January 2012
3 posts
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Making the case for PMI brokers to get qualified
My piece in this month’s Health Insurance magazine, encouraging PMI brokers to take up the new ‘Health and Protection’ qualification from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Click the thumbnail to download the PDF.
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Bupa reinstates cover for 34 BMI hospitals
As anticipated in my last post, Bupa has today announced that it will be reinstating cover for 34 BMI hospitals with immediate effect.
The three hospitals that will remain out of Bupa’s network are the BMI Gisburne Park Hospital, BMI Lancaster Hospital and BMI Castle Consulting Suite.
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Bupa de-lists 37 BMI hospitals that 'do not...
Today’s Telegraph is carrying an article by Ian Cowie about Bupa removing cover for 37 BMI hospitals from 1 January. This development has understandably caused concern for Bupa policyholders who use, or would want to use, their local BMI hospital. The insurer has stressed, though, that it will continue to cover the de-listed hospitals where patients are in the middle of treatment.
Bupa has...
November 2011
1 post
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PruHealth announces new Vitality benefits
Along with a few hundred other advisers, I attended the Intercontinental hotel on Park Lane yesterday to hear PruHealth announce some enhancements to its ‘Vitality’ concept. In brief, Vitality is a wellness engagement programme that offers rewards to the member while improving the insurer’s claims experience. That’s the theory, anyway.
PruHealth appeared to pull back from...
September 2011
1 post
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Video blog: Moratorium or full medical...
August 2011
2 posts
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Simplyhealth to acquire Groupama Healthcare
The wires are abuzz today with news that Simplyhealth has reached agreement to acquire Groupama Healthcare. This news will have come as a surprise to most in the industry, although the recent trend toward consolidation has resulted from market pressures that are all too evident.
In the last year or so, Standard Life Healthcare and PatientChoice have both been acquired (by PruHealth and Westfield...
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Video blog: Tips for buying private medical...
July 2011
1 post
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Which? report on private medical insurance
The consumer association, Which?, has issued its latest report into private medical insurance, which I was asked to review prior to publication. The report is, I think, balanced and informative, and does not make the mistake of trying to offer advice. Instead, it provides a broad overview of the market and should help consumers to make an informed decision.
There are two aspects of the report...
May 2011
2 posts
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Are IFAs and PMI brokers natural allies?
Cover Magazine recently reported that a small but respected medical insurer has ambitions for its franchisees to establish referral networks of IFAs. Without wishing to rain on that insurer’s parade, it strikes me as unlikely that many IFAs—who tend to value independence above all else—would be willing to refer their clients to a tied agent.
Few IFAs advise on private medical insurance, and...
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Reflections on National Friendly and the...
A number of years ago, Exeter Family Friendly (then simply Exeter Friendly) introduced a range of PMI plans that had the unique selling point of age-on-entry pricing. The marketing slogan that Exeter used to promote the product was ‘the age you join is the age you stay’, which provided ongoing reassurance to policyholders that they were not subject to the age-related increases that...
April 2011
2 posts
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The increasing popularity of modular PMI plans
I whiled away an hour in a Cheltenham pub last week with Andrew Sandilands, business development manager at Freedom Healthnet and a veteran of the PMI industry. Andrew was keen to talk to me about Freedom’s new ‘Elite’ plan, which is PMI in the traditional sense and therefore marks a departure from the approach that the insurer is known for, which it describes as ‘hybrid...
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National Friendly withdraws from PMI market
In a not entirely unexpected development, National Friendly (formerly National Deposit) has announced that it will be pulling out of the PMI market as of five o’clock this evening. This follows some unpalatable changes to existing policies that I wrote about here back in January and affects both National Friendly’s own-branded products and policies marketed under the Healthguard name.
...
March 2011
2 posts
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Bupa's PR own-goal on cancer cover
Last week, Bupa announced that it would no longer sell plans that imposed limits on cancer treatment. This headline caused some consternation among Bupa policyholders, many of whom were told when they took out their plans that Bupa provided industry-leading cancer cover without financial or time limits on treatment.
