I now have two separate podcasts live and available to download.
PMICast is the only UK podcast devoted to medical and related health insurance. There are four episodes up at the moment (we're currently running to about an episode a week). Subjects covered include : intro to me and my business; a basic overview of medical insurance; PMI for companies and working with introducers.
Each episode has a main feature and then concludes with a brief industry news slot.
You can find the podcast on iTunes, search under 'pmicast' on the store or in your smart phone pod catcher. You can also find the audio at our RSS Feed - www.pmicast.podbean.com.
So far we've had over 2000 visits to the RSS website and around 1,000 downloads.
My latest podcast is the more lighthearted 'Where's Wilson' - this is a science ficton podcast I host with my daughter Megan. Episode 1 went live yesterday and already we've had over 200 hits to the site (www.whereswilson.podbean.com) and 50 downloads so this one too is going really well. This one isn't yet live on iTunes - it's awaiting approval which should come through soon.
Please tell all your friends about these two podcasts and of course please subscribe.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Saturday, 30 March 2013
New podcast - Where's Wilson Ep 1 now live
Hi
I've just uploaded episode one of my fun new podcast devoted to science fiction TV, movies and comics with a little bit of martial arts thrown in for good measure.
It is hosted by yours truly with some able assistance from Megan Knight (my 12 year old daughter) and also Ryan (my son aged 7) who is our video games correspondent.
You can find episode 1 at link to podcast and it will shortly arrive on iTunes too (submitted for approval this morning to Apple). It's fun, lighthearted and for first effort we thought pretty good.
Please download and if you like it tell your friends.
I've just uploaded episode one of my fun new podcast devoted to science fiction TV, movies and comics with a little bit of martial arts thrown in for good measure.
It is hosted by yours truly with some able assistance from Megan Knight (my 12 year old daughter) and also Ryan (my son aged 7) who is our video games correspondent.
You can find episode 1 at link to podcast and it will shortly arrive on iTunes too (submitted for approval this morning to Apple). It's fun, lighthearted and for first effort we thought pretty good.
Please download and if you like it tell your friends.
Friday, 29 March 2013
Ep 4 of PMICast now available
No formal business blog today but just to let everyone know that the fourth episode of my (now seemingly weekly) PMI podcast is available to download.
It's at iTunes - search under 'pmicast' or at the RSS feed : www.pmicast.podbean.com or simply subscribe via your favourite podcast app on IOS, Android or Windows phone and let it come to you automatically.
This time talk about how I work with professional introducers so if you're an IFA, Accountant or General/Commerical or Mortgage broker I would recommend this as vital listening.
All the relevant contact points are listed on the podcast but please feel free to leave feedback here.
It's at iTunes - search under 'pmicast' or at the RSS feed : www.pmicast.podbean.com or simply subscribe via your favourite podcast app on IOS, Android or Windows phone and let it come to you automatically.
This time talk about how I work with professional introducers so if you're an IFA, Accountant or General/Commerical or Mortgage broker I would recommend this as vital listening.
All the relevant contact points are listed on the podcast but please feel free to leave feedback here.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Final post before Easter
Couldn't come up with a major burning business issue to cover today before the long Easter weekend so a brief post to wish regular readers of the blog a good Easter break.
Next week will be a busy one, hoping my first Talk Health blog will go live (stay tuned for more detail on this).
Episode 4 of PMIcast (search on iTunes under 'pmicast' or at www.pmicast.podbean.com) will go up next week at some stage - it will cover aspects of my work with introducers so if you're an IFA or accountant who is interested in driving more revenue from medical insurance but aren't too confident how to go about it this will give you some tips. In addition episode 4 will also see the new theme tune and intro to the podcast and hopefully make things a little more professional.
Lastly, I'm working on an exciting new podcast related project - no details yet as things aren't finalised but as ever my blog will be the first place for any announcements.
Will be tweeting as usual over the weekend so check out either philknightpch or localventure1 on twitter.
Have a good break
Phil
__________
Next week will be a busy one, hoping my first Talk Health blog will go live (stay tuned for more detail on this).
Episode 4 of PMIcast (search on iTunes under 'pmicast' or at www.pmicast.podbean.com) will go up next week at some stage - it will cover aspects of my work with introducers so if you're an IFA or accountant who is interested in driving more revenue from medical insurance but aren't too confident how to go about it this will give you some tips. In addition episode 4 will also see the new theme tune and intro to the podcast and hopefully make things a little more professional.
Lastly, I'm working on an exciting new podcast related project - no details yet as things aren't finalised but as ever my blog will be the first place for any announcements.
Will be tweeting as usual over the weekend so check out either philknightpch or localventure1 on twitter.
Have a good break
Phil
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
WPA Seminar today
Attended the WPA : Swift Diagnosis seminar this lunchtime and as an experiment live tweeted throughout the whole event - not sure who was listening but heres a list of my Tweets from start at 11.00am to finish around 12.25pm :
Apologies for the spelling but hopefully this gives you a flavour of the event and the new product feature.
Apologies for the spelling but hopefully this gives you a flavour of the event and the new product feature.
Arrived at great john hotel - only 2 hours parking cud be an issue
Nice hotel, friendly welcome ppt starts
Swift diagnosis - tiered addition SME products
Swift diagnosis is help towards tests and investigations
David Free-Pierce talking company cash plan employee engagement - valued more than PMI
Cash plan pop'n 4 mill
Why swift diagnosis - focus on private diagnosis
Available stand alone or as part of SME PMI proposition
Swift diagnosis - between cash plan and full PMI
Benefits are consults/diagnostics £1500 pa excludes angiograms. Extra £500 for colonoscopy.
£1500 why ? 97% of o/p claims fall below this limit
What's the catch - why angio excluded ? - often extended to full angioplasty (6/10) more costly
Also excludes chronics
10 plus employees - no underwriting or qualifying periods
90 days for less than 10
What happens following diagnostic stage ? WPA helpline (managed care team) advise on NHS or private options
Premiums 0-17 £61.59 pa, 18-49 £151.40, 50+ £ 313.69
NHS top up clients reduced by 5%.
