Private Health Insurance for pensioners... Worth it?
Discussion
Mrs P and I are moving back to the UK having lived abroad for a few years. We're slightly concerned about health care (not that we have any existing conditions) and as we are just entering official 'old age' we are wondering whether private insurance for oldies is worth it?
Any experiences/comments welcomed....
Any experiences/comments welcomed....
The problem is that as you get older the premiums get higher with each renewal due to the increased risk.
I know someone in a similar position, who was paying around £600 month, and decided instead to put the money into a savings account and use the NHS where needed. He now has between £20-£30k in the "health account" to use as when he feels private treatment is needed instead of the NHS.
A lot depends on how much you want/are able to spend in relation to how much you want to mitigate risk or inconvenience.
I know someone in a similar position, who was paying around £600 month, and decided instead to put the money into a savings account and use the NHS where needed. He now has between £20-£30k in the "health account" to use as when he feels private treatment is needed instead of the NHS.
A lot depends on how much you want/are able to spend in relation to how much you want to mitigate risk or inconvenience.
You’d have to run the numbers based on what quotes you get from the insurance companies. As an example, a top of the range prostatectomy in London is £20k including all time in hospital - this is the line of work I’m involved in managing. We’ve seen some older patients who are paying £15k a year in premiums. Not worth it in my book. I would personally put the money aside in a savings account or similar. It’s also far easier to not have to go through the insurance companies each time and some of them can be very picky about claims.
Edited by Tebbers on Monday 2nd May 05:06
Edited by Tebbers on Monday 2nd May 05:07
Just had renewal for our work (small company) cover and the premium for wife & I is £13K. I’ll be 65 at renewal, wife is a couple of years younger.
I nearly dropped out last year when it was £11K but I didn’t want to tempt fate, even though we’ve had very little cause to use the cover in the past, and even then the claims have been small. Then a small lump in wife’s leg was found to be cancerous so something bad happened anyway. The cover was useless for that - the consultant, a renowned expert in that field, doesn’t believe in private work and generally mentioning we had it was met with a frosty reception.
OTOH the wife of a colleague down South has been having private cancer treatment for some years and he thinks the cover is brilliant - my impression is that if you’re in the SE the area is much more geared up for private care. His premium is much more normal so ours does just seem to down to age.
I nearly dropped out last year when it was £11K but I didn’t want to tempt fate, even though we’ve had very little cause to use the cover in the past, and even then the claims have been small. Then a small lump in wife’s leg was found to be cancerous so something bad happened anyway. The cover was useless for that - the consultant, a renowned expert in that field, doesn’t believe in private work and generally mentioning we had it was met with a frosty reception.
OTOH the wife of a colleague down South has been having private cancer treatment for some years and he thinks the cover is brilliant - my impression is that if you’re in the SE the area is much more geared up for private care. His premium is much more normal so ours does just seem to down to age.
I'm currently having a possible bowel cancer looked at. Private company washed their hands off me during the initial consultation saying that the NHS would be quicker???
It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
croyde said:
I'm currently having a possible bowel cancer looked at. Private company washed their hands off me during the initial consultation saying that the NHS would be quicker???
It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
Yours and your colleague’s cases sound like limitations of the cover you’ve got.It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
To be fair, my experience - our company cover is with Axa PPP or whatever they’re called now - leaves me in no doubt they’re there if we need them. In my wife’s recent case they said do whatever you need to do and they’d cover it. They offered to help find relevant specialists for the relatively rare form of cancer she was diagnosed with. We do have the ‘every option box ticked’ and no limits cover though.
My wife had two side issues which the cancer guy wanted looking at. One just got lost and I hit a complete brick wall so we did go private for that. The other one we managed to contact a specialist nurse at our local hospital and she had wife in front of a consultant the same week.
croyde said:
I'm currently having a possible bowel cancer looked at. Private company washed their hands off me during the initial consultation saying that the NHS would be quicker???
It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
Jesus. It's been over a month since my GP got an email from the private GP and I have just had stool and blood samples taken.
Now a ten day wait until my GP gets the results. Bet I have to chase again.
I'm 60 this year and it's a company scheme. Been great for little things and getting seen quickly and at your convenience but it seems big stuff and they are not interested.
Workmate was blue lighted to hospital to find they had luekemia. Insurance wasn't interested as they said it was an emergency admission.
Premium for me is about £3000 a year so not as much as some on here are paying. My ex wife was paying £11k a year at age 50 and had to drop out.
Love the ads that claim premiums from as little as £50 a month.
We pay £2k per year for the two of us (55 & 60)
Cant imagine what extras you get for £11k
In general cancer treatment has always been considered to best via NHS, as that's where the resources are, although our cover actually covers full Oncology treatment
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