UK news

Insurance cover hit

Private medical cover in the UK was hit by recession according to figures reported recently by Laing and Buisson.

According to the report, the number of private medical cover policies in the UK fell by 4.8 percent to reach just over 4.1 million at the start of 2010.

This represents 11.7 percent of the UK population compared to 12.3 percent at the start of 2009.

The recession hit both corporate funded private medical cover as well as individual demand of medical insurance which fell to a new low of just over 1m at the start of 2010.

Philip Blackburn author of the report said ” The economic recession in 2009 delivered the largest annual fall in demand for private medical cover on record as the mature market proved vulnerable to the cyclical downturn. However many commentators predicted a more substantial fall in market demand so a 5% drop could also be optimistically viewed as a sign of product strength.”

Source Laing and Buisson Healthcare Market News July 2010.