They think the pricing is sustainable - they view medical inflation at no more than 5% - project increases at less than this moving forwards
Larger schemes there is bespoking
Screen shot with typical costs : shows most procedures wud b covered e.g. cardiac ct is £ 1250 or diag. colonoscopy is £2153
Commission is 40 & 5 opportunity to extend benefits a la cash plan & appeal 2 younger employees
Showing examples of tiered cover meeting SME needs
Shows increasing numbers covered but keeping costs same/lower
Fairly informal presentation - one of the presenters leant against the wall !
Questions - qual period for less than 10 - 90 days no u/w
Can u sell it with a full PMI plan from Wpa - sounds like 'no'
Deps charged individually by age company funded for employees
May be available voluntary and individual in future - SME for now
No usage or claims info on SME stuff
Referral from gp or specialist
Allows for second opinion - may be covered but probably not.
Questions now trailing off.....
No option to buy in chunks - pay twice for £3000 cover or for full refund
That's the end !
Live twitter stream from WPA
I'm tweeting live from the great john street hotel in Manchester covering the WPA Swift Diagnosis launch - check : philknightpch on Twitter
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Government Response to the Francis Report
Two issues to discuss today, most important is the response the Health Secretary : Jeremy Hunt is going to give following the Francis Report into the events in Stafford.
The report gave over 200 recommendations and of course effectively amounts to a 'culture' change within the NHS. Hunt isn't expected to respond to these recommendations individually but as you may have seen from the news this morning there are some headline moves and I want to focus on one of these : the proposal that trainee nurses spend part of their training working as care assistants on hospital wards. This would be for up to a year and give the nurses 'front-line hands on front line caring experience' to quote the minister.
This is ludicrous !
Nursing is we are often told a calling, a vocation rather than a 'job' and given that nursing is a degree course akin to that undertaken by solicitors or teachers surely the 3 and a half year nursing course mentions caring, patient support, basic psychology of caring and patient needs (if it doesn't already then it flipping well should).
Also consider the position of those already working as healthcare assistants in hospitals. I'm not sure how many there are working in hospitals (but they join the Royal College of Nursing and have their own clinical journal - www.healthcare-assistants.co.uk. I do know that there are around 14,500 new nurses that qualify each year in the UK - not sure how pleased the existing healthcare assistants are going to be to find 14,000 plus training nurses suddenly nicking their jobs.
It seems to be a pretty poorly thought out knee jerk responses that replicates existing training and upsetting an entire tranche of NHS workers in the process - that should improve healthcare standards.
Secondly, I'm planning to do some reviews into health insurance apps for smart phones (primarily IOS but also possible Android as well). From what I can see some of the main players have a variety of apps but to me they seem a little disappointing - however, I'm going to download them and look into them a little bit more to see what they add to the policy holder experience and if they can ever be a factor in deciding which insurer to recommend to a client.
If any blog reader has any specific apps they use at present or would like me to investigate further please do feel free to drop in some feedback here on the blog or twitter (philknightpch).
Thanks.
The report gave over 200 recommendations and of course effectively amounts to a 'culture' change within the NHS. Hunt isn't expected to respond to these recommendations individually but as you may have seen from the news this morning there are some headline moves and I want to focus on one of these : the proposal that trainee nurses spend part of their training working as care assistants on hospital wards. This would be for up to a year and give the nurses 'front-line hands on front line caring experience' to quote the minister.
This is ludicrous !
Nursing is we are often told a calling, a vocation rather than a 'job' and given that nursing is a degree course akin to that undertaken by solicitors or teachers surely the 3 and a half year nursing course mentions caring, patient support, basic psychology of caring and patient needs (if it doesn't already then it flipping well should).
Also consider the position of those already working as healthcare assistants in hospitals. I'm not sure how many there are working in hospitals (but they join the Royal College of Nursing and have their own clinical journal - www.healthcare-assistants.co.uk. I do know that there are around 14,500 new nurses that qualify each year in the UK - not sure how pleased the existing healthcare assistants are going to be to find 14,000 plus training nurses suddenly nicking their jobs.
It seems to be a pretty poorly thought out knee jerk responses that replicates existing training and upsetting an entire tranche of NHS workers in the process - that should improve healthcare standards.
Secondly, I'm planning to do some reviews into health insurance apps for smart phones (primarily IOS but also possible Android as well). From what I can see some of the main players have a variety of apps but to me they seem a little disappointing - however, I'm going to download them and look into them a little bit more to see what they add to the policy holder experience and if they can ever be a factor in deciding which insurer to recommend to a client.
If any blog reader has any specific apps they use at present or would like me to investigate further please do feel free to drop in some feedback here on the blog or twitter (philknightpch).
Thanks.
Monday, 25 March 2013
Medical Insurance and Social Media
I suspect that in coming months I will return relatively frequently to the subject of social media.
I wonder from an industry professionals prospective if the industry, insurers, brokers - any of us in fact use social media as effectively as possible to communicate to the public.
This morning I spent some time viewing some of the major UK PMI insurers twitter feeds and in the main the results are pretty bland, even allowing for the limitations of the 140 character format they're all by and large simple mini adds or re-tweets of health news stories (although to be fair that is something I do myself on a 'slow news' day).
The exception however is BUPA, to their credit many of their recent tweets seem to involve quite negative customer complaints - not sure how sensible it is to have this on their main UK twitter feed but at least they're not trying to cover up the fact that there are issues.
How should insurers use Twitter to interact with their customers ? Not sure but I think it is an excellent discussion to have ?
I wonder from an industry professionals prospective if the industry, insurers, brokers - any of us in fact use social media as effectively as possible to communicate to the public.
This morning I spent some time viewing some of the major UK PMI insurers twitter feeds and in the main the results are pretty bland, even allowing for the limitations of the 140 character format they're all by and large simple mini adds or re-tweets of health news stories (although to be fair that is something I do myself on a 'slow news' day).
