“Terrible experience with Vitality. When you call for a claim you are usually on hold for ages and then passed on to different services whom you have to repeat what you just said to the previous person!
I had video consultation with a Vitality GP who referred me to a cardiologist but Vitality are still asking for a Conditional Information Request to be filled out by myself and my NHS GP (who wants to charge me £185 for it!). it is very complicated to make a claim. Might as well wait for an NHS appointment. I will soon move to AXA PPP or Bupa who are easier and quicker to deal with your issues.”
“If i could provide zero i would. Awful, rude staff. Wring advice given which resulted in 9 months of pain. When challenged it was a case of computer says no. Truly awful experience. Use a reputable company like Bupa. It's amatuer hour at Vitality.”
“Worst insurance company. Don't waste your time and money. It will most probably be easier to get treatment on nhs rather than paying this company....hopefully this gives you an idea of what their speed is like. Stay away and don't waste your money”
“My insurance started in 2017 with a premium of just over £315 per month for my husband and I. Our renewal quote for 2023/24 is £724 per month (from £515 for the past year). Our premium has gone up without fail every year by around 25%; this year, it is an increase of just under 41%. Our crime? Me getting and then surviving breast cancer and then in 2022 having a minor obstetric procedure. My cancer, thanks only to the NHS, was caught very early so I have only had to have a yearly scan and check-up by my Oncologist since a 2017 lumpectomy and radiation treatment. This was followed by 5 years of cancer-free scans. By the way, I'm 58, 5'7, weighing 61kg, a surfer, kiteboarder, and wing foiler. I am incredibly fit and healthy and I wear a fitness tracker; I'm absolutely Vitality's target client, yet they've been ruthless. Even given my level of activity, I've only managed to get to Bronze status so looking at my activity level, I must assume that you have to be an olympic athlete to get higher points.
When I had my initial cancer diagnosis, Vitality spent time trying to prove that I knew about it before taking out the policy. My diagnosis was on March 7th 2018 and I took the policy out in Sept 2017. I didn't know and my GP confirmed it, but not before Vitality caused me a huge amount of extra unnecessary stress on top of a devastating cancer diagnosis making me go to the GP to request documents to prove I wasn't lying. They later apologised and sent me flowers.
If you do need a check-up for anything, Vitality is set up to make it difficult/time consuming to achieve 'approval' (I'm sure you will be familiar with the waiting message 'we are receiving a very high volume of calls at the moment, blah blah blah').
The last time I wrote a bad review on Vitality, they spent months trying to have it removed, reporting that I had made a mistake in posting to the 'wrong' company.
If you are reading this it's because you are looking for Vitality customer's opinions. Here's my advice, don't buy a Vitality policy; it's better to put those ever-increasing premiums in a savings account of your own in case you need future treatment or find a less ruthless insurance provider who understands risk. Vitality will punish you and claw back any costs they incur in your premiums. No-one in their right mind would think that 25% year on year increases followed by a 41% increase is reasonable. Even Usay Compare who have handled my policy are aghast at the level of my premium increases.
It's clearly a company strategy to do this as when I asked for the minor procedure permission, they had to warn me in a carefully worded policy script that any treatment I had 'would effect my premium'.
So please bear in mind the following: insurance should always present a 'risk' for the company providing it. Some people don't claim at all. For example, my husband has not claimed a single £'s worth of treatment since we took out the policy ; hasn't even seen a doctor. Vitality don't offer him a discount for not making a claim, but they have penalised me excessively. My premiums have now totalled almost as much as any treatment received. That seems to be the aim/policy of Vitality. They don't take a risk with their customers, they simply claim back the cost of having you as a client by increasing your premiums. I'm in the process of renewing now with Bupa and I'm told my premium will be under £300 per month with continued cancer cover, just in case.
I'm not remotely interested in hearing 'from the team' as Vitality have written below. Previous complaints over the years have all fallen on deaf ears; the level of premium increases have never relented but this year's increase will finally drive me away as a customer: I think that's what they've wanted all along but as a cancer survivor moving insurance is very tricky until you are at least 5 years cancer free.”
“Wish I had read these reviews before purchasing policy, paperwork been infront of reviewing board for 3 weeks, keep ringing for a referral to see someone, but can get no further than the receptionist.
I was told today if the pain gets unbearable go to Aand E.”
“Utterly atrocious!! Do not waste your money on a policy with vitality. They are the worst health insurance provider on the market. When you sign up they sell the idea that they make it easy to make a claim, it can be done through their online free GP service, which isn’t true, even if you have a referral from your NHS GP they pick holes in that and you end up in a back and forth between them and the GP trying to satisfy their extensive list of reasons not to approve the claim. It takes so long you may as well wait for the NHS appointment and save yourself the money!”
