New private medical insurance benefit to be launched

From the end of this week, PruProtect will offer a new health cover and health cover optimiser, which will provide easier access to private medical insurance (PMI).

Policyholders at PruProtect will be able to add health cover to their existing plan, which will pay all costs associated with the private medical treatment for a acute conditions such as day-to-day care, having an operation or visiting a specialist.

This new products means policyholders will not have to take out separate serious illness cover and health cover, as they will be combined in a single package with only one application form, one direct debit and one number to call if you need to make a claim. There will also be a 5 per cent discount offered as compared to buying the covers separately.

There are three different levels of cover: comprehensive, primary and heart and cancer, all of which are supported by PruHealth.

As Peter Chadborn of CBK Colchester pointed out, Health Insurance and personal protection do not typically converge during the advice process, which seems wrong. This development goes a long way to removing whatever barriers previously existed and this development is impossible to ignore for any adviser operating in the protection market.