CS Healthcare - www.cshealthcare.co.uk

Civil Service Healthcare. Every year ithe policy went up and up in price. Decided to close up with the policy and asked for alternatives and they OFFERED me one which I was interested in and then they told me I could not take up this one because I was not 74, I am 76. I had the choice of just the one we were on so I asked for details on the policy we were on twice, just for myself not my husband and they have sent me nothing. Not impressed. Very disappointed.

I have always said the sign of a great company is how they put things right when something goes wrong. Well CS Healthacare have failed miserably in my opinion in this area. Unaware to me or them they received a referral letter from my consultant on 10th Feb, they called me on 15th Feb to say they were waiting for this. I then wasted quite a bit of time obtaining the same letter and emailing it to them on 17th with a chase up on the 18th. nothing heard back by 22nd Feb so I called in to be told the claim was approved on 19th and a letter sent in the post to me that day, still waiting for it today 24th Feb. I find this quite appalling between the 10th and 22nd Feb I only had contact with them once and that was incorrect information. It took them 9 days to aauthorise the claim when they say most things are dealt with within 2 days. I was then offered an insulting £25 M&S voucher for the inconvenience. I will not be renewing with the next year and will go to one of the larger companies. You have been warned.

I was verbally authorised post discharge home care, desperately needed as I live alone. The consultant described and authorised it by phone but forgot to back it up by email report (not that complex- I live alone and need help cooking and dressing etc).

He went on holiday and now it appears CS healthcare won't authorise the funds as they don't have the report. Spent hours on phone : they wouldn't accept the GP report and I am lying in bed unable to wash or feed myself due to these heartless bureaucrats...

Never again. Shame on them to be so heartless. They have put me through hell and uncertainty for want of a back up form when they know it's authorised. His PA is doing her best to get him to email them. Why the verbal confirmation or one of his colleagues reports wasn't enough is beyond me. Two hospitals have told me that they have never come across such a difficult private health insurance company. Shame on them. Living alone, this could be life or death. I am so upset art the lack of care and cruel heartlessness when you're alone.

I've been with them for >4 years and am now leaving because of a basic failure to allocate the correct patient care-route for my wife.

I have had several "run ins" with the top management of this Civil Service orientated organisation,and have found the top tier of managers sadly lacking in expertise.

The way the company has been run has not pleased me.

How it manages monies that comes by in way of premiums, and how these annual premiums rise and rise out of proportion with average RPI's and any other index you care to mention, does not please me.

These excessive rises only comes about because of inefficiency.

They ran a publicity campaign a few years ago to gain more Membership as loads were leaving - it was a very successful membership recruitment exercise BUT it overwhelmed the company and ADMIN COSTS went up 40-50%.

They had failed to anticipate what happens when the dam bursts.

Like all companies, they solve money problems by increasing membership fees. In the short time I have been with them my premiums have more than doubled !

We all know as one gets older, premiums rise (<5%) per year.

We all know companies rely to some extent on "Investments" to capitalise on the large sums swilling around in bank. CS Healthcare "LOST" 18% of their investments one year, whilst a competitor gained 18%.

Poor decisions on where to invest the money is why that money went down the drain. Experience should have guided them, but it didn't. That's why it remains a small struggling company.

The present CEO is now leaving after giving less than 2 years service - I wonder why?

These top layer men are superbly rewarded, but not well enough it seems.

Long story short, CS Healthcare does not CARE enough at the sharp end.

Money is tight, and I can't see it survive.

The handling of what happens after a claim is first analysed and "what happens next" does not equate with what it says on the tin I'm sorry to say.

They take your money and dish out decisions that no PHI company could be proud of. The publicity blurb is great, but take it with excessive salt.

My family have been with CS Healthcare for three years. Unfortunately my wife and I have fallen upon some ill health this year. It seems their only motivation is to find exclusions in order to avoid making payment. In some cases they refer to obscure terms and conditions that there is no denying you have signed up to, but are unreasonable and in complete opposition to the point of health insurance. These are providers to avoid at all costs.

