General & Medical  Reviews 

Friendly and helpful staff, clearly UK based. Not the corporate feel that you can get with lots of companies. Happy to talk through alternative options.

Really disappointed and angry at the experience I am having with G&M.
I have been with them for a couple of years, and although they are extremely slow in refunds ( when I have had to pay upfront and claim back), they have, until recently been ok to use.
I am still waiting for a refund for an appointment for my Son since October! I have sent receipts and invoices, made calls and been assured that it is being dealt with which it never is, sent numerous emails and the last 4 or 5 phone calls and emails have blatantly been ignored. This is what I pay for? Absolutely awful customer service. In one of the email responses there persons who had emailed me couldn’t even spell properly.
I am now having to take more of my time to send an official complaint ( which you can only do by post?!, who does that these days?), and then if no response which I am
Expecting I will have to take it even further by contacting the financial Ombudsman. Why can’t companies just do what they are supposed to do?

Simple process, documents sent quickly, sales/customer service staff gave their contact details and names rather than hiding behind a corporate cloak. One error I made on start date was quickly sorted out without fuss.

I spent a lot of time, emotional energy and some money responding to a stream of requests for information after filing a claim with G & M earlier this year. The subsequent process was slow and unhelpful - it felt like the claim was delayed on any pretext. For instance, I was told that the data from my GP's records, provided by an independent body as requested by G & M, was unacceptable (that decision was reversed but only after protest).

My claim was eventually declined, and I asked why. Part of the evidence cited by G & M was a side comment I made to a physiotherapist in February 2026 that "I had difficulty putting my socks on". True, but not relevant to the decision and probably more reflective of G & M's mindset. I was also told I could re-apply 10 months after the policy started.

I did so and went through another drawn out process, which eventually ended with a second letter saying that the claim had been turned down, but for a different reason from the first time around. I had wasted more than six months, and been pulled from pillar to post along the way. It was no comfort to learn that I could re-apply in two years time.

I filed a formal complaint, not challenging why the claim was declined, but the delay in doing so. G & M could have given me that decision and its rationale up front with the first claim. If so, I would have had my operation at the beginning not the end of 2025. Either way I would have paid for it, but I would have improved my quality of life much sooner if G & M had been quicker and more professional.

Given the way that the claim was handled by G & M, I suppose it's unsurprising not only that my complaint was not accepted but also that it was done in an unsympathetic and bureaucratic manner. I am now considering a complaint to the Ombudsman, something that I believe the insurance broker involved has already made.

Appreciated the call from Ethan. He was helpful, clear and very pleasant to speak to.

Query efficiently and pleasantly dealt with. Very helpful

I cant believe what others are saying about this health insurance provider. I will tell you from my firsthand experience that you should 100% look elsewhere.

This company plays on their delay tactic in their claim process, ask loads of questions and their policy allows them to take 5 working days to process any new messages, even on a single subject matter. Then they finally ask another big question for your gp to send your medical records for last two years over to them. If medical record history is needed why cant you be upfront about it? At least i do not have to wait another week just to find out this is required as part of your application process?! Don't waste your money on them, NHS may be a quicker solution. Absolutely disappointed. Why pay extra for a service that will cost you stress and burden?

Its been two weeks and my application had no major breakthrough progress.

In the contrary, my complaint email only took them half a day to respond. Length of that response is 3 times longer than the email about my claims application. (This lengthy email explained how they are not at fault just to be clear. )

My claim handler is Sanum.

Since inception of my policy of insurance covering my wife and myself, two claims have been made, one on behalf of myself and one on behalf of my wife

My wife’s claim was for outpatient treatment for injury to her knee. She was recommended treatment by steroid injection into her knee joint. The procedure was carried out at the Mayo outpatient clinic in London. G&M failed to pay the clinic invoice for three months - although authorised - resulting in threatened issue of proceedings against my wife. The explanation ultimately provided was that there was ‘an administrative error’ in the accounts department. Such was the level of stress occasioned by the default my wife elected not to have the recommended second injection deciding that the physical pain was preferable to pursuing a second claim.

The second claim was made by me. In 2017 I was treated for metastatic cancer in my liver and required a liver re-section. This was undertaken under the auspices of medical insurance provided as part of my remuneration with my former employers.

In early 2025 I was diagnosed with 4 incisional hernias at the site of the previous procedure. I submitted a claim to G&M who declined the claim without medical evidence determining that the claim was made for aesthetic or cosmetic reasons.

As a 68 year old man I don’t habitually take my shirt off in public and I wouldn’t submit myself to surgery unnecessarily. My broker appealed the decision and I was authorised to instruct a surgeon to assess the position. I was advised that repair was both essential and urgent. That G&M declined to pay the full invoice of the consultant is immaterial, however before authorizing the necessary surgery they insisted that I disclose my medical records from 2008 which as nine years before the surgery and 17 years before the claim was made The repair required is totally exclusive of the underlying cancer which was the reason for the original operation. It is merely a repair to the incisional scar. G&M have indicated that because my original claim was declined on the basis of its assessment that it was a cosmetic or aesthetic repair underwriters are entitled to demand access to my full medical records.

