It’s very rare that people manage to make it through life without needing some sort of health care for illnesses, accidents or other forms of medical problems. Here in the UK we’re lucky enough to have the NHS which provides free healthcare to all. It may not be the quickest service in the world but it does its job and as mentioned it is free.

If however you prefer not to be put on a waiting list for a couple of months then you might want to look at private medical insurance. This type of protection enables you to be treated at private facilities a lot quicker than at an NHS facility and it pays for any costs involved. Obviously private medical insurance doesn’t come cheap but for people who are the main earners in their household or for people who are self employed and need to work in order to live it is an option worth thinking about.

A few Statistics

In 2007 over 6 million working days were lost through injuries caused both in an out of work.
Over 28 million working days were lost because of ill health.
Over 2 million people were off work for more than 4 weeks because of serious illness.
The average waiting time for non-life threatening illnesses on the NHS was anywhere from 6-29 weeks.

The first three of these statistics show just how prevalent illness and injury is in the UK while the forth attests to the time you may have to wait before being treated on the NHS.

Private Medical Insurance

Taking out a private medical insurance policy guarantees shorter waiting times should you find yourself with a treatable illness or injury. These policies are generally very flexible so you can include illnesses and injuries you think you may suffer from in the future. They won’t however cover any illnesses or injuries that you are currently suffering from so they are pointless for treating ongoing complaints.

The cost of private medical insurance can be quite high, depending on the illnesses you include in the policy, your general state of health and your medical history. So for example, including cancer in your policy will increase the price as there is a good chance your provider will have to pay out for this illness at some point in the future. The same applies to the other major killers in the UK – heart attack and stroke – however they should still be included if possible.

Private medical insurance is by no means a ‘must have’ and in reality it may be beyond the scope of most people. It is worth researching though, even if only to get a few quotes. Who knows, it may be more affordable than you think.