FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Even if you are happy with your insurer, with insurance, it always pays to shop around with most providers offering great deals for new customers.
If you are like most of our customers, you’ll be looking for peace of mind, but you just don’t have the time to trawl through insurance policies as you try to work out the best one for you. With our 20 years’ experience, we know the providers who offer the cover that will fit with your personal circumstances and small tweaks that can be made to your policy which can result in a reduced premium.
The Health Insurance Specialists will aim to find you the best policy, for the best price. If you already have health insurance, we will handle the entire switching process for you – ensuring that you receive continuous cover as you move from one provider to another.
We are exceptionally fortunate to have access to the NHS in the U.K, but due to demand it is often over stretched, meaning longer waits for concerned patients. Private health insurance works in conjunction with the NHS, effectively topping up your cover.
Paying for some or all of your medical expenses privately can provide access to treatments that are not yet available on the NHS, provide more choice and control of your care, and, of course, you do not have so long to anxiously wait for your appointment – a big relief if you are in a lot of discomfort, reducing worry and helping you feel better, faster.
Private health cover is accessible to all and can be tailored to suit any budget. There are many ways to reduce costs by choosing a range of cover levels and access options – our expert team have years of experience, meaning you will only ever pay for the cover you need, rather than added options that you don’t.
We even conduct a free annual audit of your insurance as you approach renewal; letting you know if we find that you would be better off by switching to a new product.
By paying annually, rather than monthly, you can reduce your premium by up to 10%.
Insurers are no longer just saying a flat ‘no’ to cover for pre-existing conditions. Some providers offer various levels of cover, but as you can imagine, this is dependent on the condition itself. Our highly trained team will advise on your individual circumstances.
Incurable, chronic conditions, such as asthma, are usually not covered by your policy – this is because they can be monitored by the NHS and treated with regular medication from your G.P. There is no need to claim on your private cover, keeping your premiums lower.
Our team care about conditions you are already experiencing and take the time to get to know the impact this has on you. Our experienced team can advise on which providers offer this level of cover, and which you should avoid.
In the majority of cases, your premiums won’t increase if you make a claim. But as with most insurance, your premiums may rise if you make a significant claim.
In a similar way to car insurance, some providers do offer a ‘no claims discount’, ask your advisor for more information – they’ll be happy to advise.
The majority of illnesses and injuries are covered by your health insurance. There are a few exclusions which you advisor will always make you aware of. We always take the time to ensure that you understand all the small print in your policy.
There is no private accident and emergency provision so if you require urgent treatment, you would still attend your closest NHS A&E – once discharged, you are able to transfer and use your private cover, if needed.
All insurance policies offer a 14-day cooling off period in which you can cancel your policy if you have changed your mind.
After this time, if you no longer need your cover, you can still cancel, however, a provider is likely to charge an admin fee for this. This can vary, do check with your advisor. Most insurers refund you for the unused time on the policy.
Our Commitment To You
It is always our intention to provide you with the highest quality service. However, we appreciate that occasionally things can go wrong and, when they do, there are four things that matter most:
- That you know who to complain to;
- That you know how your complaint will be dealt with;
- That you feel confident that we will take your complaint seriously; and
- That where appropriate, we will put things right quickly.
Who To Complain To
Please address your complaint, and any subsequent queries you may have in connection with the complaint, to the Compliance Officer. Contact details are as follows:
The Compliance Officer
One Creechurch Place
London
United Kingdom
EC3A 5AF
T: 01732 389915
E: compliance@astonlark.com
How Your Complaint Will Be Dealt With
1. You will receive a prompt acknowledgement of your complaint letting you know who will be dealing with this. At this stage we may need to ask you for further information.
2. Your complaint will be investigated promptly, and if there is a delay in providing you with our response we will advise you of this, and indicate when we will be in further contact. If we are unable to give you our decision within eight weeks (2 weeks if your policy is insured in the Lloyd’s market), we will write to you again advising the reasons for the delay and when we expect to be able to provide this to you.
3. Our investigation of your complaint will take the form of gathering information from the relevant people and reviewing documentation which we hold, and will be carried out by a person who has not been directly involved in the matter giving rise to your complaint. Your complaint will be investigated thoroughly and fairly.
4. In assessing your complaint we will consider this in light of similarities with other complaints we may have received, and relevant guidance published by; the FCA, other relevant regulators, and the Financial Ombudsman Service or former schemes.
5. On completion of our investigation into your complaint, we will write to you and provide you with a clear explanation of our findings and offering a fair and appropriate settlement, or taking appropriate action, if your
complaint is upheld.
6. Where we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another respondent may be solely or jointly responsible for the matter alleged in a complaint, we will promptly forward the complaint, or the relevant part of it, in writing to that other respondent, and inform you why the complaint has been forwarded, and of the other respondent’s contact details.
7. If we are unable to provide you with a decision within eight weeks and you are not satisfied with the reasons for the delay or you are unhappy with the final outcome of our investigation, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is an independent resolution scheme. If this is the case we will confirm this in our letter to you and you will be given the full name, address and telephone number of the
Financial Ombudsman Service and a leaflet entitled “Your complaint and the ombudsman”.
The website address for the Financial Ombudsman Service is: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Lloyd’s
8. If your policy is insured in the Lloyd’s market, you are entitled to refer your complaint to Lloyd’s who will conduct a full investigation and provide you with a written final response, if you are not satisfied with our response or if you have not heard from us within 2 weeks. You should contact:
Complaints
Lloyd’s
Fidentia House
Walter Burke Way
Chatham Maritime
Chatham
Kent ME4 4RN
e-mail: complaints@lloyds.com
tel: +44 (0) 20 7327 5693
fax: +44 (0) 20 7327 5225
www.lloyds.com/complaints
9. If you are not happy with the response you get from Lloyd’s, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the FOS. Lloyd’s will send you a FOS leaflet with further information at the appropriate time.
