Here at Hooray, we sometimes take it for granted that people will understand the benefits of using a health insurance broker.
In fact, we sometimes take it for granted that people will even know what a health insurance broker is!
So, here is an overview of what we do and how we can help you.
Need help setting up employee benefits and health insurance schemes for your workforce? Our friendly team of experts can help. Email hello@hoorayinsurance.co.uk or call for a no-obligation FREE chat on 01273 222805.
What is a health insurance broker?
The basic job of a health insurance broker is to compare policies from multiple insurers to ensure your business gets the best value policy.
Every employer has a different goal in mind depending on the size of their workforce but also how much money they are willing (or able!) to spend on benefits.
A good broker will listen carefully and then provide a range of quotes based on your needs.
But in all honesty, some brokers can be lazy! They may want to partner you with one particular insurer, without shopping around. But that’s NOT the Hooray way! We’ll explore the whole market to deliver the best deals. We’ll also break everything down into digestible chunks, making a generally complex industry as simple as possible so you know what you’re putting your money into.
Some businesses take a leap of faith and go direct to an insurance company. The problem is, this limits the advice you receive. They will convince you that they have the absolute perfect arrangement for you. But that might not be the case!
Essentially, a good broker will find you the best policy for the best price – and save you from a headache brought on by impenetrable industry jargon!
How much does a Group Health Insurance broker cost?
Hooray Health & Protection won’t come at any extra cost to you or your business as we charge no fee for our services.
We will provide a health insurance comparison of the whole market to ensure you get the best terms and will not charge you any additional fees for our time.
We advise everyone to be wary of an insurance broker that tries to charge your business a fee for health insurance advice.
Business Health Insurance brokers are paid a commission by the insurer for placing the business, so you should not pay anything extra.
What does a health insurance broker do?
i. Compare health insurance policies
When it comes to Business Health Insurance in the UK, every insurance provider is offering something different from the next. Pricing is calculated differently, there are different support services, and policy terms and conditions vary between each insurer.
Some of the top UK health insurance providers we work with include:
Whole of market health insurance brokers are not limited to just one insurer, but, instead, provide a health insurance comparison service and report back their findings.
Our team undertake an overview of the market, providing details of the best insurance companies’ quotes. Eventually everything boils down to establishing the right policy for your business at the best price.
Read more from our blog: 8 best private healthcare providers in the UK.
ii. Arrange policies
When choosing a new health insurance policy, you need to consider the added extras and what services can be reduced to keep the costs down, especially if the policy is over your set budget requirements.
Hooray Health & Protection will always compare quotes from across the market for a Group Health policy to ensure you get the level of cover you want at an affordable price.
iii. Help at renewal
If you apply for health insurance directly through an insurance company, they will increase the policy each year on renewal. But health insurance brokers make it a priority to search the whole market and negotiate with your existing insurer to keep premium increases to a minimum. We might be able to find a better deal elsewhere, or lean on your current provider to get a better deal.
Hooray Health & Protection work with all insurers in the market for Business Health Insurance to ensure you have every option available. We will also take into account any changes made to the insurer’s proposition since the last renewal.
Health insurance policies are always evolving, often for the better. New tools and technologies are always being added (think wellbeing apps and remote GP arrangements), and sometimes we can have them added at little or no extra cost.
iv. Advise on claims
Although claiming is a necessity (and the reason for taking out cover in the first place), it is still important to remember that claims will usually increase your premiums at the next renewal.
If you appoint a health insurance broker, they will negotiate the premiums with your health insurance company as well as other insurance companies, to ensure that you pay no more than you have to.
When dealing with multiple business insurance policies, it is particularly important to use a broker. The main reason for this is to keep your costs down and stop you from paying for multiple policies that cover the same things.
Employee benefits brokers can help advise you which is the right policy to claim on to minimise premium increases. Group Income Protection policies, for example, have early intervention services included which can fund private medical treatment and help reduce the cost of a claim.
Hooray can also help with any claims disputes and advocate on your behalf.
v. Help with admin and paperwork
Brokers will also stay with you throughout the entire process – right from the initial fact-finding discussion all the way to implementing your schemes and benefits. Our Hooray brokers help with the process of administering benefits to ensure everything is as it should be and all staff are up-to-date and involved in the policies. We’ll handle staff queries so you don’t have to!
vi. Offer advice beyond health insurance
Our expertise don’t stop at health insurance plans. As employee benefits and health insurance brokers, we also advise on all issues surrounding employee benefits and across a wide array of policies. For example, we can advise on which benefits platforms to use for administering benefits or provide insight into the full range of insurance products that are in the market.
Our arsenal of advice includes (but is not limited to) the following:
- Group Income Protection
- Group Life Insurance
- Group Critical Illness Cover
- Employee benefits platforms
- Employee Assistance Programmes
- Group Health Cash Plans
- Relevant Life Insurance
What do businesses say about working with a health insurance broker?
“Hooray provided a market report for our company (management consultancy) which included quotes from all the big seven health insurers. Charlie was great, helped us to switch insurers with a total of 35% savings against our renewal price. The whole process of switching of insurers was brilliant – they handled the whole process from start to finish.”
Ken Yeung, Private Public Limited.
“We received a significant refund from our previous provider, due to us unknowingly overpaying for services. This was credit to Charlie and his team for persevering and managing this with the provider. Needless to say, I was definitely in the good books with our Finance Director!”
Kerry Noblett, Designer Group.
How to find Business Health Insurance Broker near me?
Hooray Health & Protection complete all our reviews online or over the phone. This means you do not have to wait for an appointment or pay the fees associated with financial advisers.
If you do prefer speaking face to face instead of over the phone, feel free to visit our offices in Brighton & Hove!
Want to know more?
The world of employee benefits and health insurance can be a daunting one to dive into. Utilising a health insurance broker means you don’t need to plunge head-first in without knowing what you will find. For any company new to employee benefits or if you are seeking out a review, having an industry-expert on hand is going to help!
Contact our friendly team of award-winning brokers at hello@hoorayinsurance.co.uk or give us a call on 01273 222805 for a no-obligation FREE chat.