Want to get more out of your health insurance? Here’s how…

When you take out private health insurance you have the option to add extras at a cost. These are things such as dental, optical or travel insurance, and a private GP service. If these are something you are interested in please read on.

Private dental insurance:

When choosing your private medical insurance policy, have you considered the benefits of opting for a policy which offers a level of cover for dental claims? This policy will allow you to cover the cost of some of your private dental fees and is often provided on a cashback basis.

The majority of us will be looking for a private dentist to cover the cost of our treatments, which will inevitably result in an increase in cost. This is down to fewer NHS dentists allowing new patients in. If you do not wish to buy a stand-alone dental policy, there are a number of health insurance providers who will offer dental add-on to your policies.

Travel insurance cover:

For people who have a pre-existing medical condition, travel insurance can be an expensive policy. However, if you have health insurance, why not add it onto your cover? For this add-on, you will not have to answer a huge list of questions regarding your medical history. Since the arrival of Covid-19, the options from the market have reduced, however, some insurers will still offer this to new members.

If you buy travel insurance as an add-on to your private medical insurance, this is on a ‘fit to travel’ basis. If you have any pre-existing medical conditions you can ask your GP/specialist for confirmation you are fit to travel, to avoid any issues if you need to make a claim.

Private GP:

If you are looking for a private GP surgery, there will almost certainly be one within your local area. Using a private GP surgery doesn’t mean you are no longer going to be registered at you NHS surgery. You can self-fund your private GP appointments and you can choose the length of appointment time. This is especially useful for people with complex medical conditions. Although your health insurance is likely to offer remote GP appointments via app or telephone, if you want to have cover for face-to-face private GP appointments, you would need to include the add-on at the start, or renewal, of your policy.