Essential Supplementary Medical Insurance (ESMI) has announced it is to upgrade cover levels on its protection policies, as well as launch Travel Insurance for those who struggle to get coverage through ill health.
Andrew Tripp, founder and CEO of ESMI, which launched in 2013, told COVER his company would be enhancing its Critical Illness and Life policies.
He said: "We launched with Sick Pay, Surgical Cash, Life cover and Critical Illness cover. We've had such demand on the critical illness and life cover that we're going to be introducing some enhancements.
"Currently we offer £50,000 worth of cover on each. We're going to be adding 3 extra levels of cover. These will be £100,000, £150,000 and £200,000 due to broker demand.
"Due to broker demand before Christmas, brokers said our Sick Pay cover level of £1,500 was too low, we're made an alteration and introduced £2,000. That's all we sell now."
Tripp added the firm would be launching a travel insurance policy for those who struggle to get cover, in June.
He said: "We are introducing a travel insurance policy. When I was chairman of the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (AMII), we came across so often people with illnesses and conditions who struggled to get travel insurance cover. We're introducing a range of travel insurance products.
"We're aiming to go live on 1 June. In June and July we're going to roadshow it, we're going around the country and we are going to invite brokers and IFAs to attend."
Tripp also said sales for the insurer had tripled over the course of its first year accepting business.
He explained: "In the quarter leading up to Christmas, sales were really strong. And now, just finishing the second quarter, we're doing 3 times the amount of business volume that we did in the 1st quarter every month. Not everyone is engaging with us as yet because they don't know us. It's very exciting."
