Bupa Reviews 255

I was trying to cancel my policy so I decided to use their online message system. I got a bit asking me what I wanted and it asked me generic questions. I then got in touch with someone called Kaye. I told him I wanted to cancel my policy and he tried asking me other questions that I wasn’t prepared to answer. I explained I just wanted to cancel my policy. Another 20 mins went by and he answered with another question. He knew he was winding me up and didn’t come online for another 20 mins. He then said he’d get someone from customer care to speak to me now. So another 20 mons went by and I asked if he had contacted customer care. He then asked me some more questions knowing very well I would only speak to customer care. After 1 1/2hrs I got customer care who quickly cancelled my policy i
If anyone has to deal with Kaye I suggest you hang up and deal with someone else. The guy isn’t fit to serve people. In fact I’d say he wasn’t fit for customer service.
BUPA you need to do better than hiring this person. I won’t be coming back to BUPA. Kaye has ruined it for me.

Awful health insurance company. For the insurance premium I’m paying close to $600 a month their value is very poor. They are telling me to claim for 1 SINGLE A$500 retainer vs. allowing a claim of $750 for 3 sets of retainers. What kind of mathematicians work at Bupa IS BEYOND ME. Honestly i would NOT stick with Bupa and find another insurance provider.

Leaving this review purely based on the company’s own written admissions throughout a refund case.

A refund of $1,132.07 was initially not received because the consultant processing it had “forgotten to complete the second step” of the internal process.

The refund was then rejected because required documentation was allegedly “not on file” — despite already being submitted and confirmed via multiple phone calls. The company later confirmed that even if documents had been provided earlier, they had not been logged into their system.

After weeks of reassurance that the refund would appear in the bank account within 5–7 business days, the company suddenly advised it could no longer be refunded because payments had gone through a third-party system the customer had never knowingly used.

The proposed solution in 2026?
Posting a cheque — with no tracking or proof of dispatch.

After the cheque failed to arrive within the promised timeframe, the company apologised for “constant delays and unfulfilled promises” and confirmed a bank transfer would be processed within 2–3 business days… only to later send contradictory communication stating it would take 7–10 business days again.

Missing internal records, manual refund steps that can simply be “forgotten”, and constantly changing timelines point to serious operational failures.

This is not a customer service issue — this is a systems and governance issue.

I contacted Bupa to change my cover after becoming a permanent resident. A staff member named Jaime cancelled my reciprocal cover but failed to put the new cover in place, despite telling me it had been done.

As a result, I was unknowingly left without any health insurance for a period, which is extremely serious and has potential tax implications. I only discovered this after following up when nothing appeared in the app.

This was a serious administrative failure and the handling of the issue was unprofessional. I would not expect this level of risk or misinformation from a health insurer.

The boy at the receptionist is good for nothing. I am wondering if he is the relative of the senior boss of that visa medical centre. We went there four times. Each time he couldn't give us full information. Untill we were angry and he asked for manager to come then we were told to prepare another document. This should have been sorted out in our first visit. I am wondering if we are really dealing with an Australian organisation.

Completely unreachable. Excessive wait times on calls, and if you opt to use their messaging service (which the automated message service encourages you to do), you will experience response times of up to 10 minutes at a time. When I questioned this, the team member explained it was like a text messaging service so they could answer anytime and I'd be sent a notification they had. Well, no notification was sent and when after 10 to 15 mins later I checked the message thread, the operator had closed the conversation. I'm just trying to increase my cover (essentially give them more money) but there seems no conceivable way to talk with someone about these options.

If there were an option for zero stars, I would choose it. This is based on absolutely horrible customer service, which is basically non-existent. If you’re lucky enough to speak to someone after waiting for hours on the phone, the outcome is miserable anyway and you end up having to call again and again. I truly don’t understand why they would implement such a miserable system and level of customer service for such a sensitive and important service.

