Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd

...were told to go for LEGAL AND GENERAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY for their health care plan.

This policy appeared to be family friendly and as long as you are not over 74 years of age, then they will give you cover. Legal and general have been around for more years than I care to remember so we thought yeah ok, we can trust them.

We checked the website out, which is www.legal-and-general.co.uk and the company seemed quite genuine. ...
...forms giving our consent for Legal and General to approach out family doctor for a full list of medical conditions. We had the option to see what the doctor had written but would have to pay £5 for each assessment. I decided not to bother; I knew he would write about the thrombosis that I suffer from.

I was born with a missing gene in my blood, called a Protein S. This means I have sticky blood and I get thrombosis very easily. My ... more

My husband became self-employed about 8 years ago and with the onset of him going it alone, this meant that we would loose the H.S.A. cover his employer gave him. A fellow IT contractor put my hubby in touch with this gentleman who arranges cover for fellow IT self-employed bods.

Amongst all the other policies we took out to safeguard our future and that of my children, was one for private health care. We were told to go for LEGAL AND GENERAL ASSURANCE SOCIETY for their health care plan.

This policy appeared to be family friendly and as long as you are not over 74 years of age, then they will give you cover. Legal and general have been around for more years than I care to remember so we thought yeah ok, we can trust them.

We checked the website out, which is www.legal-and-general.co.uk and the company seemed quite genuine. Their website is bright and cheery and easy to navigate, so far so good. They also sell pensions, savings plans, income protection and mortgage cover. These I cannot comment on as we only applied for health cover but you can apply online without the need of an advisor.

Little did we know what bad advice that was ……..

We arranged cover called a LIFETIME ESSENTIALS plan. Its aims were as stated in the pack:

1. To obtain hospital treatment when it

is needed and at it’s most convenient to you.

2. To cover children free up to age 16.

3. A full refund of hospital costs relating to eligible day care.

4. A full refund of surgeons and anaesthetists care for in patients or day care patients.

5. Surgery reimbursed if done by own G.P.

6. A full cash sum if you choose to have treatment at a NHS hospital.

It sounded perfect for our needs and we went ahead with the application. The gentleman (who will remain nameless) was told about my health condition and he said I would be covered. It wasn’t his fault everything was going to go pear shaped, he was only an advisor and was such nice chap I don’t want to name and shame him for his bad advice. This was my major concern though, I knew this blood problem would be hanging over me like a bad penny.

We had to sign forms giving our consent for Legal and General to approach out family doctor for a full list of medical conditions. We had the option to see what the doctor had written but would have to pay £5 for each assessment. I decided not to bother; I knew he would write about the thrombosis that I suffer from.

I was born with a missing gene in my blood, called a Protein S. This means I have sticky blood and I get thrombosis very easily. My veins are shot to bits so long haul flights are out of the question.

The application was painless and was processed with great speed. It was going to cost us £39 each calendar month and was payable via direct debit only. Though a bit steep to find this every four weeks, it was going to give us peace of mind.

We received more booklets and with that terms and conditions. The print was unbelievably small and was written in such a jargon, I did what most people do, put it away for a rainy day in the file. I took it for granted that as my health condition was disclosed and my application wasn’t rejected, I would have full cover.

Months went passed and all was well, until I get thrombus phlebitis from sitting on a coach trip to London. How pathetic was that, just a couple of hours on a coach and that’s what happens.

I was placed on fragmin injections again and anti biotics to kill the bacteria in the inflamed lump lodged inside my surface vein. Though not as painful as DVT, it is still not at all pleasant. It took weeks to break down the lump of blood but when it eventually dispersed, my doctor recommended surgery to strip my veins and give me a fighting chance of enjoying life a bit better.

Knowing the bad reputation that Hillingdon Hospital has, I wanted to go private and got in touch with the Legal and general claim department. They sent me an application form and noted on my file that I wanted to attend Princes Margaret Hospital in Windsor. The thought of surgery scares me beyond words, so if I needed it, at least I could have it in comfort and hopefully come out at the other end ok!

I filled in the claim and had to get my GP to sign it. That cost me £25 payable to the doctor just for his signature. Legal and General don’t reimburse you for this.

I waited weeks and finally received a reply. I was nervous in opening it, thinking they had given me an appointment date. Imagine my disappointment when they said they refuse to treat me with any illness or condition relating to my blood problem that was disclosed at the time of application.

I phoned their head office which is based in St Leonard’s near Brighton. That wasn’t a free phone number and I was charged at national rate. I was kept waiting for ages and eventually after listening to crap canned music, I spoke to a human voice – allegedly.

To cut a long story short and omit the swear words I used whilst on the phone, I was not eligible due to my policy being one month short of the two year deadline. In other words, if you have a condition they wont help you unless you go two years without any claim for that illness. I had gone 23 months and was told it was in the terms and condition booklet, you know the one, it has print so miniscule you cannot read it without getting eyestrain. The same booklet I put in the file for later!

I said could I make a claim the following month as that would bring me up to the 2-year enforcement. I was told no as I had already made a claim and this would then take me back to the 2 year waiting time. I was getting nowhere fast and loosing a battle with the big boys again. I told them to stick the policy where the sun doesn’t shine and that I wanted it terminated.

I was disgusted and so disappointment at the treatment or lack off that I received. This was my safety net at a time when I needed them and they let me down.

They still tried to take my money from our bank the following month even though I told them to cancel the policy immediately. Luckily I had cancelled the direct debit with our bank so they couldn’t withdraw the money. I then received an over due payment reminder! They couldn’t wait to take your money off you but offer no cover when you need it.

So be warned when you take out a policy, check the small print and make sure the company will treat you for any medical condition that you might have.

Incase you still wish to proceed with other policies from them, here are the details:

CUSTOMER SERVICES: 0845 752 5255 BE WARNED ITS NATIONAL RATE
LEGAL AND GENERAL
PO BOX 2050
HOVE
BN3 1SB.

 

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