I have disclosed eight years of records in the possession of my GP but am told that any old records before 2017 will take up to three months to be produced. I have been told I should have the repair surgery as a matter of urgency and that I should not wait for three months and then such time as
G&M take to consider my records and presumably seek further justification for declining the claim.

I have paid a combined premium of some £800 a month since subscribing to the policy which premium has been accepted without demur and G& M have satisfied itself on inception that my wife and I were eligible for cover. That they should now seek to avoid cover is in my view fraudulent and deceitful

I have been advised by my broker that I should not terminate my policy but proceed to have the surgery on a self funded basis and seek to recover the cost retrospectively from G&M hoveever given the potential delay in obtaining my records and the time it will take for G&M to assess my claim the potential cost of premiums will be half the cost of the surgery on a self funded basis and that will not be reimbursed. It makes no commercial sense to pay further premiums when based on my experience to date there is limited chance that G&M will honour its contractual obligations.

Regrettably my experience has served only to confirm that this company is interested only in obtaining premiums and moves heaven and earth to justify declining cover.

I have been advised independently that G&M’s reputation is abysmal and I post this review by way of warning to others not to waste their money with what is ostensibly a bunch of cowboys

I had the insurance with G&M for a while, when I put in a claim for the first and only time. It got refused despite the policy indicating the kind of emergency procedure I had had was covered. Wording used in the policy was generic; however I was told that the specific sub-category of the procedure was not covered - although there was no mention of precise criteria in the policy, and my requests for clarification via email were ignored. When I called an advisor on the phone, they could not tell me either why my claim was rejected and what specific category the procedure had to be to meet the criteria - the advisor said he ‘did not know.’
I felt misled by the policy and that the general approach of the company was to refuse to settle claims on some retrospective arbitrary grounds not mentioned in the documents. Ultimately it took several months to receive a letter with an explanation of how my claim was assessed.
While trying to get a clarification on my case, my policy came up for a renewal which I decided against. Despite emailing the G&M to advise I didn’t wish to renew, payment was taken from my account. I had then to contact them asking for a refund and was promised it would be processed which didn’t happen - a further email chasing this was simply ignored, so I had to go via my bank.
My overall experience was that of poor customer service and misleading practices.

I was struggling paying my monthly premium which went up in costs the following year.
I needed help and support from there agent. He found a way of reducing my monthly premium without altering my pre-existing medical conditions which are in place.
Matt Dudhill the agent listened to me which made my experience great.

The whole experience of being with General and Medical has been nothing but a complete nightmare and has caused me unnecessary stress, anxiety and wasted time in trying to deal with issues. The service and support has never been there, they take far longer than any other company to settle invoices, calls not returned on a timely basis, communication with an individual, rather than a robot, is almost impossible and if they can get out of settling claims or dragging things out further, they will. I will never use this company again and would not recommend them under any circumstances. I would rather have no health insurance than use General and Medical again. I have since found that I am not the only person who has since recently left General and Medical due to not being satisfied with the level of service and professionalism.

They will scam you.
Late review but that's what their response was to me.

1. They dont accept their own gp

2. What's the point getting referral from NHS if I paying private.

"In respect of making a new claim I must advise that as per your policy terms, the referral letter must be from your registered NHS GP. We are unable to accept referrals from Health Hero. The 24 hr GP service is a third party service where you are able to obtain advice but is not for the purposes of referrals to initiate claims under your healthcare policy"

I’m absolutely devastated by our experience with General & Medical. We took out a policy for my son because he was starting a two-year football college course, and I made it crystal clear from the very beginning that sports injury cover was essential. It was the main reason we chose this policy and trusted this company.

Now, when we actually need the policy, they’ve refused to help. My son suffered a knee injury, and his GP referred him for a scan — but the claim was declined because “sports cover isn’t included.”

To make matters worse, when we asked them to provide evidence or documentation showing that this cover was excluded, we were ignored several times. No explanation, no clarification — just silence. For a company dealing with people’s health and wellbeing, this lack of communication is unacceptable.

We feel completely misled. I was very clear that we needed sports cover, and I would never have taken out this policy had I been told otherwise. My son is now unable to attend college because of his injury, and what should have been an exciting new chapter for him has turned into months of pain, stress, and disappointment.

We trusted Howdens General & Medical to be there when it mattered, but instead we’ve been left feeling abandoned and ignored. If you’re considering a policy with them DON'T. Sadly, when we needed support the most, we were left on our own.

No point trying to speak with their customer service teams or call, they all say the same and its a complete waste of time to resolve. This really is a typical insurance company where they avoid paying a claim no matter what.

Ethan is very helpful knowledgeable and friendly

Providing comprehensive and timely upgrade information; friendly client care.

Really helpful information provided to tailor make the renewal process.

Extremely helpful advice with my renewal to keep the cost affordable which I have accepted!