No cover provided as less than 6 weeks on NHS

Click here if this is your business
Aviva Health Insurance
★☆☆☆☆
1.4
12.0% of users recommend this
  • Customer service

  • Value For Money

Click here if this is your business

Guest's review of Aviva Health Insurance

“No cover provided as less than 6 weeks on NHS”

★☆☆☆☆

written by on 11/05/2017

I've been part of a company scheme with Aviva health for 5 years. So a lot of premiums paid for me, my wife and two young children. Tried to use the policy for the first time today.
1. 30 minutes to get through on the phone
2. Insurance turned down.

It seems my company paid for the cheap policy Optima that seems to have multiple clauses not to pay out for any reason.
1. My local NHS can offer treatment in 5.5 weeks. The policy only kicks in for treatments if the waiting list is over 6 weeks.
2. There are multiple weasel phrases that state they can consider any case chronic at their decision and then they do not pay out. I saw multiple reviews with people complaining on this - I didn't get this far as the treatment on NHS can be in just less than the 6 weeks.

This was not made clear to me when I signed up. It's int he T&C that they have in the background.

Buyer beware. I'm going to court to get my 5 years's payments back. Not a small amount.

I'd gone for the private medical insurance for quick treatment and also to avoid higher infection rates at NHS, and a more comfortable room/service. My local NHS hospital has KPIs 10 to 20% lower than national average for food hygiene, ward cleanliness and other points. So I am disgusted. It's the first time I've got this upset in 20 years.

My wife's operation will mean she's out of action for 6 to 8 weeks. The delay is pushing this into a date when we will also now need to cancel a holiday we'd booked and we'll lose the deposit. We didn't know about the health issue when the holiday was booked. The travel insurance will only cover us for amounts above the deposit which is the same as the excess. These policies must talk to each other.....

I read an article from 2010 online where the person at Aviva who came up with that rule was interviewed on this policy. They sold it as an added value!!! I just hope they don't fall into the same trap themselves or his partner would be leaving them. Although I would assume they would use another policy as this one is not worth the paper it's written on....
As far as I can tell it's only valid for issues where the waiting time is over 6 weeks for an NHS operation, and it's not a serious issue. For these health issues for the time I've had the insurance it would be cheaper just to go private without insurance. There are also multiple conditions it's not valid for. I think it would be easier for them just to say what it does cover.
I thank this website for having a space for me to rant. Aviva were not interested. They said they would call back with more information but they didn't.

  • Yes

    Have you made a claim?

  • Customer service

  • Value For Money

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 4 2