Improving people’s access to their own medical records, removing insurance premium tax on private medical insurance premiums and tackling the cost of living crisis should be the top priorities for the UK’s new prime minister.
This is according to advisers Health & Protection spoke to in the wake of Liz Truss being declared the UK’s new prime minister yesterday.
Truss, who won 57% of valid votes cast, succeeds predecessor Boris Johnson when she meets the Queen in Balmoral today.
In her victory speech Truss committed to cutting taxes and to deliver on the National Health Service.
In the immediate aftermath of her speech Alan Lakey, director at Highclere Financial Services, told Health & Protection the new PM needed to deliver on tax breaks for private medical and protection cover.
Remove IPT on PMI
In a similar vein, Isaac Feiner, owner of Lifepoint Healthcare, reiterated his call for government to put in place plans to reduce or remove insurance premium tax altogether on PMI premiums and allow the private medical insurance sector to grow to support an “ailing” NHS.
“Wishful thinking I am sure but this is something we know would dramatically help things. A few months ago I did a poll to 15,000 people via social media and the results indicated that a key consideration for many in the UK when considering taking out PMI is the cost,” Feiner added. “If PMI were more affordable, there would be more take up and it would not be stuck at the 11% population take up. Making the products more accessible would be an incredible move.”
Better access to medical records
Andrew Wilkinson, director at Moneysworth, called on Truss to accelerate patient ownership of their medical records so patients can provide insurers with far quicker access to this data.
“This would enable consumers with health conditions to get underwriting decisions far more quickly and would also help to speed up claims,” he added. “It would be an important milestone on the road to inclusivity and change the whole face of the protection market for the better.”
But Truss also promised to “deliver on the energy crisis” including dealing with people’s energy bills but also the long term issues the UK has with energy supply.
Winter is coming
This was a commitment welcomed by Naomi Greatorex, owner of Heath Protection Solutions, who told Health & Protection that customers are already seeing the impact of rising energy bills.
“Winter is coming. It is a concern people are thinking about when thinking about their overall spending and people are being more cautious,” Greatorex said.
But Greatorex added she is more concerned about what happens next and how advisers manage clients who already have insurance.
“If we see what we think we’re going to see – which is a sharp spike in people’s bills – and not just energy bills but mortgage rates are rising significantly and having an effect on home ownership. And so a combination of those factors, because of the clients I have and referrals I have from mortgage companies, it’s going to be important to make sure we explore with clients what their budget is and what they can afford and make sure clients know that having something is better than having nothing at all.”