Health Insurance Guide

3 signs it’s time to switch your health insurance

16 August 2023 | By The Kindred Team

Remember how it was in the beginning, when you first got with your health insurer? You felt cared for, protected, and maybe you were given a nice new watch.

But the shine soon wore off, and you started to realise that they’re not really there for you. But how do you know when it’s time to leave your health insurer, and find one that’ll treat you right? 

Here are 3 telltale signs that might be best to make a clean break. If any of these are true for you, it’s time to ditch and switch.

1. They don’t pick up the phone 

…Or if they do it’s after you’ve spent about a year on hold.

Do you get the feeling your insurer would really rather not speak to you? You give them a call and the only thing worse than the endless hold muzak is the robot voice that cuts in every few seconds urging you to go to the website or app instead. “BUT I WANT TO SPEAK TO A HUMAN!”, you scream into the void. It doesn’t exactly make you feel wanted.

Well, things are exactly the opposite here at Kindred. We don’t want to sound needy but our care team are WAITING for you to call them. (Literally: 85% of calls are answered within 20 seconds.) When you need to make a claim or just ask a question, you’ll get straight through to a care specialist who wants to help

2. They don’t help you in your time of need

…It feels like you have to do a lot of legwork just to see a doctor.

When you’re worried about your health, do you put off dealing with it because you can’t face having to jump through all your insurer’s hoops? You’re already stressed, so the last thing you want to do is make a claim when it’s like setting off on an over-complicated obstacle course with no end in sight.

What happens if you switch to an insurer that’s run by doctors rather than accountants? Things become a whole lot simpler. You’ll speak to someone who has the experience to understand your situation, and who has the connections to get you in front of the right specialist, straight away. Aaaaand breathe…

3. They don’t even know your name

…You’re just a membership number to them.

Do you deal with a different call handler/claims bouncer/chatbot each time you contact your insurer? It can feel like you’re just one of a million membership numbers, floating around in a database. There’s not much that’s caring about that kind of healthcare.

For us, it’s personal. We want to get to know our members so we can provide the best possible care and pick up each conversation where we’ve left off. Take Lisa, who helped our members Michael and Tina. They sent us a lovely email that said:

“I would like to give our SPECIAL THANKS to LISA. You can see from your records that we have used our Policy on many occasions and sometimes we have been under some stress. I have been dealing with Lisa on many of these and everytime Lisa has given such fantastic service and been such a pleasure to talk to.”

So, are you ready to switch to a health insurer that really cares? It’s easier than you thought…

Switching health insurance: what you need to know

Things to think about before switching

Before you switch to Kindred, it’s a good idea to check that our policy covers everything you need. It’s pretty comprehensive - you can see a list of exactly what we cover here.

Be clear on your budget. We run a tight ship and keep our premiums competitive, so you should find that a quote for our health insurance is in line with - or cheaper than - your existing premium. Remember that you can choose your hospital list and set your level of excess to adjust your quote to fit your finances.

Consider if you have any pre-existing health conditions that you’d like covered when you switch. If you do, that’s not a problem, you’ll be able to tell us about them when you go through our easy application process (more on this below…).

When to switch

The best time to switch health insurance is when it comes up for renewal but you can do it at any time. Just beware that if you leave part-way through your policy year, your existing provider might charge you. Check if there are any early exit fees before you make the leap so you don’t get a parting gift of an unexpected bill.

If you’re leaving a job or retiring, and you’ve had health insurance through a company scheme, you can switch to a private policy so you stay covered. It’s a good idea to get the ball rolling as soon as you’ve handed in your notice so the switch is all sorted before your leaving drinks.

How to switch to Kindred

Step 1: Get a quote

Step 2: Apply online for your policy. You’ll be asked if you currently have health insurance - select Yes.

Step 3: Next you’ll be asked if you have any pre-existing conditions. If not, you can keep the same terms as your current policy (this is called Continued Private Medical Exclusions). If you do have any pre-existing conditions, you can tell us about them and we’ll let you know the terms of your policy if you switch to us.

Step 4: Ask your current provider to send you a copy of your Membership Certificate and forward it to us.

Step 5: We’ll switch you over and you can start enjoying better healthcare.

The bottom line

Breakin’ Up Isn’t Hard To Do. Get a quote now

Back to Mind&Body