Cash Plans

A Cash Plan differs from private medical insurance in that it pays out cash benefits for day to day health expenses such as dental treatment and optician bills as well as hospital treatment. Some Cash Plans cover wellbeing therapies such as acupuncture and reflexology. Advantages and disadvantages of Cash Plans include:

Advantages:

Provides useful financial support if you have to spend time in hospital
Often covers day to day items such as prescriptions
The cost of cover is cheap compared to other forms of medical insurance
Dependent children under the age of 18 are often covered for free

Disadvantages:

Does not give you choice of where or when you are treated
If treatments are covered there are normally maximum limits over which you are required to pay the difference.
In some cases the policy needs to have been in force for a set duration before you can make a claim.

Things to look out for with a Cash Plan include; does it cover the cost of treatments such as physiotherapy and are prescriptions covered? If limits to cover are imposed, what are they? Are children covered? What about alternative medicine treatments – are they covered? Is there a policy excess?

If you are unsure what type of policy is right for you, seek independent advice by filling out our no obligation medical insurance enquiry form to get quotes from leading UK insurers.