Your insurance may already pay for this
Many people postpone therapy over cost while holding an insurance policy that would cover it. Private medical insurance in the UK, and international plans everywhere, increasingly include outpatient mental health benefits: psychotherapy, counselling, and psychological treatment, in person or by secure video. This page explains how to find out what you have, and how it works at this practice.
Does your plan cover psychotherapy?
The honest answer is: it depends on your policy, not your insurer’s brand. Within Bupa alone, some plans include generous outpatient mental health cover and others exclude it. The way to know takes ten minutes: call the number on your membership card and ask three questions. Do I have an outpatient mental health benefit? How many sessions per year, and to what value? Do I need a GP referral or pre-authorisation before starting? Note the answers and any authorisation number you are given.
International and global plans
For internationally mobile clients, the picture is usually better still. Plans such as Bupa Global, Cigna Global, AXA Global Healthcare and Allianz are built for people who live across borders, and most include outpatient mental health cover that travels with you and applies to video consultations. This is how executives and families in the Gulf, Asia and Africa routinely fund psychotherapy delivered from London: the Kuwait, Dubai and Singapore pages describe that work. Your table of benefits, in your policy documents, states the outpatient psychiatric or mental health limit.
How it works at this practice
If you live outside the UK, your policy is a global private health plan: Bupa Global, Cigna Global, AXA Global Healthcare and their equivalents. These almost always work by reimbursement rather than direct billing. You pay for the session, and the practice provides a fully itemised invoice carrying the registration and qualification details insurers ask for, which you submit to your plan. Clients on these plans are usually reimbursed, but outpatient mental health cover varies from policy to policy, so it is worth checking your own table of benefits before you begin rather than afterwards.
Within the UK, some domestic policies allow the insurer to be billed directly where arrangements are in place; others operate on the same reimbursement basis.
Sessions are at Harley Street in London, in Paris, or by secure video, in English and French.
If you prefer not to involve your insurer
Some clients with full cover still choose to pay privately, for one reason: strict confidentiality. Using insurance means your insurer processes a claim, and with employer-linked schemes some people prefer that no record exists anywhere. The content of your sessions is confidential in every case; this is about the existence of treatment, not its detail. Both routes are equally welcome, and the work is exactly the same.
Book a confidential first conversation, with or without insurance. Version française : assurance santé et psychothérapie.
Common questions
Does Bupa cover therapy and psychotherapy?
Many Bupa and Bupa Global plans include outpatient mental health benefits covering psychotherapy and counselling; whether yours does depends on your specific policy and level of cover. The reliable way to know: call the number on your membership card, ask about your outpatient mental health benefit, the number of sessions covered, and whether pre-authorisation is required. Dr Jacquet's practice then provides everything your claim needs.
Do international plans like Bupa Global or Cigna Global cover online therapy?
Very often, yes: international private medical plans are designed for exactly this situation, and most include outpatient mental health cover that applies to secure video consultations as well as in-person sessions. Expatriates in the Gulf, Asia, Africa and Europe routinely use these benefits for psychotherapy delivered from London. Check your table of benefits, or ask your insurer directly.
How does payment and reimbursement work in practice?
Almost always by reimbursement rather than direct billing. If you are outside the UK, your policy will be a global private health plan such as Bupa Global, Cigna Global or AXA Global Healthcare: you pay for the session, and the practice provides a fully itemised invoice carrying the registration details insurers ask for, which you submit to your plan. Within the UK, some domestic policies allow the insurer to be billed directly where arrangements are in place. Cover varies by policy, so it is worth confirming your own outpatient mental health benefit before starting.
What if I would rather not use my insurance?
That is equally welcome, and some clients prefer it for confidentiality reasons: paying privately means no third party is involved at all. The work is exactly the same. This is a personal decision, and it is worth knowing that using employer-linked cover involves your insurer processing your claim, though not the content of your sessions, which remains confidential.