People are moving away from private medical insurance (PMI), instead opting for self-pay schemes, ac...
People are moving away from private medical insurance (PMI), instead opting for self-pay schemes, according to Virgin Money.
Research from the group shows 22% of people would be prepared to take out a personal loan to pay for private healthcare.
Gordon Maw, marketing man-ager of Virgin Money, said; 'Vast numbers of people are continuing to turn their backs on costly PMI policies which are clobbering customers with rising premiums and lengthy lists of exclusions.'
Virgin believes the fall in individual PMI policies last year by 50,000 to just under 1.1 million, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), was due to the growth of company schemes, but also accredits it to consumers being dissatisfied with some of the terms included in PMI policies.
'People are cancelling or refusing to take out policies, saving themselves an exorbitant monthly premium, and are instead considering other options should they subsequently find themselves in need of treatment which cannot be quickly provided by the NHS,' said Maw.
