Private medical cover has many benefits - but is it worth the cost?
12 May 2021 • 3:08pm
There are a number of benefits to be had from private medical insurance. Private cover will typically give you access to increased medical resources, reduced hospital waiting times and a wider range of specialist treatments, as well as a private room.
However, there are downsides to consider – not least the sometimes eye-watering cost of insuring yourself and your family against ill health.
Premiums can be expensive and the costs are going up every year. Dan Hutson, of comparison website Compare the Market, said: “Typically speaking, health insurance premiums tend to increase by around 3-5pc per year, partly because of the increasing cost of treatment, and partly because people are living for longer.”
For electric car drivers this meant a £75 drop in the average premium in the first quarter of 2021, while other motorists saw a £101 drop.
Dan Hutson, the head of motor insurance, at Comparethemarket.com, said the difference was explained by a range of factors, including electric cars having fewer complex moving parts to be damaged in an accident.
He added: âElectric cars are typically less likely to be stolen and more likely to be recovered when they are, due to their limited range and because charging them is relatively time-consuming.â
Electric cars have been growing in popularity with drivers, and UK figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed 22,000 were sold in March.
Image: phaustov / Shutterstock
The average annual cost of insurance for electric cars is now cheaper than petrol or diesel cars, falling by £75 in the first quarter of 2021.
That is according to new research by Compare The Market, which revealed that electric vehicles (EVs) are typically £45 cheaper to insure than petrol or diesel alternatives.
The average insurance premium for petrol and diesel cars for the first quarter of 2021 sits at £611, with a much lower cost of £478 for the cheapest electric car premium.
The report also showed that as well as car insurance premiums typically being lower for EVs, road tax is also cheaper, with cars that do not emit carbon and costing less than £40,000 not needing to pay.
The cost of insurance for electric cars has reversed by an average of £75 in the first three months of 2021, meaning the vehicles are still cheaper to insure than petrol or diesel motors - but the gap as narrowed.
The average annual premium for electric vehicles has dropped to £566 in the first quarter, down from £641 in the previous three months, according to data from Compare the Market.
Now, electric vehicles are typically £45 cheaper to insure than petrol and diesel alternatives, although some electric cars can still be more expensive to insure than others.
However, this gap has narrowed substantially compared to the last three months of 2020, with petrol and diesel models seeing bigger falls in cost.