The exception however is BUPA, to their credit many of their recent tweets seem to involve quite negative customer complaints - not sure how sensible it is to have this on their main UK twitter feed but at least they're not trying to cover up the fact that there are issues.
How should insurers use Twitter to interact with their customers ? Not sure but I think it is an excellent discussion to have ?
Friday, 22 March 2013
Professional Introducers
There is a nice comment piece in the March 2013 edition of Health Insurance Magazine (issue 184) pg15 discussing why IFA's shouldn't really accept offers from insurers direct to refer their PMI clients.
The conclusion of the article is that if every IFA did refer their business to the insurers direct then it would certainly grow the market but that if an IFA needs assistance with PMI (and many do) then referring to a PMI Specialist broker is a preferable solution.
I would recommend my IFA's and professional introducers to view this article and being a health insurance specialist I'd certainly agree with the article in its entirety.
To me the issue is two fold - firstly clients need cogent, professional whole of market advice centred around what is right for them as opposed to what is the right policy for a direct provider to sell them. This sounds like a subtle distinction but really it is not. Any direct insurance advisor (DSF, internal sales or franchise sales person) will usually give the best advice the can based on an expert knowledge of their companies products. Even perhaps with a knowledge of the competitors plans to 'sell against'. However, an independent like myself isn't 'selling against' other insurers in a way that direct sales people often feel they have to, which is a negative, lowest common denominator type of sales process. Having worked in sales for insurers from 1994 to 2008 I can confirm that 'selling against the competition' is an on-going and epic saga discussed in endless insurer sales meetings - some insurers even plot to sell against themselves when intermediary and direct parts of one business are not properly controlled and believe me, I've sat in that sales meeting more than once and it is a deeply unpleasant experience.
Rather, with access to and knowledge of the whole of market and independent advisor like myself is able to offer a very different type of advisory process. Yes, I always consider the budget of my clients but to me the more important question is not how much they can spend but what does my client need/want - I often work within tight budget confines but I always look to include the most benefit for clients I can and often sell an unexpectedly more comprehensive plan following a discussion around some subtle lifestyle point the client or I has raised and this works both within the individual and corporate sectors.
Secondly, dare I say it, this is also about on-going income stream for the IFA practice. Typically the deals offered by insurers for direct referral sit at around 20% to 40% of first year premium minus IPT usually with no trail commission. This means that in year one the IFA (whose client the insurer now has direct access to) receives a reasonable income - but in future years their income drops drastically and importantly their control over the client is reduced.
My introducer practice typically offers half of all commission due both initial and renewal for as long as the client needs PMI and the introducer agreement we enter into confirms that although they are using my agencies, the client, overall remains that of the IFA introducer. My view is that an introducer and client relationship is a long term one that should last for many years - so with regular reviews over a ten or fifteen year period the relationship with the IFA continues, they access half of the revenue driven by the client (whether new or switch commission), the client is reviewed and supported with independent advice when needed - at least annually - and a virtuous circle of advice, support and business development for both advisory parties is created.
This interwoven sales/support process is one I have put to many IFA colleagues and when properly examined with case studies and joint visits to clients is one that rarely fails to take hold with an IFA practice.
The conclusion of the article is that if every IFA did refer their business to the insurers direct then it would certainly grow the market but that if an IFA needs assistance with PMI (and many do) then referring to a PMI Specialist broker is a preferable solution.
I would recommend my IFA's and professional introducers to view this article and being a health insurance specialist I'd certainly agree with the article in its entirety.
To me the issue is two fold - firstly clients need cogent, professional whole of market advice centred around what is right for them as opposed to what is the right policy for a direct provider to sell them. This sounds like a subtle distinction but really it is not. Any direct insurance advisor (DSF, internal sales or franchise sales person) will usually give the best advice the can based on an expert knowledge of their companies products. Even perhaps with a knowledge of the competitors plans to 'sell against'. However, an independent like myself isn't 'selling against' other insurers in a way that direct sales people often feel they have to, which is a negative, lowest common denominator type of sales process. Having worked in sales for insurers from 1994 to 2008 I can confirm that 'selling against the competition' is an on-going and epic saga discussed in endless insurer sales meetings - some insurers even plot to sell against themselves when intermediary and direct parts of one business are not properly controlled and believe me, I've sat in that sales meeting more than once and it is a deeply unpleasant experience.
Rather, with access to and knowledge of the whole of market and independent advisor like myself is able to offer a very different type of advisory process. Yes, I always consider the budget of my clients but to me the more important question is not how much they can spend but what does my client need/want - I often work within tight budget confines but I always look to include the most benefit for clients I can and often sell an unexpectedly more comprehensive plan following a discussion around some subtle lifestyle point the client or I has raised and this works both within the individual and corporate sectors.
Secondly, dare I say it, this is also about on-going income stream for the IFA practice. Typically the deals offered by insurers for direct referral sit at around 20% to 40% of first year premium minus IPT usually with no trail commission. This means that in year one the IFA (whose client the insurer now has direct access to) receives a reasonable income - but in future years their income drops drastically and importantly their control over the client is reduced.
My introducer practice typically offers half of all commission due both initial and renewal for as long as the client needs PMI and the introducer agreement we enter into confirms that although they are using my agencies, the client, overall remains that of the IFA introducer. My view is that an introducer and client relationship is a long term one that should last for many years - so with regular reviews over a ten or fifteen year period the relationship with the IFA continues, they access half of the revenue driven by the client (whether new or switch commission), the client is reviewed and supported with independent advice when needed - at least annually - and a virtuous circle of advice, support and business development for both advisory parties is created.
This interwoven sales/support process is one I have put to many IFA colleagues and when properly examined with case studies and joint visits to clients is one that rarely fails to take hold with an IFA practice.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
NHS Failure, Chief Executive pay
I'm self employed.
