Private Health Insurance Code of Conduct

The Code is designed to help you by providing clear information and transparency in your relationships with health funds.

HBF is a signatory of the Code of Conduct

HBF is a signatory of the Private Health Insurance Code of Conduct (the Code). The Code is designed to help you by providing clear information and transparency in your relationships with health funds. The Code covers four main areas of conduct in private health insurance.

They are:

That people selling private health insurance are properly trained;
That members are aware of the internal and external dispute resolution procedures available in the event that they have a dispute with their health fund;
That policy documentation contains all the information that members require in a way that enables them to make a fully informed decision about their purchase;
That members purchasing health insurance from persons other than the health funds' employees understand the nature of the arrangement between the fund and the person selling the insurance on the funds' behalf.

Our obligation to you under the Code

We will endeavour to:

Work towards improving the standards of the practice and service within HBF;
Provide information to our members in plain language;
Promote better informed decisions about our private health insurance products and services;

By ensuring that our policy documentation is full and complete;
By providing an effective and clear verbal or written explanation of the contents of the policy documentation;
By ensuring that our employees providing information on health insurance are appropriately trained.

Provide information to members on their rights and obligations under their relationship with us, including information on the Code;
Provider members with easy access to our internal dispute resolution procedures, which will be undertaken in a fair and reasonable manner and advise them of their rights to take an issue to an external body such as the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.

How the Code helps our members

Apart from promoting improved standards in clarity and usefulness of information given to member, the Code is designed to help solve problems between members and us. We have a complaints handling process for members who may have a dispute with us.

Examples of disputes include:

Contents of advertising by HBF;
Representations made to the member when they purchase a product;
Features of their product;
Benefits paid under their product.

You can access our complaints handling process by visiting your nearest HBF branch, by contacting an HBF Member Service Advisor on 133 423 or by writing to us at GPO Box C101, Perth 6809.

If you are not happy with the outcome of your concern you can ask to have it reviewed by the Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process.

Complaints should be addressed to:

Manager - Dispute Resolution
HBF
GPO Box C101
PERTH WA 6809

Fax: (08) 9265 8895

If a resolution is still not reached to your satisfaction you can:

Contact the Private Health Ombudsman br ringing toll free on 1800 640 695, or write to Level 7, 362 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000;
Forward the problem to a health care complaints commission or fair trading body in your state of residence;
Report HBF's behaviour to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

How can I get a copy of the Code?

A full copy of the Code is available by calling an HBF Member Service Advisor on 133 423 or by visiting: http://www.privatehealth.com.au/codeofconduct