 hour access to her consultant.

It has made a very difficult time easier for her and the family as she still has treatment 5 years later.

Her insurance is through her own Ltd company shared with the 2 other directors.

The other 2 dont want the cover anymore as its very expensive.

I naively thought that private cover was around £1200 a year but Ive just seen their quote.

£18,000 yes thousand a year split evenly between the 3 before any tax implications. ie 6000 each.

Is that the usual cost of what is basically unlimited cover??

Means she has to now take out her own separate cover but who on Earth will insure her now and if so, at what price.

[Stegel]

My wife (56) is covered by the Pru (my employer covers me and the children) and that's around £385 per month, so similar ball park. She had thyroid cancer just over 5 years ago - they covered all treatment, but after the fifth anniversary of first treatment the check ups etc. are not covered so we pay for those now. They will cover any new issues, or indeed (God forbid) a reoccurrence or associated issues, but like your ex-wife's situation, we cannot move cover as the exclusions could impact her.

Is it not possible for the two co-directors to simply leave the scheme and leave your ex-wife's cover running?

[Sheepshanks]

croyde said:

Is that the usual cost of what is basically unlimited cover??

It's not the usual cost and it's obviously skewed by her history.

We have cover for 3 directors - for me and wifey, in our late fifties, ours is around £2K, although I've just had a bunch of treatment (first time in my working life I've ever used private health care) and I'm expecting it to bump up at renewal.

My colleagues (mid 40's) have cover for their families and theirs is around the £1200 mark. They've both had a bit of claims history for themselves, don't know about their wives/families.

My FIL carried on paying for cover when he retired from work but stopped when it got to £500/mth in his mid-70's.

[J4CKO]

I have it included and pay £50 a month for my wife, the minute you have a problem or get old, they will try and get rid of you, that is how insurance works and back to the NHS you go.

[amancalledrob]

croyde said:

Private cover has made available treatment for aggressive breast cancer, that even her GP said that she would not have under the NHS.

Plus the fact that scans and checks for everything are done pronto with 24 hour access to her consultant.

It has made a very difficult time easier for her and the family as she still has treatment 5 years later.

Her insurance is through her own Ltd company shared with the 2 other directors.

The other 2 dont want the cover anymore as its very expensive.

I naively thought that private cover was around £1200 a year but Ive just seen their quote.

£18,000 yes thousand a year split evenly between the 3 before any tax implications. ie 6000 each.

Is that the usual cost of what is basically unlimited cover??

Means she has to now take out her own separate cover but who on Earth will insure her now and if so, at what price.

I work for a private medical insurer and this isn't an unusual price by any means. Your wife may have the option of continuing as a personal member with the insurer that's provided the corporate cover. If her intention is to use the cover for her existing cancer treatment then the insurer may provide cover for related consultations and tests even if she chooses not to include outpatient cover (we do). Choosing no outpatient cover could reduce the premium.

[bmwmike]

Yeah I think most folks are in for a shock when they finally privatise the NHS. Pre existing conditions still sends shiver down my spine after being exposed to north American healthcare and insurance for 3 years.

[croyde]

Thanks folks.

Certainly an eye opener especially for a serious on going illness.

I never bothered with insurance as when she got hers, when still healthy, I had already been through a heart attack and being that is what is likely to off me and Im still on meds 9 years later no cover for me.

Well non within my budget anyway.

Seems she has the option to continue cover but the insurance company are wriggling out and saying that currently its a deal for all three directors.

She'll have to start a new policy with reduced cover.

[craig1912]

J4CKO said:

I have it included and pay £50 a month for my wife, the minute you have a problem or get old, they will try and get rid of you, that is how insurance works and back to the NHS you go.

Unless your are very young you'd struggle to get cover at that price and your second comment is bks!

[craig1912]

croyde said:

Thanks folks.

Certainly an eye opener especially for a serious on going illness.

I never bothered with insurance as when she got hers, when still healthy, I had already been through a heart attack and being that is what is likely to off me and Im still on meds 9 years later no cover for me.