If I do not work and more to the point, if I am not effective when I advise clients and undertake marketing programs then putting it simply I do not earn.
I'm actually fairly open and relaxed about admin and management issues in the NHS - in any large (nay enormous) organisation there has to be a robust management structure with rules and expenditure on the running of NHS Trusts and so forth. This means that it is inevitable that things will go wrong, miscommunications happen and that admin procedures simply don't work.
However, when an NHS Trust fails and the former Chief Exec is still being paid his full (£225K) salary it is offensive frankly - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21871285
Surely there's a way to suspend someone with no pay pending full investigation of the problems at the hospital. Even if it is proven that he was in no way responsible surely given it is public money that is being paid then details of the settlement need to be made public - after all if it were me and I was fully exonerated by such an investigation and paid £ 225,000 I'd want people to know I'd done nothing wrong and deserved the payout.
If I do not work and more to the point, if I am not effective when I advise clients and undertake marketing programs then putting it simply I do not earn.
I'm actually fairly open and relaxed about admin and management issues in the NHS - in any large (nay enormous) organisation there has to be a robust management structure with rules and expenditure on the running of NHS Trusts and so forth. This means that it is inevitable that things will go wrong, miscommunications happen and that admin procedures simply don't work.
However, when an NHS Trust fails and the former Chief Exec is still being paid his full (£225K) salary it is offensive frankly - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21871285
Surely there's a way to suspend someone with no pay pending full investigation of the problems at the hospital. Even if it is proven that he was in no way responsible surely given it is public money that is being paid then details of the settlement need to be made public - after all if it were me and I was fully exonerated by such an investigation and paid £ 225,000 I'd want people to know I'd done nothing wrong and deserved the payout.
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Episode 3 of the pmicast is now up
For this issue of the pmicast (the only UK podcast devoted to medical insurance) I wanted to begin a discussion of medical insurance for companies. So I talk at a fairly basic level about some of the things to watch out for at an annual review and how to spot if your adviser is doing a good job.
Please download and have a listen and I look forward to any feedback.
Your can search for the podcast on iTunes under the name 'pmicast' or look over at the RSS feed at www.pmicast.podbean.com.
The next episode will follow in a week or so.
Please download and have a listen and I look forward to any feedback.
Your can search for the podcast on iTunes under the name 'pmicast' or look over at the RSS feed at www.pmicast.podbean.com.
The next episode will follow in a week or so.
Coffee Cuts accidents .... doh !
This article on the BBC website caught my eye during my daily RSS catch up this morning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21841825
The research shows that although caffeine is clearly not a substitute for being fresh and rested whilst driving it does seem to reduce accidents - the stat quoted is a reduction of 63% once adjusted for other factors like age, sleep pattern, distance driven and so forth.
That's a pretty massive reduction and seems very statistically significant - I wonder though if a more concientious, intelligent driver is more likely to take a break and grab a coffee and rest during a long drive than a less reliable person - perhaps it's not necessarily just the coffee but a combination of that and a willingness to accept advice about stopping for breaks and a stimulating drink !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21841825
The research shows that although caffeine is clearly not a substitute for being fresh and rested whilst driving it does seem to reduce accidents - the stat quoted is a reduction of 63% once adjusted for other factors like age, sleep pattern, distance driven and so forth.
That's a pretty massive reduction and seems very statistically significant - I wonder though if a more concientious, intelligent driver is more likely to take a break and grab a coffee and rest during a long drive than a less reliable person - perhaps it's not necessarily just the coffee but a combination of that and a willingness to accept advice about stopping for breaks and a stimulating drink !
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
News round up
It has been a busy few days so rather than a one subject post I thought I would give a general news round up of things happening within my businesses.
Talk on Friday
Firstly, I went down to Elstree to speak to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Special Interest Group to discuss medico legal marketing. They were a charming group and the very welcoming. The talk seemed to go down well and I'm hopefully of working with the group and individual members moving forward.
Comic Relief
I mentioned Comic Relief in a blog post on Friday and would encourage all my blog post and podcast subscribers to visit the website and donate.
Hits on this blog
Thanks to all readers of this blog. Since I relaunched on the 20th of February we've had over 1,000 visitors to the blog. Hopefully the content is of some interest and certainly it's profile seems to be building. Since re-launch I've now been approached by one of the largest UK Health blogging sites to write for them on a regular basis and will be putting details of this on the blog as soon as I have the first post ready to go and the publication schedule.
New episode of PMICast coming soon
My new podcast the PMICast now has two issues uploaded with the third written and ready to go in the next few days. This issue will focus on cover for small corporate clients and if this is an area you're interested in please keep checking back here for it going live.
The podcast has nearly 500 downloads so far so all those people can't be wrong - please feel free to check it out at podcast RSS feed or you can find it on iTunes, searching under 'pmicast'.
Premier Choice Health
PCH are my compliance providers and give me some back office support for my medical insurance practice. In addition I also write regular news articles for them on health and protection insurance news. You can find the articles at : http://www.pch.uk.com/latest-health-insurance-news.php
Recent articles you'll find there include :
Karate Grading
Talk on Friday
Firstly, I went down to Elstree to speak to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Special Interest Group to discuss medico legal marketing. They were a charming group and the very welcoming. The talk seemed to go down well and I'm hopefully of working with the group and individual members moving forward.
Comic Relief
I mentioned Comic Relief in a blog post on Friday and would encourage all my blog post and podcast subscribers to visit the website and donate.
Hits on this blog
Thanks to all readers of this blog. Since I relaunched on the 20th of February we've had over 1,000 visitors to the blog. Hopefully the content is of some interest and certainly it's profile seems to be building. Since re-launch I've now been approached by one of the largest UK Health blogging sites to write for them on a regular basis and will be putting details of this on the blog as soon as I have the first post ready to go and the publication schedule.
New episode of PMICast coming soon
My new podcast the PMICast now has two issues uploaded with the third written and ready to go in the next few days. This issue will focus on cover for small corporate clients and if this is an area you're interested in please keep checking back here for it going live.
