BUPA customers who missed out on private healthcare treatments during the pandemic are in line for an average £230 payout.
The private healthcare company has promised to repay £125million to its 1.75million customers after many faced delays or cancellations to private hospital appointments and procedures over the past year.
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Millions of customers have private medical insurance with Bupa to cover critical conditions, such as cancer and heart disease or to see a private doctor if they don’t want to wait for a GP.
Treatments for cancer and heart disease carried on during the pandemic but other non-urgent operations in independent hospitals were delayed as they supported the NHS.
This meant policyholders were paying for cover they effectively couldn’t use, although they were still able to get video consultations.
Bupa said it will repay individual policy holders as well as businesses who may provide the private medical cover to staff as a workplace benefit.
Exactly how much you will be refunded varies depends on your policy, but Bupa says it will be equal to around a month’s premium for each customer.
A spokesperson said those with a policy in their own name rather than through work could could get an average payout of £230.
The insurer said the rebate is available to anyone who paid a premium between March 23 and September 30 2020.
The payment will be made to the individual or organisation that pays Bupa for the policy between April and July.
Bupa said the rebate was decided by an independent third party to ensure it was fair.
The health insurer pledged last year to pass back any “exceptional financial benefit” arising as a result of the pandemic.
Alex Perry, chief executive of Bupa UK Insurance, said: “We are determined to do the right thing for our customers.
“From the start of the pandemic we invested heavily in providing new and additional healthcare services from home, such as our digital GP service, to help people access the care they need.
“Thankfully many of the face-to-face services that were impacted were delayed rather than cancelled.”
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