"Hello? Yes, HearingNow? I have a quote for a pair of Phonak Sphere for £5,000. What is your price for this hearing aid?" This was the call I received Saturday morning. "Our price for a pair of Phonak Sphere i90 is £2,650", I responded.
I had to repeat my sentence three times, not because the caller had severe hearing loss, but simply because he found our price for a pair of Phonak Sphere i90 to be about half of the quote he received elsewhere.
The conversation inspired me to write this article which might help those in the market for new hearing aids. Please leave your questions or comments at the end of this article or contact us if you have any questions.
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We experienced a very high inflation over the past few years which increased the cost of living. As a result, purchasing premium hearing aids has become more and more challenging for patients. On the other hand, hearing aid manufacturers have also adjusted the price of their hearing aids for high inflation. That means the audiologists and hearing care professionals are squeezed between the higher cost of hearing aids from the manufacturers on one side and the lower purchasing power of the consumers on the other side.
Let's see what is included in the price of the hearing aids that you pay for.
What is included in the price of your hearing aids?
In November 2024, for a pair of Phonak Audeo Infinio Sphere i90, you will end up paying around £4,000 in Boots Hearing, or around £5,000 in one of the high street audiology clinics in the UK.
It is important to understand what this figure entails:
The price of the hearing aids - The price of the hearing aid is usually the biggest component in the cost of your hearing aids. It is the price of the product that includes the cost of manufacturing them by the manufacturer as well as their cost of staff and operations, and also the cost of the staff and operations of the retailer e.g. Boots hearing to keep the frontend shops to provide you a hearing test and fitting of the aids and the aftercare later on. Please note that this price not only includes the salary of the audiologist who attends to you but also the cost of the whole organisation including managers, directors, HR, legal, accounting, and board members, their salaries and bonuses, paid vacations and so on.
Warranty - The hearing aid warranty is provided by the manufacturer, but managed through the hearing care provider who sold you the hearing aids and supports you with the aftercare. All hearing aid manufacturers provide a standard 2-year warranty for fault and malfunction of the hearing aids. Accidental damage and theft are not included in the product warranty. The hearing care service provider may offer an extended warranty that results in a total of 3, 4 or 5 years of extended warranty for your hearing aids.
Insurance - Most of the hearing care professionals do not provide an insurance plan. Often they encourage you to pursue hearing aid insurance through your home policy or specialised insurance companies so you will be covered in the case of loss, accidental damage or theft.
Aftercare - Although many hearing aid users can manage replacing the domes and maintaining their hearing aids, sooner or later there may be a need for a fresh hearing test and reprogramming of the aids. Also in the event of a faulty hearing aid, they need to be sent out to the manufacturer for repair. The price you pay for your hearing aids may include free aftercare over their warranty which results in a higher initial price, or supported by a pay-per-session plan which allows you to enjoy a lower price at the time of the purchase of the aids but then you will pay per appointment for every visit you may need to have in future (kind of pay as you go).
Value-added tax (VAT) - There is no escape from this!
Fittings and disposables - You may receive a free supply of fittings and disposables such as domes and wax guards over the warranty period.
What is the best hearing aid warranty?
The warranty of your hearing aid is one of the most important factors in your purchase. Multi-store high street shops such as Boots, Specsavers, Scrievens, Amplifon, Hidden Hearing and Audiological Science only provide a 3 or 4-year warranty for your hearing aids. This leaves you exposed at years 4 and 5 when most of the faults and malfunctions of the hearing aids occur. Furthermore, if your hearing aids are rechargeable you want to have a 5-year coverage so you can get the rechargeable battery inside the aids replaced by the manufacturer free of charge.
If you are on a budget to buy hearing aids my best advice is to consider an independent audiologist who would secure a 5-year extended warranty for your hearing aids. This way your investment is safe for a full 5 years in case of any electronics problem in years 4 and 5.
What is the best hearing aid aftercare plan?
The aftercare can be included in your purchase price or it could be offered as an aftercare plan (pay-as-you-go, or other models). If you paid £4000 to £5000 range price for a pair of premium hearing aids then you should expect to have a full aftercare plan included in the price, meaning you will not be paying a visit fee for a repair, reprogramming or any other reason that you may need to make to the clinic.
Some hearing care professionals offer a more competitive price for the premium hearing aids and keep the aftercare separate. This way they become more competitive and able to offer the same premium hearing aid at a much lower price.
The latter model of aftercare has become more popular among consumers because it allows them to purchase top-of-the-line hearing aids at an affordable price. That is why a pair of Phonak Infinio Sphere i90 or any of the hearing aids on HearingNow is about half the price that you see in Amplifon, Hidden Hearing, Boots, Specsavers, and other major high-street audiology clinics.
What will be the cost of an aftercare plan for my hearing aids?
I need to differentiate the aftercare plans that charge you monthly and those that charge you on a pay-as-you-go basis. Most of the monthly aftercare plans for hearing aids could cost you quite a bit if you consider a 5-year life for your hearing aids. Besides hearing aids may look complicated to a first-time user, but after 3 to 6 months of use, you would notice that you may not need to visit your audiologist more than once or twice a year.
In my experience, the average patient's visit after the initial fitting and follow-up is about once a year. Assuming that you have a 5-year warranty and the first-year fitting and initial follow-up are already covered in your purchase price, then it will be four times the clinic's visit fee. If the clinic's visit fee is £50, then it will be four times £50 or £200 for years 2 to 5 of the warranty period.
What are the pros and cons of purchasing hearing aids from independent audiologists?
Here is a list of the pros and cons of purchasing from a local audiologist:
Pros:
Personal attention to your hearing care
Quick appointments (often on the same day)
Longer hearing aid warranty
Flexible aftercare plan
Competitive price of hearing aids
Cons
A limited number of clinics in case you move to a new address
How does the hearing aid warranty and aftercare work with HearingNow?
In HearingNow we offer a 5-year extended warranty for most hearing aids you find in our collections. Some exceptions are there for hearing aids that the manufacturer himself does not offer any longer than 3 or 4 years of warranty e.g. Signia Active hearing aids.
We provide aftercare for all the hearing aids you purchase from HearingNow over their lifetime. The aftercare services of the hearing aids may include online or in-clinic fine-tuning of the hearing aids, service, minor fixes and repairs, replacement of the domes and other accessories of the hearing aids, liaison with the manufacturers of your hearing aids to repair or replace them when and if they needed.
Our hearing aids aftercare is free of charge for the first 6 months from the date of your purchase, then standard clinic fees are applicable for in-clinic visits.
Online hearing aids aftercare will be free of charge for the life of your hearing aids.
Our warranty and aftercare are tailored to allow the best cost performance for the hearing aid user. Our warranty is the longest you can find in the UK, so it well protects your investment. Our aftercare is free of charge over the first 6 months when the patients especially the new hearing aid users need more support to get themselves familiarised with the routine maintenance of the hearing aids, and then it is on a pay-as-you-go model to allow flexibility and cost efficiency.
Please learn more about the HearingNow warranty and aftercare policy here.
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