“We have (soon to be had) cover for our whole family.
Challenge 1: I had a consultation through vitality, paid my excess which was the whole price of the consultation. Vitality didn’t cover the hospital booking fee or the follow up tests. Tried to use their online system which is constantly updated so everything changes constantly. Called to get authorisation, they apologise it doesn’t work online and all follow ups from the consultation is covered. DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. YOU MUST REGISTER IT THROUGH THE ONLINE SYSTEM AS SIX MONTH AFTER GETTING TREATMENT, they have just told me they won’t cover it as it wasn’t authorised in writing.
Challenge 2: we requested an online GP consultation for my three year old son. Happened immediately. Brilliant. Recommended physiotherapy. Great. Tried to request online. Nothing available so request a call back. That came a week later… referred to a third party provider of paediatric physiotherapists. Week later had a consultation with them, ran through the symptoms AGAIN, and finished the call with ‘someone will get back to you about an appointment…’ what was this call for? Immediately called me back and asked to reconfirm my son’s DOB. “Oh sorry, we only cover children over ten years. You need to go back to vitality.”
Another two weeks to get a call back. More apologies. We will refer you to our CONCIERGE TEAM! Finally I thought. Real people to help!
They called me a week later - we don’t have any paediatric physios in your area (London). Will check other options.
Two weeks later they call me again. We still don’t have any paediatric physios in your area. I’ll happily travel - where else do you have them? I don’t know.
SEVEN MONTHS LATER - I’ve written to every complaint system and portal on their website. Finally, I get an email with a £25 offer of compensation… MY SON COULD BARELY WALK!!! He’s now four btw…
We get a call, out of the blue. Hi, I am trying to get some physiotherapy for your son. Can you send me a copy of the GP referral? Are you kidding? It was a vitality GP! Sorry, I still need your NHS GP to fill it out.
I ask my GP. He hasn’t diagnosed my son (there was a month wait for non-essentials at the time but it would have been much quicker on the NHS)! He can’t write the letter and it’s still a months wait.
I request another call back. That comes a week later. I run through it all and they simply say we need the referral letter from the GP.
THANKS FOR NOTHING!
Fyi, I found a physio and paid for him to go. In short, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. STICK WITH THE NHS AND PAY FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE EXTRA TREATMENT!!
Awful treatment of customers. Will not be back”
“Absolutely awful experience. My claim was refused because some non-medic made a conclusion from my GP's referral letter that my case (heart arrhythmia) didn't warrant 'urgency'! I explained that if it was urgent, I'd go to A&E!.
A complete scam!”
“Appalling. There should be an option to score these cowboys with a zero. They spend far too much on their shiny advertising. Companies provide their employees with PMI to speed up the process. Vitality take longer than the NHS. 3 and a half weeks. Numerous GP letters and my full medical history sent to them only to have the claim declined. My last company provided us with PMI through AXA. I usually got to see a consultant within a couple of days of the referral. Do not waste your money on this company.”
“Vitality's service is worse than the NHS. And I live in the worst part of the UK for NHS services.
They consider an acute event in your medical history from 13 years prior to policy plan beginning as a chronic event and will exclude you from any future care of anything related to a similar event in your future.
You have to BEG for treatment and only if you are lucky you will be granted support.
They are impossible to contact, and always sent between departments and people. They refuse to communicate in writing, despite being asked to. They do not respond to emails.
They do not comply with the law in terms of GDPR. I'm still waiting for my data from a request that I submitted 6 weeks ago which is 2 weeks over the legal deadline. They have not responded to my email reminders or questions regarding this request.
I'm only using vitality as I'm insured under my employer; I've spoken to many other colleagues who are having the same terrible experience with vitality as my family is having.”
“Vitality won't provide life insurance if you are over weight! Most the population is over weight! I expected higher rates but to be told you don't make the cut because of this is absolute discrimination! Absolutely disgusted! Will be cancelling other policies with them and take my business elsewhere.”
“Having moved from other provider to vitality I got excited about it looking at all the benefits etc.
Only to then start using the service.
Wow the service is so bad it’s unreal. I’m confident that by the time I get a response back from vitality that they will pay for my pyhsio I probably would have gotten my arm back to full health having paid all the money myself.
If anyone is considering vitality as a health insurance choice do not even consider it.
It’s been over a month now and I’m still waiting despite even filing a complaint.
Absolutely bloody totally utterly useless company. You will be treated to hours of waiting on hold as well.
