PMI: Tesco is now the only retail distributor to offer private healthcare
By Lucy Quinton
Tesco Personal Finance has launched a private medical insurance (PMI) product in association with Axa PPP Healthcare.
The supermarket is now the only retail distributor to offer PMI since Sainsbury's pulled out of the sector.
John Dubois, spokesperson at Axa PPP Healthcare, said that the agreement came into effect in January and is now live. "It's exclusive in respect to other retail distributors," he said.
Commenting on the arrangement, Fergus Craig, commercial director at Axa PPP Healthcare, said: "They will be offering health insurance to people who may never have considered it before".
Charlie MacEwan, head of communications at WPA, said he had mixed feelings about the tie-up. He said it was good publicity for this particular area of the industry and "it appeared to be good value". However, he argued that he did not like the fact that there was a no claims discount as "it encouraged people not to claim and, should they choose to claim, the amount would be punitive".
In addition, he argued: "There's also a danger that the sale could be unadvised".
This arrangement sees Tesco offering prices at up to 32% lower than comparable providers; and customers between the ages of 18 and up to and including 75 can purchase the product over the phone or online without having to complete a medical questionnaire.
Two levels of cover are on offer - premium and core. The premium service will provide both in-patient and day-patient cover, cover for out-patient scans and for cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy, plus £1,000 for additional out-patient benefits a year. Similarly, the core service provides all of the above with the exception of £1,000 of additional out-patient benefits.
