The Exeter health insurance review

The Exeter is a mutual insurance company that is well-known for its health insurance offering. As a mutual it is not run for the benefit of shareholders, instead being owned by their members (i.e. their customers). All profits are put back into the running of the business, placing customers, not investors, at its forefront. In this way you know that the Exeter always tries to constantly improve its service-offerings and customer-satisfaction.

Types of Health Insurance Available

When it comes to health insurance, The Exeter offers a pretty simple model that is easy to understand, and simple to tailor to your needs. This is always handy when it comes to something like buying insurance, since the clearest insurance policies are always the best.

The Exeter’s healthcare insurance policy offering is Health+, a private health insurance policy that is designed to get its customers “the fastest possible diagnosis, and the best possible treatment”.

Every Health+ policy begins with core cover. Every core cover provides the following:

• Unlimited in-patient & day-patient treatment: Your treatment in hospital will be covered by Health+’s core cover. In addition, tests such as CT, MRI and PET scans, plus treatment and consultations related to diagnosed cancer, are included under core cover also.
• Complete cancer cover: every Health+ member has cover for all stages of cancer, including access to the latest drugs and treatments.
• Out-patient surgery: if an out-patient surgical procedure is needed, it can be performed by a specialist at any hospital on the policy’s hospital list.
• Private ambulance cover: when an in-patient or day-patient has medical treatment whilst they travel to, between or from hospital, Health+ provides cover for a private road ambulance.
• Home nursing: if required, home nursing is made available to in-patients and day-patients following treatment.
• Parental accommodation: if you have a child on your policy and they require treatment in hospital, Health+ pays for your accommodation so you can stay with your child until they recover.
• Post-op physiotherapy: Exeter’s core cover here will provide up to three sessions of postoperative out-patient physiotherapy following in-patient, day-patient or out-patient surgery if needed.
• NHS cash benefit: If it’s easier to get in-patient treatment under the NHS which would otherwise be covered under the policy, then Health+ will pay out £150 per night for up to 30 nights.

All members also get access to the Health Wise, a free and convenient app that provides speedy medical advice and treatment, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world. These services include:

• GP on demand and prescription service
• Second medical opinion
• Lifestyle coaching
• Diet & nutritional advice

After you’ve signed up to Health+ and its core cover, you can then begin to tailor the policy to your own individual needs with the various additional options that will enhance your coverage.

• Additional out-patient cover: out-patient cover can be upgraded to include specialist fees and diagnostic tests like X-rays, ECGs and pathology tests at any hospital on the policy’s chosen hospital list.
• Unlimited out-patient diagnostics: out-patient cover on the core cover level of Health+ is limited to either £500 or £1,000 per year, however this can be upgraded with unlimited out-patient diagnostics. This means that out-patient diagnostic tests are covered in full, with only specialist consultation fees deducted from the chosen out-patient limit.
• Additional mental health cover: with this coverage addition, your Health+ policy will cover specialist treatments as an in-patient or day-patient including accommodation and nursing for up to 28 days. Moreover, consultations and treatment by psychologists and cognitive behavioural therapists are also fully covered.
• Additional therapies cover: after gaining a GP or specialist referral, your Health+ coverage will give you access to a physiotherapist, chiropractor, osteopath, acupuncturist, podiatrist, speech therapist, pain clinic or two consultations with a dietician.

After you have decided what cover you want, you can choose to add children, under 21 (or under 25 if in full time education) and spouse or partner if you like. Your yearly premium will change if family members are added mid-year.

What’s Excluded

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There are various exclusions that are common in most healthcare insurance policies such as pre-existing conditions, medical problems related to drug abuse, and plastic surgery. When it comes to policy restrictions, the value of your chosen policy excess will be deducted from the eligible benefits for each person, each policy year. There will also be a set of choices of hospitals and clinics throughout the UK that you can use, depending on the list you choose.

The Key Benefits

The Exeter offers several benefits that we like. Its core cover never limits in-patient and day-patient treatment, with any treatment made available to policyholders for as long as it’s needed. There additional benefits such as provision of a home-nurse is also great to see as core-cover, since sometimes patients still need nursing once they leave hospital.