To clarify, the limits that have now been removed only applied to corporate...
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ECJ bans gender-based pricing
The wires are buzzing this morning with news that the European Court of Justice has, as anticipated, outlawed the use of gender as a variable for actuaries to set insurance premiums. The ruling will not apply immediately (or retrospectively) as had been feared, but from 21 December 2012, giving insurers adequate time to update their pricing and systems. Some PMI insurers will be required to...
February 2011
2 posts
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Moneywise article: Hammered by medical insurance
Article in the March 2011 edition of Moneywise magazine, to which we contributed a case study. I’ve not provided a copy of the article for copyright reasons, but the gist of the piece is that no-claims discounts on PMI policies are bad news and should be avoided.
I am not opposed in principle to no-claims discounts on PMI policies: where used sensibly, they can help to keep premiums...
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In praise of Aviva
We were recently approached by a client of Aviva who had moved his wife to another insurer at last renewal but forgotten to remove her from his policy. Thus, without realising, the client had been paying two lots of premium for his wife over the past year, amounting to an over-payment of more than £3,000.
We made a case to Aviva, supported by the membership certificate from the new insurer....
January 2011
2 posts
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National Friendly moves the goalposts
The insurer National Friendly (formerly National Deposit) has announced some changes to its original ‘Healthcare Deposit Account’ plan, which will take effect from 14 March 2011.
Previously, individual policyholders under 65 were expected to contribute 10 per cent toward their treatment costs, while those aged 65 and over were expected to contribute 25 per cent. These contributions,...
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PruHealth withdraws fixed moratorium
As part of a raft of product changes, PruHealth has announced today that it will be withdrawing its fixed moratorium from 28 February 2011. From 1 March, the insurer will be moving to a standard ‘rolling’ moratorium (see my earlier post for definitions), leaving Exeter Family Friendly as the only insurer to offer the fixed variant.
This is significant for the individual PMI market...
October 2010
1 post
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Regency Health named Best Individual PMI...
Press release:
Cheltenham-based medical insurance specialist Regency Health took one of the top prizes at last Thursday’s prestigious Health Insurance Awards. The company won the award for Best Individual Medical Insurance Intermediary, presented by television personality Patrick Kielty.
The panel of eight judges acknowledged the quality of advice provided by Regency Health, the...
September 2010
2 posts
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Full medical underwriting or moratorium...
In part 1, I outlined the differences between these two forms of underwriting; here, I discuss the merits and drawbacks of each approach.
The advantage of moratorium underwriting is that it provides the opportunity for pre-existing conditions to regain eligibility for benefit. It also expedites the application process, because the applicant does not need to declare their medical history and...
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Full medical underwriting or moratorium...
First, some definitions. Full medical underwriting (FMU) is the traditional form of underwriting for a medical insurance policy. The applicant declares their medical history at the outset, which gives the insurer the option of excluding any pre-existing conditions. In practice, most pre-existing conditions are excluded and the exclusions are usually—but not always—permanent.
With moratorium...
August 2010
5 posts
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On professionalism
I’m pleased to report that I’ve now completed my Certificate in Insurance, an objective first outlined in my post of 1 July. This is a fairly modest qualification and so my attaining it is unremarkable, but for the fact that it is unusual for a health insurance adviser to hold a full CII qualification. There is no legal requirement for those advising on PMI to hold a public...
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Differences in cancer cover on PMI policies
Most of the nationals picked up on NICE’s purported ‘banning’ of Avastin for secondary bowel cancer yesterday, despite the fact that the appraisal is still in the consultation stage.
I’ll sidestep the story itself, save to state the obvious that the NHS has finite resources and part of NICE’s remit is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of some very expensive drugs.
...
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Moving to a new insurer with pre-existing...
