As 2021 comes to an end, we look back on a year in which Health & Protection brought you news of blocked billion pound takeovers, high profile executive comings and goings and an array of exclusive stories.
This spring while we were all still facing some Covid restrictions, we brought you news of Bupa rebating £125m to its UK health insurance customers following the temporary disruption to some medical treatments last year as a result of the pandemic. The spring months were also significant in that the title welcomed a new editor, with Owain Thomas taking the helm.
The summer saw the collapse of Aon’s proposed $30bn takeover of Willis Towers Watson as well as Ramsay’s £1.4bn deal for Spire.
In one of the bigger people moves of the year, we brought you news of Debbie Kennedy‘s move to LifeSearch to take over as CEO.
As the autumn leaves began to fall from the trees, we gave readers an exclusive on the number of income protection long Covid claims insurers had been handling as the country continued to wrestle with the pandemic.
Health & Protection revealed that LV= would be maintaining its premium holiday for struggling policyholders permanently and was planning a major shake-up of its critical illness proposition.
There was another exclusive on Anthony Cabrelli succeeding Sheldon Kenton as MD of Bupa Global.
We also held the first Health & Protection Awards where Tom Baigrie and Stuart Scullion picked up outstanding contribution honours on a night that brought the whole industry together for the first time in two years.
There was Howden’s new UK MD and an exclusive on Legal & General merging its insurance and retail retirement divisions.
As the year drew to an end amid the emergence of Omicron, readers learned of Pam Whelan and Mark Hamson leaving Simplyhealth and one final collapse of a mega money deal as LV= shareholders voted down its takeover by Bain Capital, with Royal London re-entering the fray as a possible suitor to merge with the fellow mutual.
How this deal proceeds will be a story for 2022.