National Friendly has joined the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII) while Health Shield has re-joined as a corporate member.
Health Shield commercial director Paul Shires said he was delighted the mutual had returned to the association having been a member for several years.
He said: “There was a decision before my time to leave on cost grounds, but having spent several years on the AMII executive committee during my time with Westfield Health, I fully recognise and appreciate the value of membership and I’m delighted Health Shield has re-joined.
“AMII is a great independent link between providers and intermediaries with providers increasingly not just being insurers but associated health and wellbeing industries.
“Not being a member was a false economy as our primary distribution channel is intermediaries and we need to stay close to them to understand both their and their clients’ needs to help us develop our products and our services
“AMII is a great link between intermediaries and an increasingly diverse range of health and wellbeing providers. It really represents the greater marketplace and is a genuine voice for the industry – whether it’s around data sharing, insurance premium tax (IPT) or the major debate around the NHS and private health care systems.”
Oliver Jones, sales and distribution director at National Friendly, said: “We have been expanding our distribution footprint and have diversified our product range including the launch of our new MyPMI product, but we identified that we need to be part of AMII in order to reach out to the private healthcare market and gain further traction.
“We are looking at building our relationship with AMII and its members as now more than ever, private healthcare can support clients’ needs. I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.”
AMII executive chairman David Middleton (pictured) added: “We are delighted that Health Shield has re-joined the AMII family and also welcome National Friendly as a valued member and look forward to working closely with both mutuals as we move forward.
“2022 was a significant year in the history of AMII – with record-breaking membership recruitment and a rebrand – and we are very confident of continued strategic growth in 2023.”