One phone call, before your first appointment. Nearly every case of a patient being left out of pocket traces back to this call not being made. Have your policy or membership number to hand and ask:
- “Do I need pre-authorisation, and can I have the authorisation number?” Most policies require it. Treatment started without it is frequently not covered even where the policy would otherwise have paid.
- “How many sessions are authorised?”Some policies authorise a number of sessions, some a monetary limit, some an initial block that can be extended with a progress report. Knowing which lets us plan treatment around it.
- “What is my excess, and have I paid it this policy year?” See the section below — this is the one that most often changes the decision.
- “Do you require a GP referral?” We do not. Your insurer might. These are two separate rules and the next section explains why it catches people out.
You do not need a GP referral to see a physiotherapist privately. That is true, it is true here, and we say so throughout this site.
Your insurer is a separate question. Some policies will only authorise physiotherapy where a GP has referred you, and some require it only above a certain number of sessions. It varies between insurers and between policies within the same insurer.
This catches people out because the two rules sound like one. You book without a referral — correctly — get treated, submit the claim, and the insurer declines it retrospectively for a referral you were never told you needed. Asking the question beforehand costs one phone call.
Physiotherapy is inexpensive compared with the surgery and inpatient care private policies are really designed for. That produces a situation nobody at an insurer will point out to you.
An initial assessment here is £52 and a follow-up is £46. An assessment plus two follow-ups — enough for many straightforward problems — comes to £144. A typical policy excess is £100 to £250.
If your excess is higher than the treatment will cost, claiming gains you nothing. You pay the same money, with more paperwork, and you may trigger a no-claims adjustment at renewal for no benefit at all.
We will tell you if we think that applies to you. It means less administration for us too, but the honest reason is simpler: a patient who feels stitched up over £98 does not come back, and does not recommend us.
Insurance is worth claiming for longer courses of treatment, complex or neurological rehabilitation, and post-operative programmes — where the total genuinely exceeds the excess. The full fee list is on the pricing page, published in full so you can do this calculation yourself before you ring anyone.
Whether we can invoice your insurer directly or you pay and reclaim depends on your insurer and your specific policy — the two arrangements both exist and it is not something we can tell you in advance from the insurer's name alone. Ask us when you book and we will confirm which applies to you before your first appointment rather than after it.
Bring to your first session:
- Your policy or membership number
- Your authorisation or claim number, and the number of sessions approved
- Your GP referral letter, if your insurer required one
- A payment method for any excess or shortfall, in case part of the cost falls to you
If your insurer declines or only partly settles a claim, the balance remains payable by you. That is standard across private healthcare and is set out in our terms — and it is exactly why the phone call at the top of this page matters more than anything else here.
