The team at SMP Healthcare would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year. For our clients both old and new we look forward to working with you again in 2020

If you have a health insurance policy either as an individual/ family membership or as part of a company policy, it is essential that you pre-authorise any treatment that you have. No matter which insurer your policy is with, pre-authorisation of treatment is written within the terms and conditions of your policy and for a very good reason. There are a number of reasons why the insurers need you to pre-authorise including: Is the treatment eligible for cover? When you have been advised by your GP that you need to see a specialist for further medical investigations, your GP would…

From inside of our brokerage in Chelmsford we have seen a lot of changes in the health insurance market over the last few years. So what will be new for 2020? Without giving away our age, a couple of us in the office just may have been working in the health insurance sector for a number of years and the advancement in technology is certainly playing a significant part in the development of our industry. Digital technology With high tech apps making the access to health advice and GP appointments even easier, we wonder what the next 10 years will…

Lianne and the team at SMP Healthcare would like to wish all of our clients, old and new a very happy Christmas. We look forward to working with you again in 2020.

We all know how easy it is to over indulge at Christmas and before you know it, you’ve gained a few unwanted pounds! With the recommended daily average calorie intake for women at 2,000 and 2,500 for men it’s easy to see why you can quickly exceed your allowance when the average Christmas banquet festivities holds a whopping of 7,000 calories, it’s not surprising that the weight begins to pile on. How can you keep the calories down? With just a few tweaks here and there, you can still enjoy all your Christmas favourites without expanding your waistline! Choose the…

With so much planning, time and preparation in the weeks leading up to Christmas, it is no wonder that so many people end up with symptoms of stress at Christmas. How you deal with the symptoms before they develop further can have a massive impact on your recovery. What can cause stress at Christmas? Spending much more money than usual The expectation to socialise Loneliness Grief or sadness can be heightened Additional shopping, cooking and cleaning ready for the big day Family arguments Social pressure to have the “best” Christmas Stress can be caused by one or a number of…

So here we are, deep in December and wondering if we will have snow this year? In deepest darkest Essex it looks unlikely we will see any of the white stuff but who knows what 2020 will bring. Our health as we get older: As we start to get older our immune systems do not work quite as well as they used to leaving us more prone to winter viruses such as cold and flu. In the UK, anyone over 65 is entitled to a free cold and flu jab via the NHS, a good way to protect against germs…

When you start looking at private medical insurance, please remember that a new policy may exclude pre-existing medical conditions. Medical conditions that were diagnosed prior to your policy start date, that are deemed to be a risk by the underwriter could be excluded. The exclusion applied would normally show as the condition itself and anything “related to or arising from” it. As some medical conditions are linked quite closely together, it is a good idea to think about what would or could be excluded in the future. There are two main types of underwriting which are full medical underwriting and…

We all know that looking after our health is important but I think it‘s true to say that we often avoid exercise. Not because we don’t like it but because we think the only way to exercise is to join a gym, where membership fees can be costly and where we feel awkward or out of place because we’re surrounded by those perfect “Gym Bods”. However, running and jogging is a completely free exercise and apart from it not costing you any money,  the health benefits are huge. Not only can running or jogging improve the health of your heart…

When you look at buying private medical insurance for the first time there are many questions you might have. Any insurance policy you buy should be very specific to your own requirements as there is not a “standard” policy option. Whether you are looking at cover as an individual, family or for your business, what are the 5 questions you really should ask? Will the policy cover my pre-existing conditions? If you are a new customer buying a policy for yourself or your family there are two types of underwriting widely available, full medical underwriting (FMU) or moratorium (MORI).  Depending…