The podcast has nearly 500 downloads so far so all those people can't be wrong - please feel free to check it out at podcast RSS feed or you can find it on iTunes, searching under 'pmicast'.
Premier Choice Health
PCH are my compliance providers and give me some back office support for my medical insurance practice. In addition I also write regular news articles for them on health and protection insurance news. You can find the articles at : http://www.pch.uk.com/latest-health-insurance-news.php
Recent articles you'll find there include :
When you really need life and protection insurance cover
Two Sides of the same Personal Protection coin
Nothing says I love you like ... life or critical illness cover
Why should you buy a protection policy?
Question: If I don’t have life assurance cover the state will provide, won’t it?
How will the EU Gender Directive affect your medical and life assurance premiums?
The Romans, Christmas and Ancient Life Insurance
Professional Introducers :
Within my practice I work with a number of professional introducers : IFA's Accountants, General/Commercial Brokers, Doctors and others.
If you're interested in allowing your clients (or patients) access the best in private medical insurance cover please do get in touch - I offer generous introducer fees.
Karate Grading
Lastly, personal good news, my daughter took her grading for 2 kyu brown belt in Shukokai karate last Saturday and passed - she was very focused and performed impressively so Well done Megan !
Friday, 15 March 2013
Comic Relief Day !
Not the normal post this evening.
I've been out all day in London seeing clients and giving a talk on marketing to a group of speech therapists and I'm exhausted (eight hours in the car to start off with) but not so tired that I can't give the following vital message : -
Please can everyone reading this blog take out some time to donate to Comic Relief - the comedy is so so (apart from obviously Matt Smith) but the cause is great and I want all my blog readers to shut down this window NOW (sorry to shout) and either text 70010 to donate £ 10 or visit www.rednoseday.com or call 0347 910910 and give.
Why are you still here .... go and donate now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Localventure and Mrs Localventure (and Megan and Ryan Localventure) have donated £ 100 to the cause.
No marketing message, no business - just give !
Katanga (Lenny Henry reference - possibly showing my age)
I've been out all day in London seeing clients and giving a talk on marketing to a group of speech therapists and I'm exhausted (eight hours in the car to start off with) but not so tired that I can't give the following vital message : -
Please can everyone reading this blog take out some time to donate to Comic Relief - the comedy is so so (apart from obviously Matt Smith) but the cause is great and I want all my blog readers to shut down this window NOW (sorry to shout) and either text 70010 to donate £ 10 or visit www.rednoseday.com or call 0347 910910 and give.
Why are you still here .... go and donate now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Localventure and Mrs Localventure (and Megan and Ryan Localventure) have donated £ 100 to the cause.
No marketing message, no business - just give !
Katanga (Lenny Henry reference - possibly showing my age)
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Who really owns your Linkedin profile
This is the second version of this post.
The first was a long and quite detailed account of how a former employer (no names to protect the innocent) forced me on my final day of employment with them to amend my Linkedin profile when I left their employment because they did not like one part of the job description I had uploaded several months earlier. This was I presume an abortive attempt to make it harder for me to move to a competitor or some such nonsense.
I have deleted this above mentioned first post, it came across as a bit whiney and didn't hammer home the moral of the story which is : Linkedin is a useful tool for business but remember that like Facebook and Twitter it is a social network and as such will be viewed by employers and business contacts so be careful what you write and where possible err on the side of 'less is more'.
The fact that this employer did not, and still doesn't understand or utilise the internet properly let alone social media (awful website, no Facebook or Twitter or blog etc and they still have me listed as the contact on several on-line resources I set up for them) it totally escapes them and for the record, the information I was asked to remove (and did so begrudgingly at the time) was re-instated immediately their cheque cleared two or three days later !
The first was a long and quite detailed account of how a former employer (no names to protect the innocent) forced me on my final day of employment with them to amend my Linkedin profile when I left their employment because they did not like one part of the job description I had uploaded several months earlier. This was I presume an abortive attempt to make it harder for me to move to a competitor or some such nonsense.
I have deleted this above mentioned first post, it came across as a bit whiney and didn't hammer home the moral of the story which is : Linkedin is a useful tool for business but remember that like Facebook and Twitter it is a social network and as such will be viewed by employers and business contacts so be careful what you write and where possible err on the side of 'less is more'.
The fact that this employer did not, and still doesn't understand or utilise the internet properly let alone social media (awful website, no Facebook or Twitter or blog etc and they still have me listed as the contact on several on-line resources I set up for them) it totally escapes them and for the record, the information I was asked to remove (and did so begrudgingly at the time) was re-instated immediately their cheque cleared two or three days later !
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Karate Grading for Megan
Haven't put up a martial arts themed post on the blog for a long time.
I'm a brown belt at a local Shukokai karate club (Leeds Premier Karate Club - Face Book Page )
along with my daughter. I've done martial arts for over 30 years and was a second dan at a club called Tai Sabaki Do in Holt Park Leeds until the club finished and I moved over to Shukokai in 2010.
My daughter Meg is one grade lower than me at present and has her grading to 'catch up' with me on Saturday - it's a hard exam and I think she'll find it difficult but to her credit she's upped her training in the last few weeks and is doing her 'an hour a day (training) keeps the failure away' and hopefully the extra fitness and practice will see her through the grading on Saturday - fingers crossed.
I'm a brown belt at a local Shukokai karate club (Leeds Premier Karate Club - Face Book Page )
along with my daughter. I've done martial arts for over 30 years and was a second dan at a club called Tai Sabaki Do in Holt Park Leeds until the club finished and I moved over to Shukokai in 2010.
My daughter Meg is one grade lower than me at present and has her grading to 'catch up' with me on Saturday - it's a hard exam and I think she'll find it difficult but to her credit she's upped her training in the last few weeks and is doing her 'an hour a day (training) keeps the failure away' and hopefully the extra fitness and practice will see her through the grading on Saturday - fingers crossed.
