This month, the AMII elected a new chair. Owain Thomas spoke to the outgoing - and often outspoken - Andrew Tripp after two years leading the organisation.
Indeed, AMII’s increased media presence has been evident not just in trade press but also consumer media, with appearances on BBC radio and major newspapers including The Sunday Times and the Scottish dailies.
All this was part of Tripp’s aim to convey the message for people to seek the independent professional advice of an AMII member.
PASSING THE TEST
Another important mark has been the success of the AMII/CII IF 7 private medical insurance exam. Although Tripp is keen to note its planning was underway before he took stewardship of the organisation, it has now well surpassed its target of 500 passes – 538 people already completed the course and a total of 840 signed up for it.
But is there anything Tripp would have liked to have done differently, or even at all, during his tenure?
“Are you insinuating that my chairmanship has been a total and utter failure?” he joked. “I think that ultimately one would wish to have done many things and one would wish to have done many things better. But I think that it needs to be recognised that we, on the committee, are all volunteers. That is the reality, really.”
Despite his strong views on the market, Tripp is not keen to start giving advice and dictating the policy of his successor. But he does suggest that many members feel strongly about focusing the lobbying efforts to provide tax relief on private medical insurance (PMI).
“Why should companies get tax relief for providing death in service benefits and income replacement, and yet on PMI not only is the employer taxed but the employee is taxed? I think it is complete nonsense.”
Of course, the independent Sickness Absence Review produced for the Department for Work and Pensions has already recommended just this. But many fear the government will balk at the potential cost when a White Paper is finally published this summer and that it will instead compound this decision by increasing insurance premium tax – potentially to the same level as Europe.
However, Tripp did expand on the working relationship with the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) and suggested that far closer links may result if one candidate is successful.
“The AMII-Biba panel has been a great success,” he said. “And if a certain individual becomes chairman, I think the relationship with Biba will become much closer. Whether the general membership will approve of that move, I’m not so sure because the typical member seems to value the independence of AMII.
“But one has to recognise that we are a trade association with 110 member firms and Biba is a nationally recognised trade association with more than 6,000 member firms. So, AMII can only do so much and if it was working closer with a larger organisation, then perhaps it may be able to achieve more,” he added.
Given Biba’s current penchant for growth – it merged with the Institute of Insurance Brokers last year – and its stumbling approach to introducing its own PMI scheme for brokers, this possibility may concern AMII members.
But Tripp suspects it will be limited to closer working links, the like of which produced the industry standard adviser appointment letters.
“Before the introduction of that form, it was a raging issue among the intermediary community and providers as to whether a customer had appointed somebody or it was a review letter.
“And that simple form has killed that issue completely and utterly dead. Even though it was not initially welcomed among the broker community, it is now accepted as a standard form by all providers and all intermediaries.
“That was AMII and Biba working together with the providers to deal with an issue, so any moves of that nature can only be positive ultimately in the interests of treating customers fairly.”
LEAVING HIS MARK
It is fair to say the two years of Tripp’s reign have not been dull in the market. Many would describe them as challenging, as evidenced by the contracting of the provider base. But despite the tough environment, Tripp believes it has seen some positives.
“Whereas we had more providers to work with two years ago, now with the menu-driven products, even though the providers have shrunk in number, the flexibility to build plans to suit the customer’s needs is still there,” he said.
“There has obviously been a lot of consolidation in the intermediary market, with all providers now looking for a safe distribution channel in order to secure existing business and to win new business.
“And this is against the backdrop of a declining market, which I think will continue and possibly accelerate over the next two years,” he added.
So as Tripp resumes his day job, you may expect him to be keeping a low profile for a while and just enjoying the quiet life. Not so.
“What I am really looking forward to is working on my own product. We launched it last year, but did not get it 100% right, so I’ve been working in the past four months to improve the offering. My whole focus and commitment will be on that and I am very excited about the prospects for it,” he concluded.
It seems Tripp may not be disappearing from the forefront of the health insurance market just yet.
