It’s fair to say that 2024 will be looked back on as a momentous year across the health and protection markets in the UK and internationally.
It was a year in which there was a change of government in the UK, doctors announced a full-scale conflict with health insurers, the regulator announced a review of the pure protection market, and Health & Protection launched our Protection Forum event and travelled to Hong Kong for the first time.
But we start off with the first quarter of 2024 in which GBG Insurance entered administration, DeadHappy closed to new business, Aviva offered advisers some reassurance around claims service levels, while mortgage and protection adviser Raj Chohan stole the show on The Apprentice.
January
The year 2024 started off with a bang as on the first day back, Health & Protection’s exclusive report revealed the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had rejected a request for a rating review from Doctor Care Anywhere, saying there was no case for the action.
Also in the first week of the year news broke of international private medical insurance (IPMI) provider GBG Insurance entering administration with a multi-million pound blackhole and bringing disruption to advisers and their clients around the world.
In an update, we also revealed the administrators of Global Benefits Group Insurance Limited completed the sale of GBG’s international education insurance segments to Bison Capital.
Also early in the year Abu Dhabi-based PureHealth completed the acquisition of UK hospital operator Circle Health Group.
The Apprentice returned to our screens with a mortgage and protection adviser contestant for us all to cheer on with Raj Chohan vying to be Lord Sugar’s latest business partner.
February
February brought an exclusive interview with Aviva UK Health managing director Steve Bridger who admitted call waiting times at the insurer remained less than perfect, but noted there had been improvments and pledged advisers and customers would see near “perfection” in the second quarter of the year.
The month also saw AIG Life revamp its income protection (IP) proposition.
And Stuart Tragheim announced he would be stepping down as Holloway Friendly CEO after seven and a half years in the role.
Over on The Apprentice, Raj led her team to a comprehensive victory in a purchasing task on the island of Jersey.
And her success came as no surprise to a former colleague who we caught up with ahead of the screening of her successful outing.
It was through a chat with National Friendly CEO Graham Singleton for an analysis on cancer costs that we learned the mutual was looking at a novel way of managing costs for customers incorporating the NHS.
The month also saw the Association of British Insurers hold its Annual Conference where Dr Avi Mehra, associate partner and CSO at IBM, explained how easing access to patients’ own personal health records could save lives.
March
As financial reporting season kicked off, Aviva released its year-end figures and also offered advisers some reassurance around claims service levels.
Raj Chohan continued her winning streak on The Apprentice – stretching her wins to eight as the only candidate to have been on the winning side in every week of this season’s run.
The end of the financial year coincided with the beginning of the end for life insurer DeadHappy, which was told to close to new life customers after its Harold Shipman-led advertising campaign provoked outrage across the industry and in the public.
The past year was a momentous one for Reassured’s Phil Jeynes who related his personal story about coming back from colon cancer.
The month also brought Health & Protection’s first trip to Asia for our Hong Kong IPMI rountable in association with Allianz (pictured) to explore the trends affecting the territory and the Greater Bay Area as a whole.
And rounding out the quarter, Health & Protection brought readers an exclusive on Axa Global Healthcare’s re-entry into the UAE IPMI market.