Private Medical Insurance
It can take up to 4 months to be referred for an initial appointment on the NHS. With Private Medical Insurance you will secure a consultant’s appointment within days.
What You Get With PMI
- Choose when to be treated.
- Choose where you are treated.
- Choose who treats you.
- Access to treatments not available on the NHS.
- 24 hour “Crisis Care”.
- 25 years nursing & pharmaceutical experience.
- Simplified process for you.
- We complete your claim & deal with the insurers.
- We research and book your appointments.
- We are on your side.
Frequently Asked Questions
The NHS provides world-class healthcare to UK residents to the best of its ability. However, times are hard, budgets are tight and waiting lists are growing every year. Private Healthcare helps you to be seen sooner, gives you a wider choice of treatments or drugs, negates the effect of the postcode lottery and allows you to be treated and recover in the comfort and privacy of a private hospital.
PMI cover allows you to make choices and be treated privately for all elective surgeries – ie those which are non-emergencies. Each policy will have its own terms and conditions but generally speaking, when your GP suggests you need elective treatment, you can turn to your private health cover to choose where and who you see. This offers more choice, can allow for more treatment options and almost always enables you to be seen sooner.
If you have seen your GP and have been told you need a referral for treatment, you can choose to go private. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t sure, you can call Westcountry Health Care and make an inquiry. We will help you with every step, finding and suggesting the best hospitals and consultants, helping you to arrange for a referral from your GP, handling the claim paperwork and ensuring your complete recovery. Generally we can help you to secure an appointment within days.
No. Depending on the underwriting of the scheme you may have to answer some medical questions.
No. However, sometimes insurance companies can agree to cover conditions in the future, if you can prove you have not suffered any effects for a period of time. We will advise you about the two types of underwriting available for Health Insurance policies. A moratorium means that any conditions you are aware of suffering during the 5 years before starting your insurance policy, may be excluded. However, if you have not required any medication, treatment or advice about those conditions during the first 2 years of your policy, you may then be covered for them once more. You could also choose a fully medically underwritten policy which requires you to formally declare every previous condition, and the insurance company will then decide upfront whether to cover it, or to exclude it, either completely or for a period of time. If you are switching policies and have been fully medically underwritten to this point, any excluded conditions will remain but any conditions developed during your insured period will be covered. If you are buying Private Medical Health Insurance for your employees, and have more than 20 employees to cover, you can choose to have medical health disregarded which simply means everyone is covered for everything regardless of their personal history.
The majority of Insurers will simply cease cover if you cease paying. A couple of insurers will insist that you continue to pay until the end of the policy. We can advise you of your prospective insurer’s position on this before purchase.
Not necessarily, it depends on the cover you choose. You can opt for a zero excess, or choose from a range of figures to suit you. On a co-payment policy, you pay a percentage of every claim up to a total expense, after which all treatment is covered. Ask our team for advice on this when you purchase and we will explain all your options.
The majority of policies may offer up to 90 days of emergency treatment (only in Europe) but will not cover planned admissions for elective treatment.
UK based Private Medical Health Insurance will not offer this benefit. You will need a travel policy. If you are living abroad we can find you a specialist policy that would offer you both private medical cover in the UK plus a repatriation benefit for your overseas home.
We often don’t truly appreciate the value of our health until we’re ill. When things go wrong, Private Medical Insurance gives you the luxury of choice and control. We simplify the process and take the stress & strain of applying for insurance away from you by taking on the workload by completing your claim and providing a full briefing.
With all the fine detail involved, it only takes one wrong word to invalidate a claim that could save your life in a crisis and support your family if the worst should happen. With so much at stake when quoting for insurance policies like these, call us today and let us help you to get the cover you need. We spent years learning the lingo so that you don’t have to.
Monday to Friday / 8:30am to 5:30pm
An out of hours service
is monitored for callbacks
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Send us your number, we’ll do the rest.
"The help and support that we have been given by Susie Colley at Westcountry Health Care Limited has been incredible. To say that the last few weeks have been awful really is an understatement, but Susie was always at the end of the phone. Susie has the experience from her nursing days to understand the ins and outs of what you’re going through and therefore be able to give you solid in the moment advice. She does this in such a way that you can really understand what’s going but also is so compassionate and kindly, she really makes you feel so comforted in your time of need. She has made the process of getting the help that my husband needed through our health insurance so much quicker and easier because of her knowledge of where to look, who to ask. She really leaves no stone unturned. He had an appointment with a specialist within 2 days, an MRI 2 days after that, and the follow-up later that same week. I can’t stress how much it has helped us having such an experienced and knowledgeable broker to guide us through a pretty horrible time in our lives. Thank you so much Susie! The care that my husband has received both as an inpatient and also since then in his follow-up appointments has been brilliant. We feel very lucky that he has been able to access such brilliant specialists, so quickly, and that he is now on the road to recovery. Thank you everyone!
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- C&O of London , WCHC Customer
"WCHC has been a tower of strength, taking on all difficulties and obstacles standing in my way and relieved me of the stress of having to deal with the insurers direct. Susie has always shown care, kindness, consideration and respect to me… she is passionate about her job and brings steadfast determination and commitment to achieve the best she can for my healthcare. It gives me peace of mind to know that in an emergency, Susie will be there for me.
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- Dee from Exeter , WCHC Customer
"You with such care and patience. Being able to chat with you in a relaxed manner helps enormously. Westcountry Health Care is stress free and to be highly recommended.
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- June from Buckinghamshire , WCHC Customer
Critical Illness cover gives you a lump sum when you get diagnosed with a serious illness.
Income Protection is a way to receive regular payments to sustain your lifestyle and keep your household running.
Covering you from the financial implications of long term sick leave, permanent absence or death of your most vital members of staff.
When staff are ill and require medical attention, a Corporate Health Plan will ensure they have access to speedy diagnosis and treatment.
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