Access to private treatment is valuable, and costs of private treatment continue to rise, which in turn leads to higher premiums.
The following are ways in which you may be able to reduce your premium. There are pros and cons to each, which will differ according to your personal circumstances, and the premium savings will vary.
Not all of the options shown will be available to everyone.
Many of our health plans allow you to choose a range of optional benefits and benefit limits, for example, enhanced Out-patient or Cancer Care benefits. Reducing these options and tailoring your plan can help reduce your premiums at renewal.
Pros
Pay lower premiums.
Tailor your cover to include only the benefits you need.
Cons
Care should be taken when reducing your cover and the impact this may have any on future treatment.
With medical treatment costs increasing, reducing your benefits could lead to you having to self-fund part of your claim.
WPA provides an extensive choice of hospitals as standard. Other hospitals are available with the Premium Hospitals option. Premium Hospitals are often centres of excellence that are primarily based in Central London. This could save you money if you choose to exclude them from your cover.
Pros
Save money if you exclude Premium Hospitals.
Access to over 1,000 hospitals nationwide as standard with freedom to choose where you go for treatment.
Cons
Reduces your choice of hospitals and consultants.
A Qualifying Period will apply if adding Premium Hospitals, which may delay your treatment.
On many of our plans you can choose a Shared Responsibility level - the higher the level, the lower your premium will be. The same applies if you have chosen a more traditional Excess option on your plan.
Pros
Keep more money in your bank account.
With Shared Responsibility or Excess, once you've paid the capped limit there is no reduction in benefits available.
Shared Responsibility can be better than an Excess as you will always get back a percentage of every eligible claim.
Cons
With Shared Responsibility, if you claim you will pay a percentage of the costs capped to the limit chosen.
You can increase your Shared Responsibility or Excess as many steps as you like, but can only reduce one step at each renewal.
Transferring to a new plan can offer significant savings, with options to tailor your cover and choose a level of Shared Responsibility or Excess.
Pros
Pay lower premiums.
Tailor your cover to include only the benefits you need.
Gain access to benefits which may not be available on your current plan.
Cons
Care should be taken when transferring your cover to a new plan to ensure your cover is suitable for your needs.
You may be required to undergo a form of medical underwriting, which may lead to personal exclusions being applied.
The scheme is available to existing WPA members who introduce new members living in separate households. Up to five referrals can be made per household, per Policy/Scheme Year.
Recommend a friendIf you have an existing health insurance plan there are options available for you to switch your cover to WPA. This may provide more flexibility with benefits, a greater choice of options to lower premiums as well as our award-winning customer service.
Find out more about switching