Bupa Reviews 

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.

when you talk about a very useless Health Insurance Company, that is BUPA. If there is a word worse than useless that will be a very true reflection of BUPA. Very rude staff who will not listen but act stupidly

Deeply disappointed with Bupa — this whole experience has been unfair and emotionally exhausting.
My mother was admitted to RDH Hospital in Darwin, and when the hospital contacted Bupa, they rejected the claim immediately just because “heart and vascular” appeared in the report — without even checking the full details or the doctor’s note that clearly confirmed it wasn’t heart-related.

I have authority on my mother’s policy, but Bupa refused to let me help her even though she’s in Nepal, not fluent in English, and not tech-savvy. The case manager forced my mother to speak on her own( given a translator) from one phone to another ( couldnt even contact directly) , stopped my father from assisting her with basic details like her date of birth, and stopped thr verification process when she couldn’t recall the Australian phone number and email I had set up for her.( "Again, visitors overseas cover for a reason") The entire call felt disrespectful and discriminatory

I’ve been paying $423 every month for three months, and even extended the policy by one extra day which was unnecessary (though they were flying out a day earlier ) — and yet, Bupa still made endless excuses and dragged out the claim. This feels like a complete scam.

After I hung up that call as the so called case manager couldnt further complete as my mom couldnot verify the details on email address and Australian phn number , I completely lost hope in Bupa. My sister and I immediately paid the $4,390 AUD hospital bill ourselves because we no longer believed Bupa would help us. My parents have been blaming themselves and feeling guilty, saying they should have never visited us — which breaks my heart.

The name of the policy itself is “Visitors Cover Overseas” — it’s meant to protect families like ours visiting Australia. Where is the empathy? Instead of support, we were met with coldness, lack of care, and complete disregard for our situation giving unecessary examples on clients whose claim was rejected on surgery( completely irrelevant)

I will never renew my membership with Bupa again. They have shown zero compassion, poor service, and no accountability. This entire process has been mentally draining and completely unprofessional.

I was with BUPA because they went to my work to advertised their services. I don't understand why they don't cover the whole cost for preventative dental treatments when that's literally what they marketed the policy extras. I was with another provider that costed less monthly and covered more. They make it so hard to reach out to their customer service but if you miss a payment, they will contact aggresively through texts, calls, and emails. AND their system is compromised since I have been getting scam texts that imitate their text messages that I need to pay this and that.

BUPA customer service is terrible
I have applied BUPA health insurance online more than two weeks ago, but haven't got any confirmation. So I called up today to follow up. The customer service is totally disgraceful and my experience is terrible. The lady didn't try to understand me just said I don't have an active membership number. Yes, that's the reason I'm calling since I'm applying for a membership but didn't get it finalised. She put my on hold for 20 mins and the line got disconnected. I called again and the second lady basically did the same thing to me. What's wong with BUPA? How you treat your customer like this? If you really want to earn your company creadit, please treat your customers better!

After being very lazy and not changing health providers, they had very limit extras and didn't allow for extra's transfers and I just accepted it.

I moved back to AHM (should have left). They would not send the certificate of insurance for my new provider to match the health insurance policy. After calling 7 times in one week and having AHM do the same, they never sent the information and would not email it to me (which was the email they have on file). We had to move hospital appointments due to their lack of compliance with the 2 weeks transfer that is required of them under Australian Law.

The certificate arrived in the mail today, 4 weeks after the transfer date. (THE "F-ing"-MAIL! in 2025)

1 star is just not low enough on this multi-national business.

Terrible company. Have no idea why anyone uses them. Wait for ages to get through after multiple choice questions that go on forever. Then wait wait wait wait. It's clearly deliberate to avoid them having to solve your issue. When they finally answer they are not interested in helping you and put even more obstacles in your way. Never claimed but I doubt you would have much luck if you did.

I try for a couple of hours to get and aswer of a simple question, if a tratment was covered by their services...They started runing in circles, loops and I couldn t solve my inquirry,not even capable of saying "yes" or "not"...they just keep sending me copy/paste texts from the policies...
I m very disponited... the are just filling the chat with empty answers, I m leaving this Bupa insurance company thing...

I’ve paid Bupa for almost 3 years, and the first time I needed to use the service it completely failed. My account was blocked, the password reset never worked, and support gave me no real solution. Very frustrating and disappointing experience.

I was a happy customer from 2015 to 2020 but in the last 5 years things has been going down. Bupa has a terrible customer service and they don't explain well how much money you will get. Sorry, but after 10 years, I moved to HCF and couldn't be happier now!

Avoid Avoid Avoid at all costs!
It has become glaringly clear that depending on which BUPA representative you speak to, you’ll receive a completely different explanation of what level of cover you supposedly have access to. The inconsistencies are staggering, and customer support is without doubt the worst I’ve ever experienced. Their representatives neither understand the policies in detail nor can they explain them in plain English — instead, members are left confused and misled.
There is no genuine care factor, no accountability, and absolutely no duty of care. Worst of all, this treatment comes at the exact moment when members are most vulnerable and in genuine need of support. It is at these critical times that BUPA takes advantage of its members, and that is beyond unacceptable.
Every single board member of BUPA should be fully aware of what is happening, and all governing bodies must take notice. A health fund that thrives on confusion, inconsistency, and a lack of compassion has no right to position itself as a trusted provider.
Don’t wait until you need to use your cover to learn you’re not supported.
Plenty of other health fund providers that are trustworthy.
BUPA is Misleading, Untrustworthy, and Shockingly Mismanaged
I have been a loyal BUPA member for a long time, and my experience has been completely unacceptable. From start to finish, BUPA has shown a lack of accountability, poor staff training, and disregard for member wellbeing.
During a critical period surrounding my surgery and recovery, I was repeatedly given conflicting, misleading information by multiple representatives. Each person I spoke to seemed to have a different understanding of my own policy. Their explanations were confusing and contradictory. At one point, I was told I was not covered for treatment by BUPA, only for a later email to claim I somehow was.
BUPA staff clearly do not understand the policies they are meant to explain. Their customer service is hopeless, evasive, and focused more on upselling than resolving genuine issues. They attempt to confuse members with jargon, shifting responsibility to “partners,” and close cases prematurely to avoid addressing real concerns.
Despite being a long-time member, I was left misled, unsupported, and forced to fund my own rehabilitation because BUPA repeatedly failed to manage the process. Medically necessary aids were also denied coverage….more excuses to deny!. Their repeated mismanagement, misinformation, and lack of transparency caused me extreme stress, confusion, and financial burden, all at a time when I needed support the most.
BUPA has previously been fined by the ACCC for misleading customers about health cover and benefits, which reflects a worrying pattern. I cannot recommend BUPA under any circumstances. If you value honesty, clarity, and real support, stay far away. Their focus is on avoiding payout, confusing customers, and protecting their own interests rather than supporting the people who pay them every month.

I can't even believe the level of incompetence.

I don’t rate Bupa at all.

Seriously lacking customer service, long delays in authorisation requests for both my child and myself.
They lost our whole families private data and medical history forms with no explanation to who holds them now.
I have spent 8 weeks looking for answers but none given, they don’t care about your health.
Payment department seems to be answered very quickly perhaps some of these agents could be transferred to customer care?

Terrible customer services