People have short attention spans and will return to the region quite quickly when things die down, according to Pacific Prime’s general manager for the UK.
Jonathan Hill said when discussing the interest in health insurance in the Middle East.
The UK director of the firm was sitting on the opening panel of this year’s Health & Protection’s Global Mobility & Health Summit discussing how insurers are protecting and supporting globally mobile people during the Middle East conflict.
“New business [in the Middle East] has potentially stalled, but I wouldn’t say that it is a market in a downward trend,” he added.
“There is a lot more uncertainty…but it is returning to business as usual again,” Hill said, reaffirming his view that people will return to the region.
Ken Maxwell, director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge, added: “Getting new cover is challenging at the moment.”
Sitting in the audience, Diana Hayder of Nasco, said: “We are seeing discussions on companies in the region concerning downsizing if the conflict continues.
“They will be downgrading their plans for cost-cutting purposes. They are re-locating their employees [out of the region],” she added.
Adam Harding, executive director international benefits at Howden Employee Benefits, said: “Speaking to our team in the region, people are back in offices and seem relatively relaxed.”
Although he admitted: “It is quite a scary environment and we have had to support people with their mental resilience.”
One insurer stood up towards the end of the session to say that people who have fled the Middle East since the war started are having an impact on private medical claims as treatment is “more expensive in Harley Street than in the Middle East”.