Bristol-based specialist healthcare insurer National Friendly is celebrating after being named ‘Best Individual Private Medical Insurance Provider’ at a national awards ceremony last week. The mutual insurer beat well known names in health insurance such as BUPA, AXA PPP and PruHealth to take home the prestigious gong.
The Health Insurance Awards are voted for by the readers of Health Insurance magazine, a process which is independently overseen by Deloitte. The evening is a key event in the PMI calendar and is a fantastic opportunity for all to take time out to celebrate all that is good about the industry. At the ceremony, presented by comedian Jason Manford, National Friendly achieved significant recognition for their Individual Healthcare Deposit Account.
The individual Healthcare Deposit Account from National Friendly is like no other PMI product available on the market; half of a policyholder’s monthly premiums go towards running the scheme, the other half goes into their personal deposit account. The unique deposit principle means that if a claim is made, a small percentage of the claim is taken from the personal deposit pot, but National Friendly always pays the majority share. This means that the policyholder is covered if they need to claim but benefit from having access to a percentage of their original premium if they don’t claim. An additional benefit of National Friendly’s individual PMI product is that the policy offers customers fixed premium rates for life, meaning they don’t suffer from year on year price increases.
National Friendly’s CEO Richard Sear comments: “2009 has been a huge year for National Friendly. We started the year as a small Bristol-based company on the verge of a huge rebrand and since then we have enjoyed widespread growth. To be named the best provider of PMI for individuals, in such an important year for the company, is a huge honour. I would like to thank our committed and hard working employees who have been integral to the company’s success in achieving this fantastic award.”