What is an excess?
In short, it’s the amount you agree to pay at the start of any insurance claim you make.
So if you’ve got car insurance, you set an excess, and if you have a bump, you pay that set amount out of your own pocket.
Your insurance company then takes over and pays the rest to get you back on the road.
How does that work for health insurance?
It works in very much the same way.
When you take out a policy, you may be offered an excess amount to help reduce your premiums. When you make a claim, for instance going to see a specialist consultant, you pay that fixed excess amount towards the cost. Your insurance company then pays the rest of the eligible claims costs.
What’s the point of insurance if I have to pay anyway?
Your excess charge is often a smaller amount than paying out for a whole claim, especially if it’s something serious or complicated. So it’s much easier to afford your excess than it would be to afford to fix or replace your car, or in health insurance terms, your knee.
Insurance companies set an excess to discourage people from making lots of small claims, which cost money to process, and can then bump up the cost of insurance for everyone.
How high should I set my excess?
If you are able to choose a level of excess, try and make sure the excess you set is something you can afford to pay on top of your annual or monthly premium.
Always read the small print about what you’ll need to pay before you can access your cover, and under what circumstances.
What is the excess on an Equipsme plan?
At Equipsme, we’re committed to making health cover and insurance benefits more affordable for more businesses – and more affordable for the individuals working IN those businesses. So we’ve tried to keep our excess fees as simple and as low as possible.
The only plan where members are asked to pay an excess is our Level 2 private diagnosis and treatment plan. We do not offer multiple excess amounts so the company can choose whether to buy a cover level with or without an excess for all employees. The excess is set at £150 per plan year – meaning if you have multiple claims you’ll still only be paying out £150 once per plan year. Although if your claim continues past the plan renewal date another £150 excess will be due after the next course of treatment for that claim.
How do you pay an excess?
When you use your Equipsme plan for private diagnosis or treatment, AXA Health will check that your claim is covered and if so, approve your referral or treatment, and send you a list of approved local hospitals and specialists.
After your appointment/treatment, your specialist or hospital will send you a bill for your excess amount. The rest of your eligible treatment bills will be taken care of by AXA Health directly with the specialist or hospital.
