How I gave my D-grade health insurance the flick

THERE’S one word for the private health insurance policy that I just ditched - junk.

And I’m not afraid to give my insurer the flick either – if they’re not up to standard then I simply kiss them goodbye.

I knew my hospital and extras cover was a lower level of cover but it had gone from Cgrade to D-grade in one fell swoop.

A fluffy little email from my insurer – one of the nation’s largest – late last month prompted me to swing into action.

“Hi Sophie, we recently completed our annual review of premiums and the benefits covered on your health cover. This email will explain any updates to your policy, so be sure to read it thoroughly.”

And on it went to tell me that some of my health cover was improving – which I glazed over – but then it hit me for six when I read what my insurer was dumping from my cover.

It was a longwinded list that I nearly fell asleep reading.

Gone was the following: cover for cardiac and cardiac related services, hip and knee replacements, joint arthroscopy and meniscectomy, cataract and eye lens procedures, renal dialysis for chronic renal failure, pregnancy and birth related services, IVF and assisted reproductive services, obesityrelated procedures and surgeries, abdominoplasty and lipectomy, cancer, reconstructive surgery and all other inpatient treatments. Thank you very much. With that I was done. I decided after just two years it was time to break up with my insurer.

That list proved to me I was virtually covered for zilch and my policy was deemed garbage.

When I rang my insurer to talk about it they offered me one month’s free cover to stay.

No thank you. I went into sniffing mode immediately to find out a new insurer. And this did my head in too. Good luck trying to compare apples with apples.

But after some research the most critical thing was to have a decent level of cover and make sure I wouldn’t be left lying on the pavement if something did go wrong.

After a few days deciphering exactly what I needed I phoned another big insurer and signed up.

It wasn’t about saving money here, it was about decent cover and peace of mind, which means paying a bit extra.

With a few incentives thrown in – one month’s free hospital and extras cover, 50,000 flybuys points and a 9 per cent discount, I was back in business.

And the best thing about ditching the old insurer was that I didn’t have to do the old “break up text”.

I could literally ghost them, leaving it up to my new insurer to do the dirty work for me and tell the old one the relationship was over.