Norwitch Union Health Care

Norwitch Union Health Care

Health Insurance / Norwich Union Health Insurance / UK

I had a health insurance plan with Norwich Union and on a routine health check-up my wife was indicated of a possibility of a life threatening disease and was suggested to perform additional investigation. My wife contacted the NU helpline and they instructed her to go to her GP who

shell refer her to a specialist. This is what my wife did and the GP referred her to a specialist. When my wife phoned the NU helpline to inform them about the development, they told her that they will not cover this since this is 'primary care'. In spite that my wife went to the specialist, did the

recommended additional investigation and paid for the service. When my wife reported to her GP what has happened, the GP was outraged and told her to fill in the NU claim form and send it to them. My wife did so and couple of days latter my wife got a phone call from NU telling her that they will not cover these expenses because this is 'primary care'. She never received this in a written form, nor she got back the documents she sent in support of the case, including the receipt from the additional investigation. I asked the health care administrator at my work to investigate this case and he came with the report from which it became clear that NU should have covered these expenses, BUT: =============================================

"If however, the GP had referred the claimant to a Specialist or consultant, who had then recommended the relevant tests / scans and subsequently received the results, it seems clear this would not have

been regarded as primary care and therefore covered by the above scheme. Whilst this may seem somewhat illogical, it is important to distinguish between treatment provided by the NHS and otherwise, with only the latter being covered by the above scheme." ========================================================== It is clear that the NU helpline personnel deliberately misled my wife in order to avoid covering the expenses which they should have covered. The following section from the report clearly indicates that: =========================================

"It is important all claimants follow the claims procedure laid down by the insurer, as failure to do so may result in the claim being declined. Referring to the membership documents is recommended before contacting NU, as they specify the procedures to be followed and information required by NU at the outset. However, it is equally important the claimant receives help and guidance from the NU helpline and this appears to have been lacking in this case. It is unlikely many people will fully understand the meaning of the phrase “primary care”. Any insurer will stop short of advising how to make a clim though, since it could be construed as encouraging a claim that would otherwise be disallowed." =========================================== The last section is particularly annoying. This is equivalent as if I would stop short of advising the insurer on how to collect the insurance premiums since 'this could be constructed as encouraging them to collect premiums from the people that are not insured by them'. Total nonsense.

Finally, I would suggest to anybody looking for a private medical cover in the UK not to consider the Norwich Union Health Care plan. Some other health insurance provider might look more expensive, but there in nothing more expensive than putting your hard earned money down the drain, what you would be doing if you opt for NU. Boris Click this link to e-mail the message author: //