Westfield Health has been supplying consumers in the UK with secure health insurance products for well over 90 years. They currently have in excess of 300,000 policyholders who have some form of health insurance coverage with them.

Westfield Health offer health insurance products to individuals and their families, businesses and their employees, and they even offer an intermediary service whereby any healthcare intermediary is able to offer Westfield Health's products to their clients.

Westfield Health has a number of health cash plans under their GOOD4YOU product range. This health insurance product range offers up to 5 different levels of coverage, and the price ranges from £5.35 to £34.00 per month. Obviously, the higher your monthly premium, the higher the level of coverage you can expect.

Your monthly premium will ensure that you have a set annual cash benefit in order to cover any number of essential health care bills which may include:-

• Optical costs - glasses, prescription sunglasses, contact lenses & sight tests

• Dental fees - checkups and treatment

• Treatments - physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, homoeopathy and chiropody

• Consultations

In addition to these basic benefits a Westfield Health cash plan will provide monetary benefits for any hospital stay that include both inpatient and day surgery, recuperation, and they even offer financial support if you or your partner have a baby, or if you decide to adopt.

Westfield Health also has a number of health and well-being services which will provide you access to:-

• 24-hour access to GP telephone consultations

• Health benefits and concessions which may include discounted gym membership

• 24-hour counselling advice line which also includes legal advice

• Should you choose one of the higher levels of health cash plan that they offer you also receive personal accident cover

• A website dedicated to health and well-being

Let us look at one of their health cash plans to see exactly what types of benefits you can receive. Their level 3 health cash plan has a fixed monthly premium of £16.60. With this level of cover you will be provided with £105.00 towards dental checkups. I'm sure that you're fully aware that two 6 monthly visits in any one year to the dentist will typically cost you approximately £100.00.

For the same level of cover any consultations that you, your partner, or dependent children require will be covered up to a monetary value of £290.00 annually. I would hazard a guess that many of you put off private consultations, with someone other than your GP, due to the high costs. However, this needn't be a problem if you have taken out one of Westfield Health's cash plans.

Imagine if you are admitted as an inpatient to an NHS or private hospital, registered treatment centre or hospice. This would generally mean that you will be unable to work for a number of days, and therefore will suffer from a loss of income. The level 3 health cash plan will provide you, as the policyholder, £38.00 allowance on a daily basis (Admittedly, this will not be enough to cover a daily wage, but something is better than nothing). This form of coverage is extended to any dependent children, and you will receive £16.50 on a daily basis if any of your children have to stay in hospital as an inpatient. All of these benefits, and a whole host more, are included in a level 3 plan that costs you as little as £16.60 a month.

There are, of course, many exclusions, or eventualities that are not covered, in a Westfield Health cash plan. Let's take the dental checkups scenario as an example - you will not be covered for teeth whitening, prescription charges, missed appointment fees, dental treatment as result of an accident, etc. You will find that all the exclusions to their policies are well documented on their website.

Should you choose to take out a health cash plan from Westfield Health you simply have to set up a direct debit for a fixed monthly amount. You should then receive and pay for your health treatment as normal. You will then need to complete a claim form and send it to Westfield Health, along with any supporting documentation. The claim, or maximum monetary benefit, will then be paid directly into your bank or building society account.

Westfield Health aim process all correctly presented claims within five working days of receiving them. You should also be aware that your monthly premium is fixed and will not increase due to age, or any other health-related factors. This is where Westfield Health is able to distinguish themselves from the competition, and many other health insurance products that you may find in the marketplace.