FAQs

Equipsme is FCA regulated, like a broker, and we develop our own products with insurers and service partners. We’re an intermediary, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under the name Equipsme Insurance Services Ltd. We’re based in London and you can contact us at [email protected] or arrange for a call back at 020 3965 6410.

We develop our own exclusive health insurance and wellbeing support plans, aimed specifically at businesses throughout the UK. We don’t sell personal policies to consumers.

Equipsme will act on behalf of insurers when promoting, selling and administering any insurance benefits in our plans.

We’ll help you decide – but not tell you what to buy.

We provide all the key information about what is and isn’t covered by our plans and answer questions to help businesses decide what they want and need from an employee health insurance and wellbeing plan. As we distribute and sell our own products, we don’t review the whole market, so we can’t give recommendations or advice!

Equipsme Plans are available directly from us, or through certain Insurance Brokers. Your broker may be able to offer recommendations and advice.

We’re digital, so both companies and employees can do pretty much everything needed online via our Members portal or App. We’ve focussed on the things we know people really value, which is why our plans include things like 24/7 GP access, and physio appointments.

We don’t have a long eligibility criteria, just an age range for people we’ll cover, and a three year pre-existing conditions exclusion.

We try and keep everything simple, transparent, and practical.

To join Equipsme please go to the myBenefits platform through ‘Private Healthcare Insurance from Equipsme’.

You can choose to cover you and your family at anytime during the year. Please go to the myBenefits platform through Private Healthcare Insurance from Equipsme’. As your plan is arranged through your employer your plan will always have a 1^st November renewal date

You can add your partner to your Equipsme plan if you’re married, in a civil partnership or living together permanently in a similar relationship. You can also add your children and your partner’s children (a maximum of 6 children can be added at a cost of 50%). Children can stay on the plan up to the age of 25 when they will come off the plan at the renewal date following their birthday.

Once you have made your initial selection (choosing cover level and whether to add family members) on your myBenefits platform and you are enrolled on the Equipsme plan, the next available opportunity to change these selections will be at the annual renewal window or if you have an eligible life event.

Once your Equipsme health insurance plan becomes active you will receive an email with all the information you need as an Equipsme member on how to create your account, access your members portal, download the App and make the most of your benefits.

There will also be additional info made available to you on your myBenefits Equipsme tab once your plan has incepted.

We recommend reading the ‘How to use your plan’ guide that will be included in the welcome email and available on the Equipsme tab on your myBenefits portal.

On a level 2 plan (£39 a month) you DO have to pay £150 excess towards your claim, if it is made under the Diagnosis or Treatment plan benefits. This is only payable once on claims during the plan year and not per claim.  There is no excess to pay on any other plan benefits and no excess on physiotherapy.

You need to get your diagnosis/treatment approved by AXA Health before your appointment – so you know whether it’s covered or not to help avoid extra charges or surprise bills on the way.

No, as a senior manager you are automatically enrolled with AXA Health. It is not possible to take out an Equipsme plan if you have compulsory employee cover for full private medical insurance (PMI) with AXA Health. You can opt out, but you must have equivalent full cover elsewhere e.g. under a spouse policy and be able to provide proof of alternative cover.

Please note – Equipsme is not considered equivalent cover as it is positioned as the middle ground between full PMI and cash plans. It is therefore not possible to opt out of the full PMI AXA cover and take Equipsme.

Key differences between the different levels of plans can be found on the intro page here.

You have bought an Equipsme health insurance plan through your employer. Using the link in your email, log in to create your members account, see your plan benefits and make changes to your plan.

You can see all your plan details and make changes to your account on our Equipsme members portal or App. When you’ve been added to the plan, you’ll get an email from us explaining how to set up your account and create a password.

We’ll send a code to your email address registered with us (just so everything is secure) and then you’ll be able to access the portal by going to the top right of the Equipsme homepage, and logging in. You can also download our Equipsme Members App via the App Store or Google Play.

You’ll see your plan start date in your Welcome email.

When you’re setting up your account using the links in the email, you’ll need to provide some information to pass data protection checks – and you’ll be sent a Verification Code by email. This is a 4-6 digit one-time passcode that you’ll need before setting your password. When you receive the passcode enter it as soon as possible (as they are time sensitive for only a few minutes), and then follow the on-screen instruction to help you set a strong password before using it to login and access your online Equipsme account.

If for any reason you encounter problems receiving a code or setting your password to log in, email us at [email protected] and we’ll sort it out.