Well non within my budget anyway.

Seems she has the option to continue cover but the insurance company are wriggling out and saying that currently its a deal for all three directors.

She'll have to start a new policy with reduced cover.

She should be able to get a continuation option where the company scheme is dissolved and have a policy in her own name.
Just because you have had a heart attack doesn't mean you can't get cover and also doesn't mean that the cost will be more than someone who hasn't had a heart attack. You may find the insurer won't cover any future issues with your heart but other conditions would be coverd

[Munter]

bmwmike said:

Yeah I think most folks are in for a shock when they finally privatise the NHS. Pre existing conditions still sends shiver down my spine after being exposed to north American healthcare and insurance for 3 years.

There are plenty of other options in the world other than the American system.

[Sheepshanks]

craig1912 said:

J4CKO said:

I have it included and pay £50 a month for my wife, the minute you have a problem or get old, they will try and get rid of you, that is how insurance works and back to the NHS you go.

Unless your are very young you'd struggle to get cover at that price and your second comment is bks!

I read it as J4CKO getting "free" cover and he adds his wife for £50. That sounds right to me, perhaps even a bit expensive if he works for a big company. As I said earlier, even in our little company a couple of the directors are getting family cover for £100/mth.

[craig1912]

Sheepshanks said:

I read it as J4CKO getting "free" cover and he adds his wife for £50. That sounds right to me, perhaps even a bit expensive if he works for a big company. As I said earlier, even in our little company a couple of the directors are getting family cover for £100/mth.

yep apologies £50pm for his wife is probably about right depending on age- I pay £160 pm for family cover in a "group" scheme which is quite a bit less than individual cover.

....his second comment is still bks though!

[Vixpy1]

Out of interest, who are people using to provide the cover?

[craig1912]

Vixpy1 said:

Out of interest, who are people using to provide the cover?

There aren't many companies and what is right for one person isn't right for another- your choice is between BUPA, AXA (and their other brands such as Health on Line), Aviva, Vitality, WPA, Exeter and some other very small players

[Sheepshanks]

craig1912 said:

....his second comment is still bks though!

Isn't that the point the OP is making - it gets priced to the point that it's untenable?

[craig1912]

Sheepshanks said:

Isn't that the point the OP is making - it gets priced to the point that it's untenable?

Can't really comment as not enough information in the first post- but £6000 is ridiculous, also don't know who the provider is.
Individual policies and smaller group policies tend to work on "book" rates with some allowance for claims or no claims discounts so there is generally a maximum you can pay even having lots of or a large claim.
It's probably worth using a specialist broker to source a better deal.

[Sheepshanks]

swerni said:

Vixpy1 said:

Out of interest, who are people using to provide the cover?

I've used PPP, AXA and BUPA over the years, all good

We're using AXA-PPP at the moment and I was impressed during my recent that they happliy agreed to let me see two consultants at the same time - I feared they'd want to do it sequentially.

A bit of a one-off, but I had an issue with BUPA some years ago where they approved (in writing, which was unusual) some treatment for my wife on the basis that she would be an in-patient. On the day, it was decided it could be done on a out-patient basis. BUPA refused to pay, despite it being much cheaper! The person I dealt with had a massive attitude problem too. I left it to our HR department to sort out.

[Sheepshanks]

craig1912 said:

Can't really comment as not enough information in the first post- but £6000 is ridiculous,

It's probably worse than that as likely most of the premium is based on the OP's ex-wife.

[croyde]

Weirdly out of the 18000 for the 3 of them, hers is the lowest cost at 5000 something.

The deal is done through a broker.

Not sure who the actual insurer is, she has mentionef them and they were a well known name.

[Sheepshanks]

croyde said:

Weirdly out of the 18000 for the 3 of them, hers is the lowest cost at 5000 something.

I don't know how it works - maybe they just calculate a total premium for the group and divide it according to age? Mine has always been more expensive than my colleagues, even though they've claimed and I hadn't.