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For 2 in 5 a major financial decision is a walk in the park

The revitalising benefits of a walk are well known but for two in five (38%) UK adults it’s also a time to mull over major financial decisions according to new research from Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group.

Posted on Wednesday Jun 4

Life insurance ranks lowest for customer satisfaction

Life insurance providers rank the lowest amongst the reported insurance categories in terms of customer satisfaction and policyholder understanding. This underscores a marked opportunity for life insurers to enhance consumer engagement, increase trust and improve market outcomes
Posted on Tuesday Jun 3

Record year for private healthcare in 2024

The latest Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) data on private healthcare admissions published today reveals that there were more private hospital admissions in the UK in 2024 than in any previous year on record.
Posted on Tuesday Jun 3

National Cancer Survivors Day

With National Cancer Survivors Day on 1 June 2025, GRID reveals that during 2024, cancer was the main cause of claim across all three group risk benefits (employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness).
Posted on Monday Jun 2

2024 was a bumper year for income protection

Sales of new Income Protection policies grew by a bumper 18% in 2024, Swiss Re’s latest Term & Health Watch report reveals.
Posted on Wednesday May 28

Over 7m take out Private Medical Insurance as NHS lists grow

7.6 million adults held a PMI product in 2024, up by nearly one million over the past four years with nearly a third making a claim in the last two years. Healthcare cash plan take up also grows by over 1 million to 5.1 million adults with 50% making a claim in last two years. Figures highlight the growth in health insurance market as the surge in NHS waiting lists drives businesses to increase employee health benefits.
Posted on Wednesday May 21

US health insurance uptake uncertainty amid Trumps policies

Fewer than half of low-income individuals in the US have private health insurance*. Trump’s politics bring uncertainties to the pharmaceutical industry, which will likely translate into higher health insurance rates for consumers, potentially pricing out Americans with lower disposable income, while leaving others underinsured, according to GlobalData.
Posted on Tuesday May 20

4 in 10 SMEs strained by sickness absence

New research from Canada Life reveals employee illness is regularly impacting small businesses’ productivity, but they don’t necessarily know how to tackle it or where to turn for help.
Posted on Thursday May 15

The importance of Mental Health Awareness Week

Phoenix Group marks Mental Health Awareness Week with comments from Chief People Officer Sara Thompson, and colleague network Mind Matters co-chair David Lavender
Posted on Monday May 12

Finding cover for those with pre-existing medical conditions

62% of advisers state finding cover for clients with pre-existing medical conditions is “difficult”, finds research from The Exeter. The ability to cover clients with pre-existing conditions is the most important element of working with an insurer, according to almost a third of advisers.
Posted on Friday May 9

Where we stand after the second year of IFRS17

The full year 2024 marked the second year of formal IFRS 17 reporting. In 2024, insurers welcomed a period of accounting stability, allowing them to focus on performance and strategic execution while further embedding IFRS 17 into business as usual and financial planning processes.
Posted on Tuesday May 6

2024 group risk market growth lags behind previous years

Growth within the UK group risk market slowed in 2024 against a challenging market backdrop, Swiss Re’s annual Group Watch report reveals. The report shows that the number of in-force group risk policies increased by 3.2% from 91,739 in 2023 to 94,675 in 2024. In addition, the number of people insured rose from 15,103,366 to 15,662,500, an increase of 3.7%.

Posted on Wednesday Apr 23

Stable start to 2025 mortality

The Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) publishes frequent mortality analysis for England & Wales through its mortality monitors. Today’s updates cover the period to 28 March 2025.
Posted on Thursday Apr 10

Impact of tariffs on UK Life Insurers

Alex Bertolotti, PwC UK Insurance Leader, says: “Although the impact of the current increases in tariffs do not have a direct impact on UK life insurers, the indirect effects - such as impact on investment portfolios, potential increases in the cost of care, higher operational costs and investibility into the UK Life insurance sector - could present challenges.
Posted on Tuesday Apr 8

The number of nonagenarians shows lifetime income challenge

Just Group says new figures highlight the increasing number of retirees needing to finance their lives beyond their 90th birthdays
Posted on Wednesday Apr 2

Transformative technologies in pandemic preparedness

It could be next week, it could be in thirty years, but the emergence of a new infectious disease epidemic – and consequently a new pandemic - is inevitable.
Posted on Monday Mar 31

1 in 10 forget to remove their ex as their beneficiary

One in 10 divorcees have forgotten to remove their former spouse as the beneficiary of their life insurance policy (10%). Only 7% of people who divorced discussed life insurance beneficiaries as part of their separation and only 27% have cancelled a joint life insurance policy they had when they were married. 11% who have divorced have either delayed or forgotten to remove their ex-partner from their will.
Posted on Tuesday Mar 25

Comment on FCA study of protection products to consumers

The FCA launched a new market study into distribution of pure protection products to retail consumers to discover if competition is working in the interest of consumers.
Posted on Monday Mar 24

FCA launches study on pure protection market providing value

The FCA has launched a market study into how well the distribution of pure protection insurance products – which support families with financial commitments if someone becomes critically ill or dies – is working for consumers.
Posted on Monday Mar 24

Research highlights worrying Ovarian Cancer awareness gaps

62% of women surveyed lacked knowledge of ovarian cancer. This rises to 73% in women over 55 years. 43% thought that a smear test could diagnose ovarian cancer. Last year Aviva paid out over £6.4m in private medical insurance claims for ovarian cancer, an increase of 53% compared to 2023.
Posted on Friday Mar 21

Average life expectancy up but under pre pandemic levels

Average UK life expectancy nudged up marginally in the 2021-2023 period compared to 2020-2022, new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. Life expectancy at birth in the UK during the latest period was 78.8 years for men and 82.8 years for women, while life expectancy at age 65 was 18.5 years for men and 21 years for women
Posted on Wednesday Mar 19

Over 50s forced to cut back due to cost of living crisis

71% say they are spending more on energy bills, 61% are spending more on their weekly shop and 42% on transport than a year ago as 63% admit rising costs is their biggest worry. Almost half (44%) have had to cut back on eating out and takeaways, and a third (34%) have cut back on clothes. Four in ten (38%) have spent less on days out, a quarter have cut spending on their hobbies, the gym and sports. A third have stopped giving as much to charity and one in five say they’ve had to cut back on gifts to children and grandchildren.
Posted on Wednesday Mar 19

Estimates of the very old including centenarians

Mike Ambery, Retirement Savings Director at Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group commented on the ONS’s latest figures on ‘Estimates of the very old, including centenarians,
Posted on Tuesday Mar 18

2024 hits record third quarter for private health admissions

PMI up 5% on same quarter in 2023. Record Q3 for private health admissions as employers expand insurance coverage across workplace healthcare schemes
Posted on Monday Mar 10

CMI on significant changes to mortality projections model

The Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) has proposed significant structural changes to the next annual update to the CMI Mortality Projections Model, CMI_2024, which is due to be released in the second quarter of 2025. For the core version of the model, those changes would lead to cohort life expectancies at age 65 that are about five weeks higher for males and about one week lower for females than in the current version of the CMI Model, CMI_2023.
Posted on Tuesday Feb 25