Don’t worry! This happens to everyone. Click on ‘LOGIN’ which you can find in the main navigation bar on any page of our website. Below the login button is a reset/forgotten password link. Click this link and enter the email address which you registered with. You will then receive an email from us to help you reset your password! You must have set up an account with us before trying to reset a password. The link to setting up your account is in your welcome email.

Should you have difficulty logging in, please email [email protected]. We will get in contact as soon as possible to help you.

Please note though, Equipsme has been built for modern browsers such as Chrome, Safari and Firefox. It probably won’t work on an older Internet Explorer browser. As a first step if you’re having problems, try downloading Chrome and launching the website from there.

You can make amends to your details on your myBenefits portal here.

As soon as you leave your employer your Equipsme plan is cancelled, your employer will inform us and all cover for you (and your family if included) will stop on that date.

The Equipsme Health Insurance plan is exclusively available to you through your company, and we’re really sorry, but we don’t have an individual continuation option.

We may, however, be able to pass your details onto AXA Health, with your permission. They can help you explore your options – but please note other health insurance plans may not provide the same benefits, choices or type of cover.

The best way to access your benefits and make appointments is from your Equipsme Members portal or App. You can login to your portal on www.equipsme.com/members/login/ or download the App onto your phone from the App Store or Google Play.

Enter your email address and password to login, click on the relevant benefit icon on the home page and then follow the simple instructions to request your appointment.

You also have the option of phoning to make an appointment – all details are inlcuded on your portal or App.

Members can download the Equipsme App, and use it to request an appointment, any time of the day or night, subject to availability.

They can also call the 24/7 GP line at any time to make an appointment over the phone. For your appointment you’ll speak to a GP on the phone, or by video call.

They can talk through your condition, and even prescribe medication.

Yes. The price will depend on the medication you require and is usually more expensive than a standard NHS prescription.

However, you get the convenience of speaking with a GP quickly, and you can choose to get your prescription sent electronically to your local pharmacy to pick up your own medication, or to get it posted out to you directly.

The best place to start is to read your How to Use Your Plan guide, which you can find on the Equipsme members portal or App. It’s a guide with a simple flow diagram showing you what to do when!

We know you’re not a medical expert, so we won’t expect you to decide where is best to start. Just get in touch, and we’ll help you check what’s covered, and pick where and what to do next.

If you need to be referred to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment, you’ll be able to contact the Equipsme team at AXA Health directly (by phone or by submitting a request via our portal or App) to find out if your condition is covered and they can help you make your first appointment with an approved consultant.

Please don’t arrange your own physio appointments or consultations with a specialist. These appointments have to be made through the Equipsme team at AXA Health. You don’t want to pick a person or clinic that isn’t recognised under your plan and risk your bills not being covered!

Don’t worry, there is an approved medical network of medical professionals, diagnostic centres and hospitals you’re covered to use. The aim is always to limit your travel distance or make initial appointments by phone or video.

Equipsme have joined forces with Thriva to offer you the option to do a home health check as part of your health insurance plan. Thriva are experts in preventative care, and aim to help put people in control of their own health – which is exactly what Equipsme is all about, too.

These home health checks are there if you’re just not feeling 100%, or if you just want to do a bit of an MOT. They’re simple, easy, and quick – and can be done from the comfort of your own home.

You have access to an online health check, a selection of Diabetes, Cholesterol + Vitamin D tests (depending on the cover level you have chosen) and a GP report. But that’s not all – as a valued member, you can also enjoy a 20% discount on other Thriva tests using an exclusive discount code which can be found on your members portal once you have signed up.

To get started on this exciting journey towards better health, you will receive an email from Thriva ([email protected]) where you will be invited to create your Thriva profile. Simply confirm your details and set up your account. Once you have done this you can order your test kit (if included in your plan), which will then be sent out to you in the post. You do your own test at home, and send it back in the post too! Your kit comes with everything you need and full instructions to do a finger-prick blood test.

Your Equipsme plan provides cover for a year. Your membership certificate will show the dates on which your cover starts and ends.

All premiums must continue to be up to date for your cover to continue.

If you join your company and the plan part way through the plan year, you may have less than 12 months until the renewal date.

Please refer to your membership handbook and our privacy notice which can be found on our website.

In summary, we’ll only use your information in ways we’re allowed to by law, which means we only collect what we need, don’t sell it to 3^rd parties, and will always get your consent to process medical information when it’s necessary to do so.

