Reported modest growth in company-paid PMI policies may be short-lived, Passport2Health has said.
Frank Levene, CEO and founder of Passport2Health, commenting on the Laing and Buisson 2012 Health Cover UK Market Report, said: "This report comes as no surprise to anyone who has been watching the decline of the PMI industry over the last years if not decades.
"With auto-enrolment on the horizon, companies will once again reassess their employee benefits. And with the government putting money behind a consumer awareness campaign on auto-enrolment, PMI is the obvious choice to cut costs.
"What this market needs is an innovator, to shake up the 'high premiums for reduced cover' mentality of the existing big insurers."
Levene urged individuals and employers to consider PMI options carefully, adding: "PMI doesn't have to be unaffordable, it doesn't have to be scaled down cover, it just needs visionary insurance providers."
He said: "The industry's response for years now has been to scale down cover in a drive to go after a heavily price driven market, leading to a complete lack of innovation in an inward looking industry."
