Aviva is returning a further £47m rebate to eligible private medical insurance (PMI) customers as it completes its Covid-19 Pledge to customers.
Alongside the £81m returned to customers last year, the final payment will mean Aviva has paid out more than £128m in total for private medical insurance disruption during the pandemic.
This final payment includes a 20% increase as outlined in Aviva’s Covid-19 Pledge update in June last year.
For individual customers the payment including the 20% increase will be equivalent to around six weeks’ worth of their annual premium and for SME customers the payment will be equivalent to around 5 weeks’ worth of their annual premium.
Large corporate clients will not get a second payment as the equivalent value Pledge was fulfilled for this portfolio in 2022 through the first payment.
In March, Health & Protection exclusively revealed Aviva was finalising another Covid-19-related rebate for its PMI customers, at the time thought likely to be worth at least £19m.
Announcing the latest figure, the insurer said the figure was its final assessment of the difference between expected claims costs and actual claims costs for the period of claims monitored, from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2022, when some treatments and procedures were delayed rather than cancelled.
The insurer added Grant Thornton UK had independently reviewed its approach in line with the Covid-19 Pledge commitment and Aviva will be contacting brokers and customers over the coming weeks to let them know about the payments.
Steve Bridger, managing director at Aviva UK Health, (pictured) said: “We value our private medical insurance customers’ loyalty and it was only right that we pledged to return any difference in claims costs to them after a full and fair assessment of the impact of the pandemic on our claims experience.
“I’m delighted that we have completed our final assessment and that we can make a further payment to customers at this time of increased living costs.”
As stated in the pledge, customers and clients who paid a premium across the period 1 March 2020 to 31 March 2021 will be eligible for a payment, even if they no longer hold a policy.