Time to dispel another misconception about private medical insurance: that it’s not possible to move to a new insurer if you have pre-existing conditions. I’m prompted to address this issue having read the following statement in an otherwise sound article from the Daily Telegraph:
If you haven’t made a claim it might be worth shopping around for a better deal. But it’s a...
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Chartis to exit PMI market
Chartis (formerly AIG) has announced that it is to pull out of the UK private medical insurance market. Existing HealthChoice policyholders will be given notice that their policies will be cancelled at renewal and will therefore need to arrange alternative cover.
This is disappointing news that will present practical difficulties for some Chartis policyholders, especially those that are...
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Financial Times article: Warning on low-cost PMI
Read the article here
Article in Saturday’s FT about no-claims discounts on PMI policies, with comment from yours truly and the new AMII Chairman, Andrew Tripp.
I mentioned in my last post that a broker’s skill and experience is just as important as their integrity, and this is especially true when selecting a policy based on a no-claims discount. Again, advisers should be motivated...
July 2010
4 posts
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The influence of commission on PMI brokers
I committed in my last post to tackling the issue of commission. Commission can be a problem; I’ll not pretend otherwise. It is a misconception, though, that commission is a problem merely because the broker receives it.
Let us be clear about a few things. First, the commission is not added to the client’s premium. Second, it is not possible for an individual to purchase a PMI policy...
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Why use a broker when buying PMI?
The oft-cited reason for not using a broker when buying PMI is price—the belief that a cost saving can be achieved by going direct to the insurer. This is a misconception that is easily dispelled: the price is the same whether you buy direct or through a broker. In fact, most brokers have access to preferential rates that are not available direct from the insurers.
Whatever its faults, the UK...
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Brian Walters first to pass new AMII/CII exam
Abridged press release from AMII:
Brian Walters from Regency Health is the first individual to have sat and passed the new Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries (AMII)/Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) IF7 examination introduced from 1 July.
Walters sat the examination in Bristol, then travelled up to join the AMII Annual Conference in Hinckley, Leicestershire to receive a special...
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New CII exam for healthcare insurance products
I’ve just arrived back from Bristol, having sat and passed the Chartered Insurance Institute’s new healthcare insurance products exam (IF7) on the day of launch. The revised IF7 syllabus was designed in conjunction with our trade body, the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries, and the study text authored by industry luminary Andy Couchman.
This is a watershed moment for our...
June 2010
5 posts
6 tags
PruProtect introduce new PMI product
The protection provider PruProtect (sister company of PruHealth) has introduced a new PMI plan. More of a module than a standalone product, the ‘Health Cover’ plan can only be purchased as a bolt-on to one of Pru’s protection policies: life, income protection or critical illness cover, or a combination thereof.
Three levels of cover are available: comprehensive and mid-range...
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Exeter Friendly announces fixed two-year...
Exeter Friendly Society has announced a new fixed two-year moratorium, available on their ‘Health Cover for Me’ and ‘Health & Stuff’ plans from July 2010.
The moratorium will be open to new applicants aged 65 or younger, provided they have no history of heart disease, stroke or cancer, nor had a joint replacement.
This is a very significant development in the UK PMI...
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Increase in tax on PMI from January 2011
In Tuesday’s budget, the government announced that it will be increasing the lower rate of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) from 5 to 6 per cent on 4 January 2011. The increase will apply to all new and renewing private medical insurance policies from this date.
Reaction within the industry has been fairly subdued. Concerns have been raised about increased premiums deterring clients from...
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Re-thinking the no-claims discount
My article in this month’s edition of Health Insurance magazine, arguing for a more progressive approach to the no-claims discount.
Click here for the online version, or on the thumbnail below for a PDF of the article as it appeared in print.
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First post
Welcome to the Regency Health blog, where we’ll be posting news and insight on the UK health insurance market alongside updates about the business and assorted miscellany.
Regency Health is an independent health insurance brokerage located in the regency town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (UK). Our raison d’être is to assist individuals and businesses with their private medical insurance...