Medico Legal presentation
Later in the week I have been asked to give a talk to a group of clinicians to discuss my Medico Legal business : Medico Legal Marketing.
Not something I've talked about too much on the blog before, as it does have a fairly specialist audience (senior clinicians predominantly). If you are interested in finding out about the service which helps doctors, therapists and medical experts in their medico legal work and expert witness work please feel free to visit the website at www.medicolegalmarketing.co.uk
The service both saves clinicians time and also proactively markets their specialism to a range of medico legal agencies and reporting organisations.
Not something I've talked about too much on the blog before, as it does have a fairly specialist audience (senior clinicians predominantly). If you are interested in finding out about the service which helps doctors, therapists and medical experts in their medico legal work and expert witness work please feel free to visit the website at www.medicolegalmarketing.co.uk
The service both saves clinicians time and also proactively markets their specialism to a range of medico legal agencies and reporting organisations.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Episode 2 of the PMICast
The audio version of the second episode of my podcast : pmicast went up on iTunes and the RSS feed yesterday.
In this edition I talk through the basics of private medical insurance, how it is put together priced and underwritten.
If you'd like more information feel free to e-mail pmicast@gmail.com or leave feedback here.
To locate the podcast visit iTunes and search under 'pmicast' you can also find it at www.pmicast.podbean.com along with episode one if you'd like to catch up.
__________
In this edition I talk through the basics of private medical insurance, how it is put together priced and underwritten.
If you'd like more information feel free to e-mail pmicast@gmail.com or leave feedback here.
To locate the podcast visit iTunes and search under 'pmicast' you can also find it at www.pmicast.podbean.com along with episode one if you'd like to catch up.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Monday, 11 March 2013
Avoid Talk Talk !
Had some issues with Talk Talk broad band in the last week.
I've had my broadband & phone service with them for around five years and my parents have been with them for over seven.
Last week my mum had some issues and their internet service just died. I went around and did the usual - reset the router, tried new adsl filters and even took my own router round to check and there seems to be no signal going into the house.
Spoke to TT on Thursday for around 30 minutes and did the usual line checks and they couldn't find a problem - then I ran out of time and had to call them back yesterday. After an hour plus on the phone and more checks they still couldn't find a hard fault and wanted to send an engineer round. That's fine, even the prospective charge of £ 50 if the fault is at our end and not theirs seems fairly reasonable. however, the date for the visit was ..... 8th of April.
So now they're not providing the service we're paying them for and we can't move to a new internet service provider because that would breach the contract we had signed with them (?).
No amount of referring the problem upwards or asking to speak to a UK representative worked (I presume I was speaking to a call centre in India) - essentially seems to be only one service engineer in the Leeds area and he works on a strict first come first served basis.
Now, for fear of you all thinking my diamond shoes are a bit tight I understand that not having internet is a bit of a first world problem especially as my parents use the internet socially - e-mail, banking on-line, light browsing, bit of kindle etc. However, I'm offended on their behalf and think about what would happen if TT did the same to me - which if course is possible and I ended up with no internet access for four weeks.
I work from home and am self employed essentially the internet is as integral to the business as I am - without both being available everything stops.
Here's where is get's interesting though - Talk Talk is the fourth largest ISP by subscriber in the UK (I checked) - with over 4 million customers - BT has 6 million to give some context.
However, Talk Talk (according to Ofcom) is also the most complained about ISP - running at 0.53 complaints per 1,000 customers per quarter (that's over 8000 complaints per annum - that must keep their complaints people on their toes !)
As an aside Leeds is one of the three or four largest conurbations in the UK - maybe Talk Talk would have fewer complaints if they looked at maps and saw where their clients were.
__________
I've had my broadband & phone service with them for around five years and my parents have been with them for over seven.
Last week my mum had some issues and their internet service just died. I went around and did the usual - reset the router, tried new adsl filters and even took my own router round to check and there seems to be no signal going into the house.
Spoke to TT on Thursday for around 30 minutes and did the usual line checks and they couldn't find a problem - then I ran out of time and had to call them back yesterday. After an hour plus on the phone and more checks they still couldn't find a hard fault and wanted to send an engineer round. That's fine, even the prospective charge of £ 50 if the fault is at our end and not theirs seems fairly reasonable. however, the date for the visit was ..... 8th of April.
So now they're not providing the service we're paying them for and we can't move to a new internet service provider because that would breach the contract we had signed with them (?).
No amount of referring the problem upwards or asking to speak to a UK representative worked (I presume I was speaking to a call centre in India) - essentially seems to be only one service engineer in the Leeds area and he works on a strict first come first served basis.
Now, for fear of you all thinking my diamond shoes are a bit tight I understand that not having internet is a bit of a first world problem especially as my parents use the internet socially - e-mail, banking on-line, light browsing, bit of kindle etc. However, I'm offended on their behalf and think about what would happen if TT did the same to me - which if course is possible and I ended up with no internet access for four weeks.
I work from home and am self employed essentially the internet is as integral to the business as I am - without both being available everything stops.
Here's where is get's interesting though - Talk Talk is the fourth largest ISP by subscriber in the UK (I checked) - with over 4 million customers - BT has 6 million to give some context.
However, Talk Talk (according to Ofcom) is also the most complained about ISP - running at 0.53 complaints per 1,000 customers per quarter (that's over 8000 complaints per annum - that must keep their complaints people on their toes !)
As an aside Leeds is one of the three or four largest conurbations in the UK - maybe Talk Talk would have fewer complaints if they looked at maps and saw where their clients were.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Slightly revised plans for PMICast podcast
Following the surprisingly easy launch of my business podcast this week (who knew getting set up and on iTunes would be so easy ?) I have decided to revise my plans for the future of the 'cast already. I had imagined the time and work involved in setting up then producing the podcast would be quite prohibitive and mean that a monthly version was the only option. however, less than seven days in I'm already prepared to record the second episode with ideas for at least the next seven or eight in place ready to flesh out.
