Clarity over insurance

Consumer confusion is troubling the private medical insurance industry.

Recent numbers of complaints, although not particularly high, have confirmed growing feelings that most consumers do not understand chronic or acute conditions, and other aspects of private medical insurance .

The insurance industry appeared to be being slow to respond, with a number of high profile cases appearing in the national media. The acute/chronic confusion is apparently at the centre of most controversies.

The news comes following calls from cancer charities to overhaul insurance policies to this type of disease . According to these charities, cancer is not black and white and about life and death, and progressions in insurance cover must be made.

The PMI industry is responding, however, with the ABI (Association of British Insurers) working closely with cancer charities. The association is also looking to communicate what is and what is not cover.

The trade body last month issued a new Statement of Best Practice for the Selling of Private Medical Insurance. The new statement aims to encourage insurers to concentrate on new and improved ways of selling policies, replacing old sales literature that is now regarded as not being consumer friendly.

A spokesman for ABI, Jon French, said: In their marketing and sales literature, product providers will all use the same case study examples and then each individual company will have to explain precisely what their particular approach to that example would be. Rather than have a lot of medical terminology that is necessary but often quite difficult for the consumer to understand, it will give customers real life scenarios to help them to understand and then compare how different companies would deal with them. Then they can make the decision about what policy and what company they want to deal with. The hope is that it will give a more human feel to the way PMI is sold in the future.