Daniel, 45, lives in London with his 15-year old daughter, Jennifer. He wants to take out private medical insurance that would cover both him and his daughter. They are both non-smokers and in good health. However, they are keen sportspeople, particularly when it comes to winter sports such as skiing, and want to ensure that sports-related injuries are covered. Cost is not a major issue. What are their options?
Susie Colley, West Country Health Care
A careful medical history must be taken from Daniel and Jennifer to enable them to make a choice from an appropriate selection of policies.
As they partake in winter sports particular attention must be given to the question of whether they have sustained any previous injuries, as these would be regarded as pre-existing conditions.
If they have past medical history it is imperative at this stage that the implications are considered carefully, including the possibility of these conditions being excluded for life or for a period of time.
Apart from their medical history, careful note must be made of Daniel and Jennifer's specific requirements. Winter sports are usually undertaken abroad, so to facilitate matters a single policy that offers cover both within and outside of the UK would be deemed preferable.
Having researched several providers offering policies with additional travel cover, the policy of choice would be Standard Life Healthcare's Primecare Gold.
This policy would give them full cover for eligible inpatient and day care treatment, as well as outpatient consultations and tests, along with many other benefits.
Holiday and business travel is covered for up to 90 days, and winter sports up to 17 days per person per policy year. Most importantly, this policy would bring them back to the UK in the event of an eligible illness or accident sustained while abroad.
The premium for Daniel and his daughter would be £221.34 a month. This policy is based on a moratorium and commences at 25% no claims discount. The premium is correct at the time of writing but is due to increase on 1 September 2006.
Several other policies were considered, but these were discounted as they did not match the clients' needs.
Claire Ginnelly, Standard Life Healthcare
Daniel would do well to consider private medical insurance (PMI) with worldwide travel cover that includes cover for sports injuries.This would save him paying twice for separate policies, but of course it is important that he checks exactly what is and what is not covered.
With our Primecare Plus we include worldwide travel cover including sports injuries - and there are specific benefits for winter sports such as skiing.
Opting for a £250 excess on Primecare Plus would mean premiums of just £110.38 a month, including cover for Jennifer and any subsequent children he may have.
Our travel cover includes sports injuries, damage to equipment, piste closure and much more - for example, there is £500 cover in case you lose your ski pass. And cover is for up to 17 days. If Daniel did not want to pay an excess towards claims, his cover would cost just £147.14 a month.
Another major advantage of our Primecare range of plans for sporty families like Daniel's is the amount of health and wellbeing support that is included.
At a practical level, they will get telephone access to a GP at any time of the day or night. But with their sports interests they will also benefit from a free online service which can help them plan diet and exercise regimes - with medically validated information to hand any time they want it.
Finally of course, the acid test to a PMI plan is the lack of hassle when it comes to claiming, especially if you are abroad and taken ill.
With no overall limits on claims, and all the arrangements and payments being made by us, Primecare Plus with its inclusion of worldwide travel is ideal for Daniel.
Jack Briggs, BCWA
The good news for Daniel and Jennifer is that there are no exclusions for amateur sports in BCWA's individual policies, including skiing. What is more, they will also benefit from our non-smokers' discount.
BCWA's new Personal Health scheme has built-in flexibility which would allow Daniel and Jennifer to select any combination from a range of five options.
Option 1 provides full cover for outpatient tests and consultations, including more expensive diagnostics such as CT and MRI scans. Option 1 would cost £11.30 a month for Daniel and £3.26 for Jennifer, making a monthly total of £14.56.
Adding Option 2 - acute surgery - would provide more comprehensive cover for as little as £15.40 and £4.07 a month respectively - a total of £19.47.
However, heart and cancer treatment are not included in Option 2, so if they required cover for these conditions they would need Option 4 as well. Option 4 gives £50,000 lifetime benefits for both heart and cancer treatment and can be purchased for £15.40 and £3.26 respectively, a monthly cost for the pair of £18.66.
As sportspeople, Daniel and Jennifer would especially value the full refund cover for physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy included in Option 3 - complementary therapy. This can be added for an additional £4.28 and £1.63 a month, or £5.91 together.
Finally, dental and optical benefits can be included from £7.80 per person per month, creating a policy that is broad-ranging and comprehensive.
The total monthly bill for the five options for both Daniel and Jennifer together would be no more than £75.01.
In future years, if they did not need to claim, Daniel and Jennifer would benefit from ongoing low claims discounts, thereby further reducing their premium.