I’ve never dealt with a more exhausting customer service experience. I received an “important update” email saying my premium had increased because I hadn’t provided a “clearance certificate” something I already had from my previous provider and could have supplied immediately if it had been requested earlier. Instead, I was pushed into a chatbot maze that wouldn’t let me ask a real question or enter details. After multiple restarts, I had to select an irrelevant enquiry just to get through. I uploaded the certificate, was told a service rep would respond, then spent nearly two hours being repeatedly ghosted between long delays. In the end, my simple document submission was forwarded to another team with a five day turnaround. If this is how they handle a basic admin task, I’m not waiting to see what happens when I actually need help. Too many red flags. I’ll be cancelling and returning to AHM, where real communication and action exist.

From the start, Bupa failed to provide basic support, forcing me to pay nearly $20,000 myself despite holding top level travel insurance. I was medically repatriated from Sweden to Australia after a fall that caused pelvic and hip fractures, yet no mobility aids or safe transport were provided. Transport from the airport to my home was denied, leaving me in pain and at serious risk. CoverMore initially told me my injury was pre-existing, demonstrating clear errors in their claim handling.

I was advised to sit in the car or at the airport instead of being provided safe accommodation. I had to arrange a hotel myself, late in the day, after enduring significant distress. Bupa pressured me into a 10-hour longer flight route with multiple stopovers. I have screenshots of these bookings booked without my consent. Only after my daughter personally paid for a shorter, safer route did Bupa approve the same route highlighting reactive, unsafe, and inconsistent decision making.

My claim was closed while a legitimate medical bill from Skåne Hospital remained unpaid, which has now escalated to debt collection with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, despite written confirmation from Bupa that it would be paid. Bupa paid for only a few items, including a transport service that was dangerous and inappropriate. They later offered compensation, which does not reflect the distress, risks, or failures I experienced.

Repeated miscommunication, fragmented handling across four entities (Bupa, World Travel Protection, Zurich, CoverMore), and a lack of transparency meant I had to chase basic obligations while recovering from serious injuries. Five months after my accident, mobility aids are still not provided, bills remain unpaid, and Bupa’s internal review claims no failures, which is contradicted by the evidence.

Overall, the claim process was unsafe, stressful, and completely mishandled, showing systemic failures and a clear breach of duty of care.

i am writing this because Tracey who works for Bupa and she is based in Brisbane deserves a a really high praise review. my situation was complicated but she stuck through it for over a 1.5 hrs going through and trying to find out why Bupa was charging me a different price through my bank account to what was quoted on my login policy ..look at the end of the day she was fantastic and i give HER 5 ***s but for Bupa themselves the company come on the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing and this does not reflect well on Bupa ..my situation is not finished yet

Horrible. Never sign up with them.
Their processing times for anything are a minimum of 20 business days. They don’t even let you properly switch to another insurer. They have asked me three times for the exact same documents, both via chat and email. Every time you speak to someone, it’s like starting from zero again.

They keep you waiting up to two hours on live chat, only for the conversation to be automatically closed due to time expiration, and then you have to start all over again.

On top of that, they renew your policy without asking for your consent or having you sign absolutely anything, and by doing so they create a debt in your name. They then threaten you with that debt and still don’t provide a proper cancellation process.

I need to use my new insurance, and Bupa refuses to give me a certificate they are legally required to provide. The service is consistently terrible. They clearly do not care about your health at all.

In my experience, Bupa's customer support is very slow.

Bupa has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. If this can even be called customer service.

Every time you try to get help, you are pushed from one link to another, with no one actually taking responsibility or doing their job. The process feels designed to waste your time rather than solve problems.

Even when you call, waiting times of around 20 minutes are common, and the answers you receive are often from an indian person unclear or unhelpful. In the end, I could have handled everything myself without paying for insurance at all.

There is absolutely no reason to pay for this insurance given the level of service provided. For a company of this size, this is embarrassing. The lack of efficiency and accountability is shocking.

If this is the standard of customer service, then it is completely unacceptable.

