FAQs

Your plan is due to start on the 1^st September 2025. You’ll find your plan start date in your Welcome email which will be sent to you during July. You should set up your account before the 1^st September in our Equipsme members portal which can be accessed via our website at www.equipsme.com. You can review your cover and make any additional choices such as paying extra to add your partner and children or upgrading your plan benefits to Level 1.

Once you have set up your account in the Equipsme portal you will be able to see all your plan benefits and access your membership handbook and important information. 

When you’re setting up your account using the links in the email, you’ll need to type in your email address all in lower case as your username and then provide some information to pass data protection checks – you’ll then be sent a Verification Code by email. This is a 4-6 digit one-time passcode that you’ll need before setting your password. When you receive the passcode enter it as soon as possible (as they are time sensitive for only a few minutes) and then follow the on-screen instructions to help you set a strong password before using it to login and access your online Equipsme account.

If for any reason you encounter problems receiving a code or setting your password to log in, email us at members@equipsme.com and we’ll help sort it out.

Don’t worry! This happens to everyone. Click on ‘LOGIN’ which you can find in the main navigation bar at the top of any page of our website. Below the login button is a reset/forgotten password link. Click this link and enter the email address which you registered with – don’t forget your username is always in lowercase. You will then receive an email from us to help you reset your password! You must have set up an account with us before trying to reset a password. The link to setting up your account is in your welcome email.

When you first log in to the Equipsme members portal to set up your account, you’ll be taken through your options. You can see what benefits your employer has bought for you on Diagnosis and Treatment – Level 2. You can also choose to add family and pay separately. Your spouse/partner can be added for £41 per month and children can be added for 50% of the monthly cost. Children must be under 25 years old. Immediate family only – no Parents, Aunties, Uncles, Cousins or other distant relatives.

You can add and remove family members during the plan year, but you can only upgrade to Diagnosis and Treatment – Level 1 during the initial 21 day set up window or at next year’s renewal.

For Diagnosis and Treatment – plan level 2 plan it will cost:

Cost to add partner: £41 pm

Cost to add 1st child: £20.50 pm

Total for you, your partner and up to 6 children: £61.50 pm

You’ll only be asked to enter direct debit details if you’ve chosen to increase your cover level or add family to the plan your employer has bought for you.

You can access Health Checks through the Members portal or App (which can be downloaded from your relevant AppStore). Once in your portal or App, click on the Health Check icon and follow the instructions. Members on our Diagnosis and Treatment – Level 2 plan get a choice of either an enhanced Heart Health, Diabetes or a Thyroid test as part of their plan, and 20% off any other Thriva test they buy. 

All members can access benefits on the Members’ portal or can download the Equipsme App. You can use it to request an appointment, any time of the day or night, subject to availability. You’ll speak to a GP on the phone, or by video call. They can talk through your condition and even prescribe medication (if the GP agrees that this is medically appropriate).

Yes. The price will depend on the medication you require and it is usually more expensive than a standard NHS prescription. However, you get the convenience of speaking with a GP quickly, and you can choose to get your prescription sent electronically to your local pharmacy to pick up your own medication, or to get it posted to you directly.

There is often no need for a GP referral to access the MSK virtual support line. There is access to a phone or video assessment with self-help and guidance and support for muscles, bones and joints, including for pre-existing conditions. If in-person physio sessions (plus Osteo and Chiro) are needed, you have access to face-to-face physiotherapy sessions (the number depends on your plan level). The claims team at AXA Health will first assess if the condition you are claiming for is eligible and not pre-existing or otherwise excluded.

Your plan includes diagnosis cover and if your claim is eligible (i.e. not a pre-existing or chronic condition or otherwise excluded) the Equipsme plan can help cut your waiting time by weeks or even months.

First of all, you’re going to need what’s called an open referral letter. This is a general letter from a GP that explains what sort of consultant you need to see and outlines the issue you need to talk to them about. You can get an open referral letter from your own GP, or from the Equipsme private 24/7 GP. If you use the Equipsme GP service and they recommend you see a specialist, HealthHero will email you a copy of the open referral letter.

Then go to your app or login to the Members portal on the Equipsme website and click on the Diagnosis icon on your page.

If you’ve already used your Equipsme plan to get diagnosed by a consultant, they will suggest whether you need further treatment and if it should take place in hospital.

You’ll need a letter from your specialist recommending the type of treatment needed and your AXA Health membership number (which appears in your portal). Call up AXA Health, and they’ll assess whether your treatment is eligible for cover and if so, authorise, and they can also help you arrange a treatment date.

There is an approved medical network of the medical professionals, diagnostic centres and hospitals you’re allowed to use. The AXA Health nationwide network of more than 100 hospitals/clinics includes Circle Health, Nuffield Health and Spire Healthcare hospitals, as well as the London Clinic and Imperial Healthcare, plus private patient units in some NHS facilities.

Bills that are covered will be paid directly by AXA Health and just a small Excess of £150 per person per plan year on Diagnosis and Treatment – plan level 2.

The Equipsme health insurance plan is about protecting you if the unexpected happens, and to help put things right. Brand new medical conditions are covered as long as they continue to respond to treatment but the plan won’t cover the Physiotherapy, Diagnosis or Treatment cost of any health problem that anyone included under the plan already had symptoms, whether or not you have received medication, advice or treatment for in the last three years – what we call “pre-existing conditions”.

Members may need to provide more information to make sure the condition isn’t pre-existing. A medical information form may need to be completed and if a member’s NHS GP charges for its completion, those fees are not covered under the Equipsme plan

Existing health conditions are covered when you use the private GP services and the health check.

Like all health insurance providers, we do not cover on-going, recurrent and long-term conditions like Asthma, Crohn’s disease or Diabetes – these are classed as ‘chronic conditions’.

Other exclusions, terms and conditions do apply, so for full details refer to your Membership Handbook available to download on your Portal. If you have any specific medical questions or health scenarios you would like us to clarify for you – please contact us at members@equipsme.com.

We are not tax advisers so if you have any questions about BIK/P11D please refer to your HR/Payroll. Benefit in Kind tax (P11D) is only payable on the level of cover that your employer has bought for you.

Employers confirm what they have paid to HMRC (via a P11D form) – or can register with HMRC to deduct the tax from payroll instead. Tax is charged at the employee’s current income tax rate (i.e. 20%, 40%, 45%, etc).

Please don’t forget though: You are only taxed on what the employer pays – not on anything you, the employee, pay for yourself.

You can add your partner/spouse to your Equipsme plan if you’re married, in a civil partnership or living together permanently in a similar relationship. You can also add your children and your partner’s children (a maximum of 6 children can be added). Children can stay on the plan up to the age of 25 when they will come off the plan at the renewal date following their birthday.

You’ll receive regular communications to remind you of the benefits that have been bought for you. You’ll also receive plan reminders at the time of the plan renewal. If you do not want access to this cover or have any questions – please email members@equipsme.com.

Yes, you can choose to opt out of the Equipsme health insurance plan – to do this please email members@equipsme.com.

If you’ve never had private health cover before it can be a bit confusing. So please don’t feel shy to ask us anything – big or small. Please either email us at members@equipsme.com or call our friendly team on 020 3965 6410. 

Yes of course, but you may need to speak to your Reward team.  Also, don’t forget that should you opt out now but then choose to rejoin in the future, all terms and conditions including the exclusion of three year pre-existing conditions will re-apply. Therefore, if you have something come up in the meantime and then want to claim, it could be declined.  Health Insurance, just like car and house insurance is there to cover you for the unknown so it might be worth thinking about remaining on cover just in case you need it.