Health Insurance Fund of Australia

Disappointed with their Customer Service. I think the staff needs to be trained and more friendly.
Wasted 67 minutes for nothing.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

HIF went through a growth phase with competitive pricing and good customer service around a decade ago. From my experience, that company no longer exists. I've been a longstanding customer and ran into a problem, which they refused to meet me half way on, said I needed to do my 12 month waiting period for a second time, I was expecting more as a 7-year customer. In the face of the Ombudsman they refused to budge - their stubbornness to offer any relief to me as a longstanding customer should be a warning for you as an existing or potential customer.

Hi Guys,
Just a heads up. I just got declined a claim that I got paid for a same service. There staff is so messed up and untrauned and they make customers pay for their staff's mistakes. Please choose wisely as I feel so bad and frustrated due to their management and claims handling.

Extremely disappointed with the level of service I have received. Do not sign up to this health fund, how they treat their customers is appalling.

I signed up for a policy in January 22 as my husband is 31 and we wanted to avoid the health cover loading. I did not think anything of the waiting periods as we had no health concerns.

Our GP referred us to an ENT later this year as our daughter had been having lots of cold/flus over the winter period and she determined her tonsils were anatomically large. The ENT subsequently recommended they be removed. When booking our surgery I naively thought we had no pre-existing conditions as the condition had just been diagnosed. When I spoke to HIF initially I was assured I was covered. I was sent a statement which said I would not have to pay anything. The hospital then called me the day prior to the surgery to enquire about a pre-existing condition form. I was unaware this had to be completed. After attempting to complete the form the day prior to the surgery I was then told it takes 10 days to be processed - this again was not communicated to me by HIF when I initially enquired about the form. The surgery was postponed. I hear nothing from HIF. I call almost 2 weeks prior to the next scheduled surgery date to see what is happening with the form as I have heard nothing. At this point HIF have had the completed form for a number of weeks. What ensued was the most ridiculous and mentally draining back and forth I have ever experienced.

An independent doctor had to review my daughters medical records and could not give an answer because of some supposedly conflicting dates given by my GP. But to ascertain this was the issue took about 5 days and an inordinate number of phone calls to HIF as well as my GP. All of this only to be told 2 days prior to the scheduled surgery that she was not covered because she had a cold 6 months prior to us signing up which had nothing to do with the date issue and would have been known prior to the ridiculous back and forth. When I expressed my displeasure at how I had been treated as well as how this process had unfolded I was told “HIF has to protect its customers” as if I am not a customer but just someone trying to scam them out of money. This line is incredibly offensive. The staff clearly need some more appropriate conflict management training.

At the end of the day the procedure will be covered by the HIF as the exclusionary period ends in 6 weeks. What I really did not appreciate is the lengthy process, the time wasting, and the toll the stress of this process has taken on my mental health. Had I been told 10 days after filing the form (the period of time I was assured this would take) I could have given our surgeon appropriate notice. Instead I have had to reschedule the surgery the day prior not once but twice. Once this surgery is complete I will be taking my business elsewhere. I am also referring this issue to the health ombudsman.

Please do not sign up to this health fund if you can avoid it. They are awful.

Extremely disappointed. Nobody picks up the phone it disconnects constantly after automated messages that lead to nowhere.

This is the 3rd Private Health fund I have been with in a 22 year period. Most happy with timeframe turnaround for claims and ease of calling to speak to a customer service representative direct. Very positive experiences every time. Best private health fund I have been insured with thus far.

Have been with HIF (GEHMBF) for 52 years.
Have a question to ask and have been hung up on 5 times. Very frustrating.

Can’t recommend HIF - their service is really subpar unfortunately. Phone queues so long you give up, or wait close to weeks for confirmation they received your reply to the “very urgent” email sent by HIF. Lose/ lose

Not been a customer long and already looking elsewhere.
Save yourself the hassle

After long wait for reply, girl was helpful until HIF system cut off the call. Rang again (another long wait) and luckily, same girl answered. She had my 1st call's details on hand and quickly finalised my inquiry.

Don't use HIF.
We have been with them for 13 years.
My son has been taken off our policy.
We had no notification from HIf although they claim to have sent e-mails.
We only found out when we received a new membership card.
Our policy price hasn't changed although we have one less person on the policy.
To add our son back on he will have to wait the 3 months to make a claim.
HIF say that they can't reinstate him.
There is nothing like customer great customer service and this is nothing like great customer service.

Nice enough people on the phone as they are telling you that all the private hospital cover you are paying for giving birth will only cover you for a shared room in a public hospital. I live 400km from the nearest private hospital and so if I want my own room like I've been paying for, I have to pay a gap at a public hospital, even though the private hospital they would have had to cover (should I have been fortunate enough to live in the city) would have been so much more expensive for them to cover. The administration team at the hospital said the western Australian health cover company.can only guess who that is.was the only one they had ever heard of doing this and they found it rediculous.

One Star seems like too much. Wish I could give less while they take your money and royaly screw rural communities over. Rather than cover a gap, you lose 3 members as I'll be transferring everyone in my family and the upcoming 4th potential member you just lost.

Stop being so city minded. We don't get a choice out here. However your policy shows you don't care. Rather than pay a 500 dollar gap, you lose over 5000 in fees.

I never really had any issues with HIF. They are always just a phone call away, and are always super helpful and patient.

If I could give one of their employee a high rating, it would have to be Chloe who has helped me with my recent enquiry.

Definately sticking with HIF for the awesome service.

I stuffed up, more than once to be honest, not reading the fine print etc of my cover, but after years of thinking I was covered for something that I wasn't actually covered for, HIF took the time to review my situation and let me back-pay my cover to include the necessary cover I now need. This all happened within 3 days of making contact with them which was extremely impressive. Hat's off to Samantha on the other end of the phone who was in my corner from the start. Thank you.

Tried to get in contact with a sales representative via email for a week with no response. I have been with a different health fund prior to HIF and their rule was to contact their clients within 72 hours… it’s been a week and nothing. Poor customer service considering you pay a higher premium than other funds. I expected more, only response I got was when I complained on their Facebook page.

I’ve been trying to join up my son. Waited online for a long time but as no staff were available I was assured they would ring back. The call never happened. I am concerned that this is an indication of their customer claim service.

Went above and beyond on a particular scenario when technically they didn't have to and were within their rights not to. After what you hear about insurance companies I must admit I was quite surprised at their ruling. Was an easy process and everyone was friendly and easy to deal with. Can't fault them.

I've been with HIF for years and so far everything are going well.
The online claim is easy to use and the customer service is very professional. Thank you HIF and keep the wonderful service.

I've been with them for 34 years. My old boy has been with them for 49 years.
As a proud West Aussie family we chose HIF as our private health insurance fund because we support local people and organisations.
My family and I just wish HIF would support us the way we have supported them especially in a potentially life threatening situation.

Hi All, I just had a phone call with HIF Impressive customer service polite and efficient which sadly is not common now days Thank you

Been waiting for a month now to receive a refund from HIF. There's no dispute whatsoever w.r. T.the amount of money owed – HIF have themselves acknowledged it in writing. However, that was over a month ago, AND THEY REFUSE TO ANSWER ANY EMAILS. Their behaviour is absolutely disgusting.