I have been with HBA Health Insurance for more than a year. I did extensive research for my health insurance, and these days you cannot afford not to. HBA came out on top, mainly because of their exceptional customer service. I have dealt with them via phone, email, and in person and I am truly amazed at their level of service.

I am traveling overseas quite soon (i.e.: in a few hours), so I went today to explore HBA’s travel insurance options.

Customer service
I made extensive enquiries before joining up to them, and I have pretty good cover with them with regards to hospital admission, major / general dental, optometry and physiotherapy. I identified these as my core requirements. Today’s project was travel insurance, and the lady was quite ready with her responses. She knew exactly about each travel insurance package, and recommended one for me. Although she lacked in the finer details of each package, she did provide me with a number to call to find out more. Basically, I wanted to know what hospitals I would be covered for in India because quality of health care can really vary between hospitals. They covered for the top 2 in Chennai which are: Apollo, and MIOT.

The whole process took about 15 minutes because I was a previous member (including waiting in line time). A quick print out of the policy covered me immediately, and my flight leaves in a few hours. That is quality service, and it was way too easy.

They have an extensive website, and respond to email enquiries within 48 hours consistently. Quite a contrast to TPG Internet. I have waited minimally over the phone for telephone assistance. It also helps with their physical presence in major shopping centres, often open during weekends.

With an extensive list of preferred hospital networks, and service providers you can easily find one near your home. They offer a guaranteed 60% maximum out of pocket expense if you see one of their preferred dentist. Not bad!

I have also attended their service centre in Galleria Shopping Plaza (Bourke St, Melbourne) with similar exception service.

Inside tips
* ISelect is a great site to find out which cover is best.
* ask as many questions as you can when signing up to any insurance package
* combine packages to save. HBA offers up to 15% discount if you combine
* talk to your friends to find out which company they are with, and if they are happy with them

Suggestions
I am really scratching my head on this one. Um, perhaps give a greater discount for existing members, that always works!

Rating - 10/10 (perfect score)
Based purely on customer service, I have to say we have another perfect scorer. First it was Pizza Minded, and now its a large insurance provider. If you had a beef with HBA, I’d be interested to hear about it, but for now this rating stays. I will see how it goes if I have to make a claim.