You can choose to cover yourself as the employee as long as you are between the age of 16 and 69 years on the plan effective date. Once you have chosen a cover level for yourself, you can extend cover to include your partner/spouse (over the age of 16 years) and your children (under the age of 25 of the plan effective date).

All updates to personal details should be made on your myBenefits platform once you (and any family added) are enrolled on the Equipsme plan. The next available opportunity to change your cover level and add/remove family members will be at the annual renewal window or if you have an eligible life event. Please contact the myBenefits helpdesk on 02380 831 746,  Monday to Friday. 08:30 – 17:30 or use the help feature within the myBenefits site

Existing health conditions are covered when you use the GP services, Health at Hand support lines and the health check benefit.

For physio, diagnosis and treatment, there is a 3 year pre-existing conditions exclusion. That means that if you’ve had any disease, illness or injury, or experienced symptoms whether or not you have received medication, advice or treatment for in the 3 years before the start of the insurance cover – you’re not covered for these under your plan.

Our aim is to help protect you from unexpected health issues, and excluding pre-existing conditions means we don’t have to make everyone complete detailed health questionnaires or price variations based on the answers.

Whenever you claim, AXA health may ask your GP, specialist or therapist for more information to confirm whether your claim can be covered. This could be to make sure your condition is not pre-existing, or to make sure that it is a coverable condition under your plan. Your GP may charge you for providing this information. This charge is not covered by your insurance policy.

Yes, and full benefit and exclusion details are contained in your Membership Handbook. To help, we’ve included some of the main conditions we DON’T cover below. For any health queries you can always contact the Health at Hand phone line from AXA Health who can help and support you with any questions.

Cancer – we don’t cover cancer treatment, but we know the key thing with cancer is getting a fast diagnosis. So if your symptoms aren’t pre-existing and diagnosis is included in your plan, you’ll be able to get to the right specialist to help you find out faster. Then, for cancer treatment the dedicated cancer support nurses available under the Equipsme plan will guide you back into the NHS. That’s because treatment for cancer can be incredibly complicated. It’s expensive which could lead to higher prices in future, it requires a team of specialists working together – and we believe all of that is best co-ordinated by the NHS.

Pregnancy and childbirth – we do cover certain related conditions during pregnancy, but we don’t cover other anti-natal or midwifery care.

Mental health conditions – if stress support is part of your plan we can help with telephone and face-to-face counselling, but we can’t provide other psychiatric treatment or support.

Ongoing, recurrent and long-term conditions – we call these “chronic conditions”. Examples include things like Crohns’s Disease.

Overseas treatment – we don’t cover treatment received outside the UK.

At Equipsme we focus our cancer support on early diagnosis but if cancer is diagnosed our plans do not pay for private treatment. We can help plan holders get a telephone or video appointment with a private GP, and depending on the chosen plan level get fast-track referrals for private diagnosis, see a private specialist/consultant, as well as helpline support with any questions if they have to go back into the NHS for treatment – all designed to help cut the waiting list for diagnosis which can also help speed up access to treatment back in the NHS

Terms and conditions do apply so if you are interested in an Equipsme plan we do recommend reading our full documentation. If you have any questions on what can be a complicated subject, please feel free to contact us.

We are looking at pulling something together to show a comparison of what’s on offer from all health benefits. There is a cash plan where you can pay and claim back – Equipsme is in the middle – and there is an all singing all dancing PMI at the top.

Nearly all insurers do not cover chronic conditions, like Asthma, diabetes etc. There is cover (if you have diagnosis) to get diagnosed for a condition that then turns out to be a chronic condition but ongoing treatment is not covered.

We have UK wide coverage for gyms – the Nuffield gym network and Hussle gym have options across the UK.

Physio – we offer online/remote appointments and have access to a UK wide network of physiotherapists.

We don’t offer the dental and optical cover from Equipsme as we have a separate plan from BUPA and cover available through a cashplan.

No, we don’t cover anything related to Neurodivergent diagnosis and any associated treatment.

There is an option to get a private prescription delivery to home, pharmacist or place of your choice. There is always a charge – not fixed – and it can sometimes be cheaper than the NHS but sometimes more. You don’t need to take up the private prescription option.

It all depends on the terms and conditions of the Equipsme plan and whether the condition being claimed for is classed as pre-existing or chronic/long-term or otherwise excluded. Please email in to [email protected] to discuss personal health conditions for guidance about whether they are covered or not. Often, as part of the claims assessment process AXA Health will ask for further information from your GP to understand if it was pre-existing.

Please refer to information from the AXA Health plan available on the MyBenefits portal.