So I'm going to up the schedule from monthly to bi-weekly I think - the next podcast will be records next week and I'll aim to get it on line on Thursday or Friday.
Make sure you get episode 1 from iTunes !
__________
So I'm going to up the schedule from monthly to bi-weekly I think - the next podcast will be records next week and I'll aim to get it on line on Thursday or Friday.
Make sure you get episode 1 from iTunes !
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Friday, 8 March 2013
The problem with reporting of medicine and science in the media
If you've ever idly glanced at a copy of the Daily Mail (or indeed any tabloid) you will have seen one of many science or medicine scare stories - 'Toffee Causes Cancer', 'Red Meat kills', 'BBQ sausages make you go blind', 'Today is the most depressing day of the year' etc ... ad nausea.
What you might not know is that due to the lack of proper science journalism these pieces tend to be written by staff reporters with no knowledge of science or statistics who run to extraordinarily tight deadlines. These factors have conspired to enable PR companies to publish poorly conducted surveys on behalf of clients to plug one product or other via a press release that sounds on the surface like 'science' but is in its entirety an advert, a free advert that receives extensive coverage in the national press. Due to time and knowledge constraints for years, reporters have simply reproduced these PR sciency adverts as 'news' whilst literally lifting 80 to 90% of the copy direct from PR companies press releases.
The scandal of course is that members of the public, uneducated in science or unwilling or unable to engage with complex subjects 'believe' the hackneyed stereotypes and poor logic contained in these stories.
As a rationalist and working within the health industry I maintain an interest in this area and would like to recommend the following additional sources for readers of my blog.
Firstly the Bad PR blog by Michael Marshall. Marsh focuses on this topic regularly. He is also co-host of the Mersey Side Skeptics Society podcast 'Skeptics with a K' and he runs over this issue in some depth on this weeks edition : episode 93. One of the two examples he uses in this episode interestingly involves Benenden Healthcare.
__________
What you might not know is that due to the lack of proper science journalism these pieces tend to be written by staff reporters with no knowledge of science or statistics who run to extraordinarily tight deadlines. These factors have conspired to enable PR companies to publish poorly conducted surveys on behalf of clients to plug one product or other via a press release that sounds on the surface like 'science' but is in its entirety an advert, a free advert that receives extensive coverage in the national press. Due to time and knowledge constraints for years, reporters have simply reproduced these PR sciency adverts as 'news' whilst literally lifting 80 to 90% of the copy direct from PR companies press releases.
The scandal of course is that members of the public, uneducated in science or unwilling or unable to engage with complex subjects 'believe' the hackneyed stereotypes and poor logic contained in these stories.
As a rationalist and working within the health industry I maintain an interest in this area and would like to recommend the following additional sources for readers of my blog.
Firstly the Bad PR blog by Michael Marshall. Marsh focuses on this topic regularly. He is also co-host of the Mersey Side Skeptics Society podcast 'Skeptics with a K' and he runs over this issue in some depth on this weeks edition : episode 93. One of the two examples he uses in this episode interestingly involves Benenden Healthcare.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Live on iTunes
Following the launch of the new podcast earlier this week I'm pleased to announce that PMICast has now been approved by iTunes and is available in the store to download and subscribe.
To find it, simply visit the iTunes store and search under 'pmicast' and you should go straight to the right page.
__________
To find it, simply visit the iTunes store and search under 'pmicast' and you should go straight to the right page.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Video Podcast - You Tube Channel : pkn439
Audio Podcast - www.pmicast.podbean.com
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Update on Podcast
Just wanted to put up a quick post to thank my blog readers, Twitter and Linkedin followers for the positive response to the first episode of PMICast that went live yesterday.
I've had several dozen downloads (far more than I expected for a first effort) and some very positive responses and thank you to everyone who took the time out to contact me and comment.
I'm working hard on episode 2 (which i might put up a little earlier than originally planned given the positive response) and will update regularly here with any progress. I'm told that it can take up to two weeks to get the 'cast on iTunes so this is the most important thing to sort prior to putting up future episodes.
Once again, thanks !
I've had several dozen downloads (far more than I expected for a first effort) and some very positive responses and thank you to everyone who took the time out to contact me and comment.
I'm working hard on episode 2 (which i might put up a little earlier than originally planned given the positive response) and will update regularly here with any progress. I'm told that it can take up to two weeks to get the 'cast on iTunes so this is the most important thing to sort prior to putting up future episodes.
Once again, thanks !
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
PMI Cast now live !
My new video and audio podcast cast now available to view or download :
Video - You Tube Channel - pkn439 or search on You Tube under 'PMI Cast Episode 1' or follow the link : (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ0RZr6Kx7Q)
Audio - www.pmicast.podbean.com
It will also shortly be available on iTunes once approved by the Store Elves at Apple.
The aim is to be concise but informative covering off information about my practice and the UK and International PMI market in general. I welcome feedback but because this is episode one (and like most people I hate to watch myself on video) please be gentle !
The initial aim is to run the podcast at least monthly and of course I will update here as new episodes become available
Video - You Tube Channel - pkn439 or search on You Tube under 'PMI Cast Episode 1' or follow the link : (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ0RZr6Kx7Q)
Audio - www.pmicast.podbean.com
It will also shortly be available on iTunes once approved by the Store Elves at Apple.
The aim is to be concise but informative covering off information about my practice and the UK and International PMI market in general. I welcome feedback but because this is episode one (and like most people I hate to watch myself on video) please be gentle !
The initial aim is to run the podcast at least monthly and of course I will update here as new episodes become available
The NHS in the news
On GMTV (sorry, Daybreak) this morning the NHS was the story du jour - both the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of people due to the shortcomings of NHS management (a follow on and one assumes a media escalation of the story involving the problems within the Staffordshire NHS Trust) and then the fall in the UK health statistics from 10th in the world to 14th.
