WPA Complete Review of Health Insurance (May 2024)

Introduction to WPA

WPA is a non-profit company; they have no shareholders, which means they can reinvest profits back into the business for the benefit of its members. WPA is a specialty health insurance (that’s all they do), so they can focus their time, energy and resources on one type of insurance.

In July 2023, the WPA said goodbye to its 14-year-old “Flexible Health” policy offerings and replaced them with a new product called “Complete Health.” Ironically, as we will explain in this article, WPA Complete Health policies are more flexible than previous Flexibility Health variants.

Focus on customer service

Before we get too into the nitty-gritty of the rules, we want to draw your attention to WPA’s excellent level of customer service.

WPA currently enjoys a rating of 4.7* out of 5 on Trustpilot based on 2,292 reviews (August 2023), which is higher than any insurer we’ve reviewed. They also tell us that, on average, calls are answered in less than three minutes, and 97% of requests are approved based on data from July 2023.

This is in stark contrast to some of the other insurers in the market who have struggled to attract huge numbers of new customers in recent years. Through the broker, we heard that the waiting time at some insurers regularly exceeds 45 minutes, which is unacceptable and creates unnecessary stress for clients. So, we suggest that when comparing health insurance policies, you look beyond the benefits, costs and terms, and that you factor customer reviews into your decision-making process.

An unlimited choice of advisers, an excellent hospital list and a fair approach to claims

In addition to excellent levels of customer service, WPA also excels when it comes to their hospital list and access to specialists. With WPA you get unlimited access to any private medical adviser or specialist in the UK within some fair money limits. They also have one of the best standard hospital lists on the market, excluding only the top hospitals, which are often located in central London, unless you opt for additional Premium hospitals.

Your choice between no-claims and “pooled risk” discounts

One of the most significant changes with the new WPA rules is the introduction of a choice between a no-claims discount and risk-sharing with others in your pool.

Pooled risk is similar to community assessment in that the losses of the few are covered by the majority. With a pooled risk policy, your individual claims will not directly affect your renewal premiums. Requests from everyone in your “pool” determine price changes.

What’s new for WPA is the introduction of a no-claims discount option, which brings them in line with others on the market. People often prefer to be in control of their own destiny, and many take pride in creating no-claims discounts and reaping the rewards.

We’re not here to say which is better, that’s a personal decision, but it’s great that WPA now gives you that choice.

Advantages of WPA complete health insurance

This review focuses on WPA’s new flagship policy, Complete Health, which offers good core benefits but can be improved by adding a number of optional extras.

Core benefits of WPA Complete Health

These are the core benefits of the WPA Complete Health policy:

• Treatment in a private hospital as an inpatient or day patient
• £250 for outpatient specialist consultations
• Cover for complex scans such as MRI/CT/PET
• Access to any consultant or specialist in the UK (within reasonable costs)
• £4,500 per year NHS hospital allowance (if admitted to an NHS hospital)
• Care at home for up to four weeks
• Remote GP service
• Health and Wellbeing Helpline
• Counseling center for family members over 16 years old

Customize your policy according to your requirements.

So the above is a good start, but we know many of you will be wondering about things like cancer cover, mental health cover and the higher out-patient limit. The good thing about WPA Complete Health is that you can choose from a long list of add-ons and, importantly, only pay for what you want.

Cancer care (optional extra)

WPA’s optional cancer treatment cover provides comprehensive treatment options with no financial restrictions and is designed to cover you from initial examinations to diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. There is no time limit for their follow-up and consultation support and you will also get personalized support from their specially trained teams.

Improved infirmary (optional extra)

Although the small amount of outpatient cover in the basic product is good, £250 will not be enough for many people. WPA wants to make Complete Health as flexible as possible and help you avoid paying for things you don’t need, so their outpatient allowances are split into three, consultations, therapy and tests.

You can choose one, two or all three, then decide for each what limit you want to apply, from £500 to unlimited. So, for example, you may want excellent coverage for diagnostic consultations and tests and therefore opt for unlimited coverage for them. But you’ll be happy to pay for physiotherapy and acupuncture yourself if you need it, so you’re excluded from Therapy cover. You get what is important to you and avoid paying for unimportant things.

Mental health care (optional)

All WPA Complete Health policies include up to six structured consultations for over 16s; however, to access wider mental health services, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, you should add additional mental health care.

See the IPID document at the end of this guide for more details on what this involves.

Cash supplements (optional)

In keeping with the WPA’s desire to give you more control over your policy, they now share four types of cash benefits, which were previously one.

You can choose between two levels of coverage for each of the following:

• General dental treatment
• Optical processing
• Health examination
• Audiology

The great thing about separating these is that if you’ve always had good eyes and rarely went to the optician, you’re only giving up that, while still receiving cash benefits for some others. The choice is yours, but more importantly, you know you won’t pay for something you probably won’t use.

What is monetary compensation?

Cash benefits are a certain amount of money that you can claim for certain treatments or consultations each year. They often cover part or all of the cost of routine appointments with your dentist or optician.

Other extras

In addition to the above, you can go further and further customize your policy with the following:

• Emergency treatment abroad
• Winter sports – treatment in the UK
• Dental care in the UK
• Foreign dental benefit
• Top hospitals

What turns off WPA?

As with any health insurance, there are some standard and more specific exclusions. For a full list, see later in this review where we share WPA’s policy guidelines, with full details of their exemptions. These are their standard exclusions:

• Pre-existing conditions
• Long-term chronic conditions
• Fertility, pregnancy and childbirth problems
• Allergic conditions
• Emergency treatment
• Cosmetic and aesthetic treatments
• Any form of aesthetic dentistry
• Deliberate self-harm or attempted suicide
• HIV, AIDS

Insurance options

When it comes to insurance, you have several options with WPA Health Insurance:

• Moratorium – you won’t have to share your medical history, but any conditions for which you’ve had symptoms, treatment or advice in the previous five years will be excluded. However, if you have no symptoms, medication or treatment for these conditions for two years after joining WPA, they will then be covered.
• Full Medical Warranty – With this type of warranty, WPA will review your past medical history and in most cases, recent or ongoing medical conditions will be excluded.
• Switching – this is for those switching from another insurer to reduce exclusions.

Abstract

Overall, we think WPA’s health insurance, along with customer service and access to claims, is one of, if not the best available in the UK in 2023.