“Don’t think anything in the name relates to this company. They are just an insurance company that is trying to make as much money as they can.
I’ve been a member for three years and it’s never easy dealing with them. If only they could be like Petplan.”
“Still waiting on my mums life insurance she passed a way in April and their trying the best to get in out of paying same rubbish everytime their contact us by email its at the underwriters ready to be paid their been saying for months still no joy with any payment”
“Shockingly bad, even for an insurance company
Vitality will do everything they can to delay your claim. Maybe they think if they continuously delay you will get fed up and use the NHS instead.
Delaying tactics they have used:
Repeatedly asking for the consultants letter which they have been sent multiple times. Claiming they have never received it despite getting confirmation emails and verbal confirmation that it was received.
Asking your consultant to complete an additional form.
Asking your GP to complete a form, for which you will have to pay.
Promising to call you back but never call.”
“Horrendous company DO NOT USE. Used through my work 'benefit' package, and treatment is declined for no reason. Having to follow legal route and reported to FCA poor practise and acting in bad faith.
It honestly feels like a scam to make money out of innocent people. will not be using again and have informed my work how atrocious everything about Vitality is. Also, their website, app and general user interface is clunky and confusing. DO NOT USE”
“A total disgrace of a company. They do everything within their powers not to pay a claim by making you jump through so many hoops before they pay out. They use the need to talk to their GPS then they need your full medical history supplied by your GP then further discussions on the phone. A total bunch of time wasting jobsworth individuals.”
“DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
THEY DO NOT COVER ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES AND THEY DO NOT ASSESS CLAIMS QUICKLY, THEY LIE AND TRY TO GET OUT OF ANY CLAIM.. IM EXHAUSTED TRYING TO GET A CLAIM FOR AN URGENT PROBLEM WITH NO PREVIOUS HEALTH ISSUES.
PAY MORE GO WITH BUPA, ANYONE BUT VITALITY”
“They owed cash back from years ago and fighting not to pay it when we have been with them years and always been platinum members. It took over one month to get to the right person and still they didn't want to respond. Customer service is awful and rude. I'm not leaving and taking my insurance else where.”
“Nightmare of a companyt, I dont know how this is legally allowed to happen in the private health insurance market. The app doesnt work, you cant get through on the phones. Avoid at all costs.”
“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.”