Having worked in the NHS myself in the 1980's and been involved in the health industry since 1994 I cannot say I'm really surprised - as a purveyor of private medical insurance for my clients the stories hammer home the need for the fall back position of PMI but also as a regular user of the NHS myself (I have two pre-teen children for whom the NHS is essential) I see waste both financial and human at every turn.
Perhaps rather than bemoaning the managers within the NHS we need more, better trained ones with authority to actually make rational and money saving changes to make things more efficient ? Discuss ....
Here are links to relevant stories today on the BBC website :
BBC News - Auditor in warning to Northern Ireland health trusts http://bbc.in/WFJOzY
BBC News - UK 'lagging in Europe health league' http://bbc.in/VyFFln
BBC News - Stafford Hospital senior nurses 'changed records' http://bbc.in/163xzEi
and so on .....
__________
Having worked in the NHS myself in the 1980's and been involved in the health industry since 1994 I cannot say I'm really surprised - as a purveyor of private medical insurance for my clients the stories hammer home the need for the fall back position of PMI but also as a regular user of the NHS myself (I have two pre-teen children for whom the NHS is essential) I see waste both financial and human at every turn.
Perhaps rather than bemoaning the managers within the NHS we need more, better trained ones with authority to actually make rational and money saving changes to make things more efficient ? Discuss ....
Here are links to relevant stories today on the BBC website :
BBC News - Auditor in warning to Northern Ireland health trusts http://bbc.in/WFJOzY
BBC News - UK 'lagging in Europe health league' http://bbc.in/VyFFln
BBC News - Stafford Hospital senior nurses 'changed records' http://bbc.in/163xzEi
and so on .....
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Monday, 4 March 2013
Coming soon ... PMICast
At the moment I'm deep in planning for a new video and audio podcast for my medical insurance business.
The aim is to put up a You Tube video 'cast and also the audio transcript on RSS/Itunes once a month. There will be a main discussion point, some news, e-mail/feedback and contact information. I've already recorded 'Episode 0' as a test and it runs to around seven minutes which seems about right - keeping it pithy and concise.
The contact e-mail for the podcast will be pmicast@gmail.com (the name of the 'cast is PMICast) - once we go live I'll add more details including show notes and when we're live on itunes and so forth.
Fingers crossed we will make this project available at least monthly moving forwards with the first proper episode any day now in March 2013.
__________
The aim is to put up a You Tube video 'cast and also the audio transcript on RSS/Itunes once a month. There will be a main discussion point, some news, e-mail/feedback and contact information. I've already recorded 'Episode 0' as a test and it runs to around seven minutes which seems about right - keeping it pithy and concise.
The contact e-mail for the podcast will be pmicast@gmail.com (the name of the 'cast is PMICast) - once we go live I'll add more details including show notes and when we're live on itunes and so forth.
Fingers crossed we will make this project available at least monthly moving forwards with the first proper episode any day now in March 2013.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group. FSA Number 312878
Friday, 1 March 2013
Group Medical Insurance scheme leavers
When you leave a company, obviously you leave the employee benefits behind. This of course includes the private medical insurance.
On leaving a company group you are usually entitled to what is called a continuation option - this guarantees continuing cover with no additional medical underwriting but of course is paid by you directly rather than being provided free by your employer as a perk of employment.
The problem with this kind of continuation cover is that it is generally very expensive - typically far more than the equivalent plan with another insurer, even when they take you as a switching client with no additional underwriting themselves.
Bizarrely then an insurer that you have been with (possibly for years) offers worse rates than any one of five or six companies who have no idea what kind of a person or risk you are.
As a professional in the medical insurance sector for the best part of 20 years this situation with regards to continuation plans irritates me enormously - as you might imagine most people faced with having 'free' cover within a company plan (there is of course the tax benefit in kind to pay on the cover but it is a notional charge) and getting a quote for double the market rate to continue the cover tend to not bother and lose access to this valuable benefit.
The answer of course is to look at a full market review when leaving your company and at least considering a move away to a new insurer - regardless of whether you are retiring, moving jobs, setting up your own business or being made redundant it is usually better to consider a new insurer.
The main exception to this advice is if you have on-going health conditions or claims - these, depending on their nature might mean you are forced to stay with your holding insurer.
Regardless of your position, the complexity of medical insurance plans means that contacting an independent adviser like myself if almost always a good idea.
__________
On leaving a company group you are usually entitled to what is called a continuation option - this guarantees continuing cover with no additional medical underwriting but of course is paid by you directly rather than being provided free by your employer as a perk of employment.
The problem with this kind of continuation cover is that it is generally very expensive - typically far more than the equivalent plan with another insurer, even when they take you as a switching client with no additional underwriting themselves.
Bizarrely then an insurer that you have been with (possibly for years) offers worse rates than any one of five or six companies who have no idea what kind of a person or risk you are.
As a professional in the medical insurance sector for the best part of 20 years this situation with regards to continuation plans irritates me enormously - as you might imagine most people faced with having 'free' cover within a company plan (there is of course the tax benefit in kind to pay on the cover but it is a notional charge) and getting a quote for double the market rate to continue the cover tend to not bother and lose access to this valuable benefit.
The answer of course is to look at a full market review when leaving your company and at least considering a move away to a new insurer - regardless of whether you are retiring, moving jobs, setting up your own business or being made redundant it is usually better to consider a new insurer.
The main exception to this advice is if you have on-going health conditions or claims - these, depending on their nature might mean you are forced to stay with your holding insurer.
Regardless of your position, the complexity of medical insurance plans means that contacting an independent adviser like myself if almost always a good idea.
__________
If you're interested in a free review of your medical insurance cover (family or company paid) please get in touch :
Tel - 07792 075748 or 0113 3474395
Twitter - @localventure1
Phil Knight
Independent Healthcare Consultant
I'm a totally independent healthcare intermediary with 20 years market experience, not tied to any insurer, full FSA regulated and part of the Premier Choice Healthcare Group
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