Private healthcare Axa PPP vs Bupa?

[Nickbrapp]

I've been looking at private healthcare for a while, my partner has bupa, which he's not yet had to use.

I was considering joining on to this policy which gives 5% off

I can get Axa PPP though my work, salary sacrifice so it will be cheaper overall.

I'm more concerned about the quality of the cover than the price, I'm only 25, no health issues and in good health day to day.

Any recommendations? Which is better? Which offers better hospitals etc?

Would be looking at standard cover with cancer care.

[Big E 118]

Most of the UK insurers are OK. The thing to look out for is the terms of the different policies they offer.

Look at outpatient cover and limits, same for inpatient and diagnostic tests, different policy excesses for different types of treatment etc. Some will restrict you to consultants signed up to certain schemes which will not offer you the flexibility that you would expect from a private policy.

This is my business sector so I deal with these companies all the time, currently the one I hear the best feedback of are WPA.

Axa-PPP and Bupa will provide you with a similar service, not a lot to chose between them.

[thainy77]

As above, we switched from AXA to BUPA at the start of the year, we haven't seen much difference between the two.

I will add that we had a baby this year and BUPA were great to deal with. Everything was paid in a timely fashion either directly to the relevant doctor or the hospital or we claimed and forwarded on the payment.

[havoc]

Currently with BUPA at work and I'm the administrator for employee benefits also.

BUPA are an insurance company (they all are, I suspect) and behave like it - their 'bedside manner' over the phone is non-existent and they preface every conversation with a caveat that you might not be covered...which is exactly what you don't want to hear when there's something wrong with you.
Also, if you've the wrong sort of policy, when you take it out they'll initially exclude from cover ANYTHING that you've been to the doctors about in the last 2 years, or anything that might be related to those visits.
Like I said...insurance company...


I don't have anyone else to compare them to though, so listen to the comments above.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

havoc said:

they preface every conversation with a caveat that you might not be covered...which is exactly what you don't want to hear when there's something wrong with you.
.

All policies have exclusions. Before they've had a chance to investigate the claim fully, I'd rather be told I might not be covered than be told I definitely am covered, and then find out later I'm not.

[SlimRick]

We have Bupa family cover through my work, and on the two occasions we've had to use them it's been hard work.

You're expected to visit your GP for diagnosis, find a specialist who accepts Bupa, revisit the GP for a referral to the specialist, phone Bupa back to make sure it's covered and then call the specialist back with the reference number.

Not quite straightforward process in my experience but I don't have any comparisons with other companies to make.

[GetCarter]

SlimRick said:

We have Bupa family cover through my work, and on the two occasions we've had to use them it's been hard work.

You're expected to visit your GP for diagnosis, find a specialist who accepts Bupa, revisit the GP for a referral to the specialist, phone Bupa back to make sure it's covered and then call the specialist back with the reference number.

This is true, but after the initial GP visit (for me) the whole thing was done in 20 mins on the internet and telephone, so not sure how it could be easier.