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To the experts

I have a nasty historyof heart disease in my family. To this end im looking into taking out private health insurance.

I have up to 4 years of my IVA left.

How do creditors view private health insurance? Will it be deemed a "luxury" and argued that the cost of it should go into the IVA rather than the insurance??

Hi Johny

You may find that due a family history of heart disease, this will be excluded from any private health policy. so worth checking around. You may also find that certain policies will only pay out if the treatment is not availible within a time frame on the NHS

depends on what you want to claim for? if its test etc and you get the money back then i cant see why not we have a local scheme which includes the dentist and you pay then claim it back see if an expert comes along

I agree with ginger that you might find it hard to get insurance as you will have to answer questions about family history.

As regards paying for it, then as long as you can fund it with savings from your allowances then you could do it. I doubt you would be able to put it down as an additional expense.

To be honest, my hubby suffers with chronic heart disease and we've had no problem with the NHS.

It sounds very sensible to me, but how will you fund it and will it affect the level of your IVA payments?

Hi - I had a few good reasons to take out private health insurance too. Cancer sees off everyone on both sides of my family when their time comes. I'll take from housekeeping if I need to. I sometimes think i shouldn't expect the iva to drop to accommodate certain expenditure anymore than I would ask my landlord for a rent reduction to pay for something.

As has already been said an insurance company may exclude this from the policy anyway as it is an existing condition. Unfortunately most policies cover the unexpected. ie if you had no clue of your ailment and you became aware more than 6 months in to the policy.

Quite agree Karin - you have to make sure you declare everything as they will always delve into your circumstances quite deeply if you try to claim and if there is something you've not put down they will void it.

I have a family history of breast cancer and the insurance company would not insure for ANY cancer.

Nobody from hubbys side of the family would be considered for heart disease - there is a big family history of it.

I have BUPA through work and they didn't ask about family history, only mine and Dave's histories. Sadly that means a lot of things are now excluded!