Customers accessing their health records via the NHS mobile app could be “a game changer” for the protection market, New Leaf Distribution managing director, Daniel Hobbs, has said.
Hobbs’ comments follow the government’s plans to enable full medical records, doctors’ letters, and test results to be accessible via the NHS App, giving people instant, and real-time access to their health history.
This could, potentially, circumvent waiting for GP surgeries to send back reports, a process which sometimes takes months and results in policies never being taken out, or not being taken out on time.
“One of the major reasons why many do not have adequate insurance in place is the often long-winded application process and being asked for medical records,” Hobbs explained.
“Having access to their full patient record will give the power back to the customer.
“It will also arguably cut costs for providers when asking for this information, which should, in theory, drive down the price of protection and make it quicker for more people to cover.
“With too many people having too little cover, this could revolutionise protection.”
Albion Financial Advice director, Dariusz Karpowicz, shared similar positivity, describing the move towards digital health support as “the shot in the arm the protection industry needs”.
“Imagine a world where clients can swipe right on their medical records and left on lengthy underwriting processes,” he said.
“With instant access to full health histories, we could potentially wave goodbye to those nail-biting six-month waits for GP reports.
“Insurance providers could streamline their underwriting processes and quicker decisions mean happier clients and more policies sold.
“Plus, it might just take some pressure off our overworked NHS, freeing up GPs to focus on patients rather than paperwork.”
However, Karpowicz warned that “the devil’s in the detail” saying how the data is shared and protected will be “crucial”.
Meanwhile, Yellow Brick Mortgages managing director, Stephen Perkins, described doctor’s reports as having “long been” the largest friction to getting protection policies in force within a reasonable timeframe.
“The insurers pay the GP surgery and weeks and months of constant chasing are required to obtain which is essentially a printout of medical records with no added value,” he explained.
Orchard Financial Advisers managing director, Ben Perks offered a personal account of this, stating: “I have had several cases that have been delayed for weeks because of waiting for medical reports.
“This is not great when we’re trying to align protection with house completions.
“Clients want to know they have necessary insurances in place to cover upcoming mortgage debt, but sometimes this isn’t the case due to poor admin.”
Thanks to the Newspage community for sharing their thoughts with FTAdviser.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
What's your view?
Have your say in the comments section below or email us: ftadviser.newsdesk@ft.com
