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Name: Clare Mutsaars

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A Vitality policy means will always pay in the end

1
My insurance started in 2017 with a premium of just over £315 per month for my husband and I. Our renewal quote for 2023/24 is £724 per month (from £515 for the past year). Our premium has gone up without fail every year by around 25%; this year, it is an increase of just under 41%. Our crime? Me getting and then surviving breast cancer and then in 2022 having a minor obstetric procedure. My cancer, thanks only to the NHS, was caught very early so I have only had to have a yearly scan and check-up by my Oncologist since a 2017 lumpectomy and radiation treatment. This was followed by 5 years of cancer-free scans. By the way, I'm 58, 5'7, weighing 61kg, a surfer, kiteboarder, and wing foiler. I am incredibly fit and healthy and I wear a fitness tracker; I'm absolutely Vitality's target client, yet they've been ruthless. Even given my level of activity, I've only managed to get to Bronze status so looking at my activity level, I must assume that you have to be an olympic athlete to get higher points. When I had my initial cancer diagnosis, Vitality spent time trying to prove that I knew about it before taking out the policy. My diagnosis was on March 7th 2018 and I took the policy out in Sept 2017. I didn't know and my GP confirmed it, but not before Vitality caused me a huge amount of extra unnecessary stress on top of a devastating cancer diagnosis making me go to the GP to request documents to prove I wasn't lying. They later apologised and sent me flowers. If you do need a check-up for anything, Vitality is set up to make it difficult/time consuming to achieve 'approval' (I'm sure you will be familiar with the waiting message 'we are receiving a very high volume of calls at the moment, blah blah blah'). The last time I wrote a bad review on Vitality, they spent months trying to have it removed, reporting that I had made a mistake in posting to the 'wrong' company. If you are reading this it's because you are looking for Vitality customer's opinions. Here's my advice, don't buy a Vitality policy; it's better to put those ever-increasing premiums in a savings account of your own in case you need future treatment or find a less ruthless insurance provider who understands risk. Vitality will punish you and claw back any costs they incur in your premiums. No-one in their right mind would think that 25% year on year increases followed by a 41% increase is reasonable. Even Usay Compare who have handled my policy are aghast at the level of my premium increases. It's clearly a company strategy to do this as when I asked for the minor procedure permission, they had to warn me in a carefully worded policy script that any treatment I had 'would effect my premium'. So please bear in mind the following: insurance should always present a 'risk' for the company providing it. Some people don't claim at all. For example, my husband has not claimed a single £'s worth of treatment since we took out the policy ; hasn't even seen a doctor. Vitality don't offer him a discount for not making a claim, but they have penalised me excessively. My premiums have now totalled almost as much as any treatment received. That seems to be the aim/policy of Vitality. They don't take a risk with their customers, they simply claim back the cost of having you as a client by increasing your premiums. I'm in the process of renewing now with Bupa and I'm told my premium will be under £300 per month with continued cancer cover, just in case. I'm not remotely interested in hearing 'from the team' as Vitality have written below. Previous complaints over the years have all fallen on deaf ears; the level of premium increases have never relented but this year's increase will finally drive me away as a customer: I think that's what they've wanted all along but as a cancer survivor moving insurance is very tricky until you are at least 5 years cancer free. Reviewed on: 31st July 2023
Clare Mutsaars's avatar
Clare Mutsaars

failed to deliver

1
When my 21-year-old son Euan wanted to visit Prague at the beginning of February, I did the right thing and took out insurance to cover his trip, especially as he is a type 1 diabetic. It was not a cheap policy. My son needs his telephone to read his blood glucose levels so when on day 2, his telephone got smashed after he dropped his bag crossing the road, we had a bit of a nightmare to try and keep him safe. One of his kind friends lent him her telephone so he could make sure he didn't enter hyperglycemia through raised glucose levels. I thought we had gone to a reputable company to take out insurance so Sainsbury's will make sure that we are OK. That could not be further from the truth. It's now April 9th and we have yet to receive anything other than an automated reply to our claim and subsequent (3) emails. Each time, we are told that we will have an answer within 14 days, but it never comes. I had to replace his telephone immediately so that he can read his blood glucose levels to stay alive, but Sainsbury's doesn't give a damn. #insurance #sainsburys #diabetes Sainsbury's insurance is run by CSAL. If you think you are buying insurance from Sainsbury's, the reality is that once they have taken your commission from the policy, they have NO further involvement. Do NOT under any circumstances trust Sainsbury's to deliver. I will be writing next to the insurance Ombudsman. Reviewed on: 9th April 2022