A nightmare. I am on AXA with work, but my wife and son are with CS Healthcare.

They have pre-determined that they will not treat a condition, despite referals, consultants' reports and evidence provided (all at my own expense). The underwriters appear to spend their days trying to link symptoms (as opposed to underlying conditions) to potential exclusions.

Suffice to say I will be moving my family onto my work policy, who have been excellent so far. The doctors and consultants have all mentioned the problems with CS Healthcare. Avoid like the plague (and don't get the plague while covered by them, as it'll be excluded under Policy XYZ)

I have been a member of Cs Health care since a child. My parents had me on the books when it was called CsMA health care , and I have remained a customer and now have all my family 'health' insured through Cs Health.

Over the years I have had a number of ocassions when I have had to undergo MRI scans, X-rays, surgery etc. Any thing that was not an emergency would have typically taken weeks and presenting my CS Health always resulted in nothing more than a 48 hour medical service being supplied. Sometimes the same day.

I have been fortunate to be directed to a superb private hospital, 'The Manor', which from my experience has always been excellent. Quite often the consultant was there immediately after the tests etc to give me a report.

Im on an 85% scheme which means CS Health have always paid 85% of any bill. This makes opting for private completely affordable.

I dont know if I have had my monies worth compared to the total Ive paid in monthly bills but I do know, having this excellent service in place has provided peace of mind on a number of ocassions when my family have needed medical service and not wanted to suffer the anxiety of weeks of waiting for either the service or the results.

I cant fault it. Easy phone calls to a UK office, immediate answers, very quick medical provision, affordable costs, and peace of mind.

You might find it cheaper, but probably not better.

CSHealthcare, recommended to me as a good cheap health insurer so it's renewal time for me and I thought I would help you make a choice before handing over your hard-earned cash.

So I took out my cover in August 2011, all inclusive, nice premium and looked great value for money. That's where my positive experience ended!

About 6 weeks after I was involved in a minor accident where I broke my nose. Seemed to heal OK but afterwards I had problems breathing. Checked out by GP and referred for a consultants appointment for a deviated nasal septum.

The audacity of me to make a claim so soon. CSHealthcare refused treatment immediately and demanded my medical records from the GP (fair enough I thought as I had only been with them a short time) So days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Eventually 5 months after declining my cover pending further investigation, the man from CSHealthcare he say yes.

Having not slept for almost 5 months I was just grateful to at last ending my misery. Surgery was completed by an excellent consultant in a hospital about 40 miles from home (CSHealthcare have a very limited choice of hospitals and I would have been willing to travel to the moon to get the surgery sorted). My recovery was good and I attended a few aftercare appointments to tidy up the initial surgery.

More nightmares, usually around 4 weeks after an appointment I would receive threatening letters from consultant's secretary or hospital that invoices had gone unpaid. This became a regular theme with either invoices unpaid or the incorrect amount paid. It's really awful to have to go cap in hand to your consultant, who has transformed your life in making you better, with apologies for non-payment of invoices. I was lucky, my consultant was very understanding and laughed it off. However I didn't realise until later that he wasn't joking when on one of these apologies he laughed and said "Get yourself a proper insurer next time".

Anyway the final straw came last month, where I had a final assessment to establish if a course of treatment I had been undergoing was succssful or not. I was delighted when the consultant examined me and proclaimed all was fine. I left the hospital with a feeling of contentment, at least it had all come right in the end.

WRONG.

I received a letter from CSHealthcare stating they would not cover the cost of the previous appointment. This was despite never contacting me or the consulatant to inform that I had reached the limits of my cover. Neither had the consultant discharged me at any point. So much for all-inclusive cover!

So if anyone offers you CSHealthcare Insurance, or you are a current client of CSHealthcare who has been fortunate to not have had to make a claim my advice is simply pay a little extra and get your helath cover from a proper insurer. If you choose to try them out then good luck and good health, because your going to need it.