Norwich Union Healthcare is planning an expansion of its Solutions private medical insurance product for companies, which was launched last year.
Norwich Union Healthcare is planning an expansion of its Solutions private medical insurance product for companies, which was launched last year.
From May, the product will be made available to companies with between 50 and 249 employees – previously it was just targeted to those with 50 to 99 – and will also come with Norwich Union Healthcare’s online Personal Health Manager service.
Personal Health Manager allows people to assess their own medical symptoms and devise personalised health plans. It also provides 24- hour access to GPs via the GP Helpline, plus a one-stop library of the latest medical information.
Solutions made a significant impact on launch last year. Customers welcomed it as a cost-effective way to buy group PMI because of the option to add modules to a comprehensive core package of benefits.
In this way, Solutions combined the pricing stability associated with small group products with the benefit flexibility of large group schemes.
Carolyn Derrington, head of business development for Norwich Union Healthcare, believes the product will appeal to its new customer base. She said: “The success of Solutions convinced us that a comprehensive core product with the option to pick and choose extras is what the corporate market demands.
“Now we’re responding to that clamour by broadening its availability to larger companies. We’re confident intermediaries will welcome the chance to use their expertise to help design the right package for their clients.”
As well as comprehensive cover for outpatient, day patient and inpatient diagnosis and treatment, the Core Cover benefits of Solutions include:
- Home nursing (following eligible inpatient or day patient treatment)
- Psychiatric outpatient treatment up to Ł1000
- GP Helpline – unlimited GP telephone consultations, available 24-hours-a-day
- Maternity cash benefit
- Stress Counselling Helpline
- Personal Health Manager
The Core Cover package can be added to by up to four Additional Cover Options, providing a range of benefit enhancements. These are:
- Psychiatric cover (up to 28 or 45 days) for inpatient and day patient treatment
- GP-referred services – including GP-referred radiology/pathology; GP-referred chiropody, podiatry and homeopathy; complementary/alternative treatments including osteopathy and acupuncture; specialist consultations and tests for non-acute conditions
- Extended hospital list and a specific hospital list for Scotland
- Optical and dental option – helps towards the cost of optical and routine dental expenses
For companies wishing to reduce costs by restricting cover, there are four cost containment options:
- Six week option – private inpatient or day patient treatment if NHS waiting list is longer than six weeks
- Member excess – excess of either Ł50, Ł100 or Ł200 (payable once per person per policy year)
- Selected benefit reduction – removes cover for less essential extras
- Reduced outpatient cover
Companies with 250 employees or more can still benefit from Norwich Union Healthcare’s Optimum Scheme, which is specially designed to meet the needs of larger businesses. Optimum will also benefit from having Personal Health Manager added into its package of core benefits.
Following today’s announcement, those in the 100-249 range currently on Optimum will be offered terms to migrate to Solutions as well as renewal terms on Optimum.
Meanwhile Norwich Union Healthcare will continue to offer company PMI schemes for groups with 3 to 49 employees, and plan to include Personal Health Manager on all of these products within the next few months.
For groups with 50-99 employees, the commission for Solutions is 10% initial and 5% renewal, or 7% for both initial and renewal. For groups with 100-249 employees, the commission is 7% initial and 5% renewal, or 6% for both initial and renewal. The net commission options are also available for both group sizes. Agency terms and application forms are available on request.
- Full details of standard cover and exclusions are given in the Policy Wording, a specimen copy of which is available on request. These documents, for both Solutions and Optimum, have now been written to include Common Definitions.
- Access to Personal Health Manager
- Norwich Union Healthcare has set up a one-month free trial* for intermediaries. If they want to try Personal Health Manager in April, they can go to www.personalhealthmanager.co.uk, and register with the trial code 41F5E8521. (see Notes to Editors for Journalist access.)
For more information on Solutions, or for a free one-month trial* of Personal Health Manager intermediaries can call:
0845 300 1530 (intermediary sales north) or 02380 372277 (intermediary sales south / national accounts)
For security and administration, calls to and from Norwich Union maybe monitored and, or recorded.
Press contact:
att Buchanan at QBO Bell Pottinger on 020 7861 2424
Notes to editors
- *The GP Helpline is not available as part of the trial. Personal Health Manager is strictly available for use in and by residents of the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands only.
- Norwich Union Healthcare was founded in 1990 as the healthcare arm of Norwich Union and now provides a range of income protection and private medical insurance products to around 750,000 customers. It is one of the largest providers of income protection and private medical insurance in the UK.
- Norwich Union Healthcare is a member of the General Insurance Standards Council.
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