Brokers and financial advisers are failing to excite consumers about private medical insurance (PMI), according to a new Defaqto report.
Defaqto's IFA Satisfaction Survey indicates that 46% of advisers never recommend PMI policies, and 50% do so infrequently.
Indeed, pet insurance outsells PMI by a factor of five to one.
The research company has recommended that providers invest more heavily in developing new distribution channels for the products.
Nick Telfer, the report's author and Defaqto's head of life and protection, Nick Telfer, said: “Protection insurance in general appears low on the typical IFA's list of recommended products and PMI is right at the bottom.
“With insuring pets appearing to be more important than taking out individual private medical insurance, it is clear is that the PMI industry is failing to persuade consumers that insuring their health is more important than insuring their pets, or for that matter, their belongings and holidays.
“Defaqto believes that opportunities exist for PMI to integrate with the financial services market, something it has never really achieved.”
Currently around 92 different PMI policies are on sale from around 25 providers offering consumers a wide range to choose from. However low sales could mean providers dropping out of the market. Around 7.5 million people are covered by PMI policies with a million individual policies sold and the rest via employers.
