Positive Forecast for UK Health Insurance Industry

New analysis from market research firm Laing and Buisson has suggested that the UK health insurance industry has come through the toughest part of the recession that it will face. Annual figures for 2009 reveal a drop in demand for private medical insurance cash plans, as well as for dental insurance, though the latest analysis forecasts that this drop will be the most severe during the current recession.

The positive outlook arrives despite a record fall in the number of private health care plans during 2009, which fell by 4.8 per cent to 4.1 million at the start of 2010. The figures include both private policies and those healthcare schemes offered by employers. The drop in personal health insurance policies was particularly steep, suffering a 5.2 per cent fall, compared with a 4.7 per cent fall in the number of company health plans .

Overall, insurance companies suffered a 1.4 per cent dip in real term revenue in health insurance policies . In addition to ditching their plans, many policyholders opted to downgrade their insurance policies in order to keep their premiums affordable.

Meanwhile, there was an increase in the claims costs facing insurers in 2009, which rose by 1 per cent in real terms, leaving profit margins at their lowest level since 2000.