Bupa – our not so good experience

We decided to get some private health insurance and as Bupa is the biggest we thought we’d go with them. So we enquired, they asked for a few details, we agreed and then signed up. No problem, the rep was very nice.

Then it all went bad. The next step was to get out medical history.  I had a minor stroke two years ago, and I had to attend hospital for something stuck in my throat a year ago.  These ended up as exclusions on the policy.  I can understand that. We were both also recovering from a bout of Covid.  I simply said that I had the common mild flu symptoms. So did my wife, but she then went on to elaborate, mentioning headaches and a sore throat. This was a bad mistake. These ARE mild flu symptoms,  but the rep jumped on these like a dog on a bone, and now they are exclusions on the policy as pre-existing medical conditions.  Covid is not mentioned on the policy.

So if my wife gets any form of throat issue or head problems in the next year, even if they are not related to Covid,  we get the distinct impression that Bupa will wriggle out of paying.  Bupa say the policy will be reviewed in a year. In other words, “after a year, if you have had no issues, and after we have taken a years worth of your money, we may, or may not, take the exclusions out.”

This has left us with a bad feeling about Bupa.  If I get a sore leg will they relate it to the fact I broke my leg sixty years ago, and not pay out?

We completely understand why Bupa would need to take into account previous and ongoing health problems, but this ridiculous over zealousness right at the beginning of the contract inevitably makes us think that this is endemic in the company. Or maybe we just got an over enthusiastic rep.

We have contacted a manager who says the Medical assessment team  will get back to us, in the meantime we are still in the cooling off period and are investigating other companies. Bupa is only fourth on Which’s table of customer satisfaction. Aviva is top of the list.


Bupa apparently tried to contact us, but they phoned me instead of my wife (as arranged).  They left no voicemail and the number they called from does not accept calls.

I sent a message to the only email we have (the original rep) and she said the medical assessment team would call us today. The didn’t.

I have now requested quotes for Aviva, Axa and Saga.  We have cancelled Bupa.  The rep point blank refused to correct what was an obvious mistake.  We would not feel comfortable with a company with this attitude as our insurers.