AXA PPP healthcare is changing the way it underwrites individual private medical insurance (PMI) pl...
AXA PPP healthcare is changing the way it underwrites individual private medical insurance (PMI) plans to include lifestyle factors. From 6 May, individual plans will be underwritten using a method the insurer has named Personally Designed Quotations (PDQ).
The new approach aims to underwrite customers according to health and lifestyle factors such as height, weight and smoking habits and to fix premiums accordingly. The new method of underwriting will run alongside the provider's existing individual PMI portfolio.
The change aims to offer policyholders cover at a price that reflects the risk posed, with healthier individuals benefiting from lower premiums. The provider also claims PDQ will offer most people guaranteed maximum premiums ' which could be reduced following medical underwriting ' as well as cover for some pre- existing conditions.
Nye Jones, AXA PPP healthcare's distribution dev-elopment manager, said the move marked a significant development for the provision of PMI.
'PDQ will allow the price to be fixed according to the details submitted, instead of the current system where the price is fixed but the benefits vary. It is a move towards how critical illness and income protection cover are underwritten in the UK market,' he said.
