Tesco’s Personal Finance division is to launch Tesco Health Insurance, the supermarket’s first venture into the health and medical insurance market.
In a partnership with AXA PPP Healthcare, Tesco is set to shake-up the entire private medical insurance market because the prices it will offer are undercutting leaders such as BUPA and Standard Life Healthcare.
Products will be offered up to 32 per cent cheaper due to the company’s vast distribution network, which will be used to introduce competitive health insurance that combines value and simplicity.
Tesco will offer either premium or core coverage, both of which will provide in-patient and day-patient coverage, chemotherapy and radiotherapy protection plus £1,000 worth of out-patient perks.
Health Insurance products for customers under the age of 76 will be available without having to answer any questions, and customers will receive the first month of cover free if purchased before March 27th.
Jeremy Sutton, head of savings and investments at Tesco Personal Finance said, “Our customer research suggests that perceived high prices, complicated products and complex medical questions have been major stumbling blocks to buying health insurance. Our approach will open up the market to people who want the choice that health insurance offers.”
Mr Sutton added, “We aim to change that by offering products that are simple, good value and easy to buy.”
However Julian Ross of Standard Life Healthcare is quoted as saying, “Tesco’s products are at the more budget end of the market, but the average PMI customer tends to be over 50 and pretty discerning.”
The Health Insurance scheme will give customers the choice of more than 250 private hospitals, so that lengthy NHS queues are avoided.
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