Health-on-Line Declare Private Medical Insurance A Diamond In Today's Rough Climate

Mike Dalby, Director at Health-on-Line - the online private medical insurance company, today calls for financial advisors to consider PMI as an additional or alternative revenue stream as the recession bites.

There is no denying the unsavoury impact the current economic climate is having upon many UK household budgets. With escalating living costs and an increased sense of insecurity, many households are pulling the belt in by at least a couple of notches.

For those in the financial advice profession, this is a worrying time with many challenges. With fewer new clients walking through the doors and existing clients putting their financial affairs into "care and maintenance" at the moment, advisors are struggling to identify opportunities to strike up conversations with their existing client bank.

Health-on-Line believes now is the time for advisors to look to alternative revenue streams, to ensure they continue to deliver value to their customers. Mike Dalby, director of Health-on-Line says; "We understand that many advisors are feeling the squeeze at the moment. It's at this time that they should look to alternatives business types to bridge that revenue gap and help continue those relationships with their client banks. PMI is one such business area".

Dalby continues; "Despite the current gloomy outlook, we're seeing enquiry volumes buck the trend and increase. That's not to say there haven't been changes in the nature of these enquiries. We're seeing increasing evidence of consumers shopping around now, looking for better deals and, perhaps more tellingly, an erosion of brand loyalty in favour of affordability – it's just a shame that we're not seeing advisors make more of this opportunity and offer PMI to their clients."

Health-on-Line believes that now is the time for advisors who wouldn't normally consider writing PMI business to reconsider their options. Traditionally, non-PMI specialists would steer clear of PMI. They believed it to be a complex product which is not core to their business. However, now that their 'bread and butter' business is slowing and business volumes are dropping, advisors might be forced to reconsider alternatives like PMI as an option.

Dalby comments "Clients are already shopping around for affordable PMI cover, so this is a natural opportunity for the advisor to provide support to their client. And if the advisor is not confident in this area, then it's a logical step to refer the business to a third party who can and will support. It seems a wasted opportunity to leave clients to go directly to providers when the advisor could be at the heart of this process, deliver an extra service to their client and at the same time access an extra revenue stream for their business."

Dalby concludes "PMI is bucking the trend at the moment and advisers cannot afford to miss out on this hidden opportunity."

Health-on-Line offers financial advisors two ways to access its products. For advisors who write PMI, myHealth-on-Line is a secure portal where advisors can obtain quotes, submit new business electronically and track applications. For those advisors who don't wish to write PMI business but would like to refer it, PASS (Protected assisted sales service) from Health-on-Line allows them to pass client details to Health-on-Line. Health-on-Line then follow up with the client.