Highly unprofessional company, no customer service, they will just focus on doing everything they can not to pay for your treatment.
Cigna was incredible company and gutted they left the UK.”
“Vitality car insurance
This is a review for their car insurance. I would not trust them with my car insurance, it also makes me a little distrusting of my life insurance with them. In short, these company does not seem very honest, competent or reliable.
I got car insurance with them a few weeks ago, and just 2 days before the policy starting I had to call them as I made a little error in one of the drivers DofB. I was informed at that point that my policy was immediately cancelled as their underwriters had change their t&cs after I took the insurance and they no longer covered Porsche cars. I explained that with only 2 days of insurance they put me in an urgent position to find an alternative insurer and that it was going to be considerably more expensive (we all know that insurance is cheaper if arranged 3-4 weeks before the renewal date, as I did when i got the Vitality policy). I requested, therefore, some compensation. The lady had the nerve to tell me they were already waving the cancellation fee!! They were cancelling my policy themselves and they wanted to charge me for their cancellation??? They have the courage to charge you £70 (I think is what the lady said they were "waving")if you change your mind, yet they can cancel with immediate effect whenever they feel like (luckily I still have 2 days remaining with my current insurer, otherwise I would be immediately uninsured).
As it often happens with some of these big companies, it was like talking to a wall, always receiving scripted answers. I am happy I am not insured with Vitality any longer, you want competent honest people in charge when you do need advice for an emergency or accident. You never know, though, until something happens how the insurers will behave, but in my almost 30 years of driving I have never found somebody as cheeky and lacking on interest or care for their customers as Vitality car insurance showed today.”
“I've been trying to get Physio for a shoulder injury for 2 weeks. They say they will call me back and they don't. I call again, the phone hangs up. I call back and finally get through to someone, they put me through to someone else. I get a hold of someone and they say i need to speak to a Vitality GP to get a referral. I ask to speak to someone, they say i have to download the Vitality GP app. I try to download the vitality GP app and I can't download it in my country.
Going to pay out of pocket for Physio services that are supposed to be covered.
Don't use Vitality.”
“This company markets their business well and looks and sounds great on its website, TV and sales advisors.
However, I have not been able to access my account for months, and no one can tell me why, it is very difficult to get through to and advisor and when you can they have no answers, no communication via email or text either.
I have my car insurance with them too which I cannot access either.
I was looking to take out life cover with them as on the face of it I liked the "modern" approach and "perks" of the company but I will be cancelling our business policy and car policy as soon as I have another in place and this time we will be going for the no frills trusted and traditional cover.
It should be be a great business but its shocking !
PLEASE AVOID ! and do not waste your time or money on this business.”
“Only gave it one star as there was no zero star option. These people would wriggle out of anything. They will avoid payment at all costs, go elsewhere of self-insure.”
“Very disappointed, Being with them since 2014, recently started a claim with them and boy, if you are unwell or even if you were well, speaking to them for a claim is such a soul-destroying experience. Most of their customer services genuinely do not care, copying and pasting the basic standard general answers were quite repetitively seen.”
“Looking at what's on my membership plan, you just have to say wow! What a package.. then reality strikes, you try to use their services, your benefits. Book an online appointment with a GP... the quickest appointment is a couple of days from now, so no benefit over NHS. Book a face to face... well only if you are in London or surrounding area. Try to make use of their hospital benefit to get transferred to a Vitality room or hospital, fill in a claim form and wait 5+ working days... by which time you are most likely out of hospital. We'll cover 100% of your dental costs... no they will cover 100% of the time at 20% of the costs. The list goes on. The website is confusing to use (intentionally so), the auto attend when you call in is even worse. It steers you away from asking for help. I suspect if you have a long term predictable condition and are patient you will get some benefit... but remember, they won't cover that pre-existing long term condition for a couple of years. So the only way to benefit out of this is if you develop a long term condition after joining them and persistence. You might get something out of it.
You call them for help, go from department to department, then eventually... we are putting you through to another department but I will also schedule a call back in case you are disconnected: It's a long wait time. How long will it take for them to call you back... a couple of days. There is no urgency, no help. Their promises are carefully worded so that you can't make use of it.”
“Umbrella until it begins to rain. First time my wife tried to use the policy for a potentially cancerous diagnosis scan she was told she would have to wait for the results of her NHS scan which was scheduled 10 weeks later. When this was raised with Vitality their response was:
"we do not support with primary care referrals. Being referred for a scan that is not under the care of a consultant falls under the primary care bracket, following that scan if there is anything that the GP wishes to refer you then from that moment it is then secondary care where we can then look to support you from"”