I have been waiting for a refund since Nov 28 and have received no response. I confirmed my information and provided the requested documents multiple times, yet there has been no acknowledgment email, no follow-up, and no refund as of today. Abysmal customer service.

I am very ANGRY with BUPA and I will explain why....
I have been with BUPA for more than 5 years, didn't have a problem until now but THEIR MISTAKE could have caused me 10 years of paying Medicare rebate Tax. I am just FUMING!
I was not a PR citizen, when I applied for PR it said I had to have private health cover for Hospital essentially. I already had BUPA and was paying Hospital + cover but as a foreigner....didn't know you had to change cover once you are on a bridging visa.
Anyway long story short I found out nearly too late that I had 1 year from when I first receive Medicare card to change cover, otherwise I would be paying the Medicare rebate tax for 10 years. I had 3.5 weeks left to update my cover.
Went to a BUPA office to discuss, the lady lied to me twice (first red flag). She said BUPA needed a letter from Medicare stating the start date and that could be done by phone, they would sent it by email and I would then email BUPA with more details. WRONG, Medicare sends it by post and it take 3 weeks. I did not have 3 weeks so I took half a day off my work to go to a Medicare center and they provided the paper immediately. I sent all the necessary info to BUPA at the email address given.....but to my surprise BUPA answered that they didn't take requests by emails anymore. I then took another couple of hours from work to go back to Bupa 's office. Gave them all the documents, the Asian guy assured me all was in order and that the Tax was off.
2 weeks later and exactly 2 days before the fatal date of 1 year(out of the 2 days 1 day is a public holiday), I receive an email from BUPA saying my file is incomplete but I can finish it online. I did just that and to be sure I also called them to get confirmation. The lady lets me know that No tax rebate application had been filed, my documents were attached but no request had been made for me. WTF!!! I was livid!
The lady on the phone said she would do it there and then but couldn't send me a CONFIRMATION EMAIL, so I just have to believe her, Iike I believed the incompetent asian man in the first place.

So yeah, I don't recommend this Company at all!

I had the misfortune of needing to get a transfer certificate from this bunch of so and sos whilst overseas to ensure the correct lifetime loading when I returned to Australia
What took Medibank Private 9 minutes to action the previous week with the certificate arriving by email within 2 days took this unprofessional mob 1 and a half hours, inability to send anything via email and inability to mail anything to a non Australian address
God only knows of it will ever turn up
That’s a couple of hours of my life I will never get back

They were, by far, the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had. It took them 10 days and more than 12 different agents to answer one simple question about my cover-and in the end, they still didn’t. I finally gave up.

Once you sign up with them, say goodbye to customer service and prepare for outrageously high monthly premiums.

If you are looking for the worst private health insurance company in Australia, Bingo, you have found it. Have a simple issue? I hope you look forward to calling and messaging Bupa on a daily basis to then be told by Jacqui from the 'customer care' team that what I am talking about doesn't exist, even though a certificate was sent from AHM proving this. They are not interested in their customers or solving issues. Completely misleading, upon sign up I was told I would be covered for like for like items, however when I got the procedure done it was declined and BUPA refuse to honour it although I have been covered for years with my previous insurer. Not only have they been useless in solving my request, but as a paying customer I have had to deal with the rudeness from staff members.Do yourself a favour and do not use BUPA.

Very disappointed with Bupa. My husband and I paid for a couple overseas health cover for two years, but later Bupa told us his name was never included—despite us paying full fees. They also failed to provide a proper clearance certificate when we moved to Medibank, causing delays and stress. We even visited the Castle Hill branch twice and still received nothing. Worst experience with an insurer and a huge waste of time and money.

Just took me 5hrs to cancel a policy. Almost impossible to contact this company. No one showed up on online chat in 2 hours. No one showed up on Wattsapp in 3 hours. Website doesn’t allow to cancel online. Eventually arranged a callback via website, even when this came there was a further wait of 15 minutes with adverts. When I eventually spoke to someone they were great, feel so sorry for the staff in these underfunded call centres.