Last year was one of significant challenges, disruption and uncertainty. The public and private health sectors were, and still are, at the forefront of fighting the pandemic.
We know the current situation means you may have concerns about your clients’ private medical insurance policies. Because of that, we’d like to give you an update on the situation and the pledge we made at the start of the pandemic.
We’ve continued handling claims
As we approached the end of 2020, we began to see claims return to a normal level. The total claims paid out for the last quarter of 2020 stood at 98% compared to the same period in 2019, and the overall claims ratio for 2020 was only 16% lower than 2019.
In a normal year, on average only one in five customers usually make a claim and approximately 75% of all claim’s costs are delivered in an out-patient or day-patient setting. Thanks to the hard work of hospitals, specialists, and our claims teams, we’ve continued handling claims for the most urgent treatments such as cancer. Most customers have received vital diagnostics and treatment throughout the pandemic.
While customers have faced disruption to some treatments, we’ve also experienced significant growth in mental health claims over the past year. Unsurprisingly, with social distancing in place, we’ve also seen a rise in the number of people using our digital services, for example Aviva Digital GP.
What’s happening now?
With the UK currently in a third national lockdown to suppress the spread of the virus, normal claims activity is once again stalling.
Due to the current high numbers of COVID-19 cases, the NHS is once again focusing treatment on the most urgent cases, cancelling or delaying many non-urgent procedures. The situation continues to change, but currently a number of areas are under pressure where the demand for intensive care unit (ICU) beds is very high.
Most private hospitals remain open but are also affected by the winter surge and are delaying some less urgent treatments. This is either because:
· there are restrictions on ICU support usually provided by the NHS, or
· the private hospital is supporting the NHS by making additional capacity available.
We expect the current intense pressure on the NHS to lessen in around four to six weeks with the situation improving by April. This is an estimate based on what the NHS are saying to private providers and looking at the trajectory of new cases and hospital in-patients and assuming those trajectories continue.
What are we doing to help?
As the current lockdown continues to impact the NHS and private hospital availability, we’ve taken the decision to further extend our excess waiver policy introduced in July last year. We’re pleased to confirm our excess waiver now applies to cover your clients’ renewals during February and March 2021. We will also be extending the cut-off date for bills received from 31 March to 31 May 2021.
You can find full details in the attached Q&A. There is a still a lot of uncertainty around COVID-19 and how it affects claims demand and treatment availability. However, the private healthcare providers remain committed to supporting the NHS, helping to relieve the pressure on the service by ensuring that private patient services are as fully available as possible. We also continue to work together to protect customer safety and, as far as possible, help our customers get access to any urgent treatment they need.
What’s next?
The vaccine rollout currently in progress offers hope and as more and more people are vaccinated, we expect hospital services to return to normal levels in 2021.
As things stand today, we are all still living with high levels of uncertainty. Because of this, we believe the pledge is the most appropriate protection for our customers at this stage. We will, of course, constantly review the situation and update you again when the current pressure on the NHS eases and there’s potential improvement after April.
Please encourage your clients to contact us if they need to make a claim. The majority of services are still available, so we will be able to place patients in the care of an appropriate clinician. It’s important we continue to get customers the help they need with their health issues as soon as we can. They can contact us by phone on 0800 158 3344, go online to MyAviva to make and manage a claim, or can ask a question using our live chat service.
We’ll contact you again about our pledge once we believe we’re through the worst of the disruption. We hope you find this information useful. Please get in touch with your usual Aviva contact if you have any questions.
Our new guided hospital option
Do you have clients that are overwhelmed with the amount of choice they have when it comes to choosing their private medical insurance provider? Or life is so busy they just don’t have time to carry out lots of research on hospitals or specialists? Our new hospital option available from 1 March 2021, can help your clients with just that.
Expert Select provides a simpler, supported claims journey, and the choice of a number of Aviva quality-approved facilities and specialists in their area. We do all the hard work so all your clients have to do is pick one.
Six reasons to choose Expert Select
- Simplicity – Simplicity at point of purchase. Simplicity at point of claim. Your clients also have the option to book their first specialist appointment there and then.
- Quality assured – Guiding to quality facilities, specialists, and treatment.
- Choice – We’ll aim to provide a choice of 3-4 facilities on average.
- Added value – Expert Select is included in core cover – there’s no additional charge for this expert service.
- Flexibility – To offer your clients this proposition, or one of our hospital list options.
- Hassle free – One less thing for your clients to worry about. Choosing a hospital list can be time consuming when multiple factors need to be considered.
Have any questions?
We have a wealth of information you can read on our dedicated Propositions Refresh page or speak to your usual Aviva contact.
Alternatively, please feel free to share our Expert Select leaflet with your clients to help them decide if Expert Select is right for them.
