Simplyhealth's purchase of Groupama has been delayed due to the volume of work currently being imposed upon the FSA and legal system.
However Simplyhealth said the deal was otherwise on course and the delay should not have any negative impact on its progress.
It is now no longer expected to be completed this year, but an update will be made when the timescale becomes clearer.
A statement issued by Simplyhealth said the purchase of Groupama Healthcare is on track ‘but the legal proceedings are taking slightly longer than originally thought due to the number of companies working on similar transactions at this time.
‘This means an increasing workload for the courts and FSA.
‘It is unlikely that the purchase will complete this year, but both companies will update the market by the end of the year when clearer on timetables.'
Quotes and renewals will continue to be accepted for both Simplyhealth's Preferential and Groupama Healthcare's Santé products with the current commission rates and contact details applying for both companies.
However, Simplyhealth is planning to eventually have a unified new business product strategy for its private health customers.
Howard Hughes, head of employer marketing at Simplyhealth, said: "Although we have no set timescales both businesses are continuing as usual and there will be no change in the service that customers and clients receive.
"It is still our intention to align Groupama's healthcare business with the rest of Simplyhealth, but it remains early in the process so we don't have any more detail on how this might happen and when this will take place.
"We have been listening to all the feedback from intermediaries and the market, and will be using this to feed into our plans moving forward."
"At this stage we don't want to make any assumptions about this strategy, and we are taking the time to understand the strengths of Santé and Preferential in order that we can take forward what is best for our clients and customers.
"Part of this understanding will involve speaking with intermediaries to gain their input," he added.
Hughes also noted that the lease on Groupama's Letchworth office does not end until 2017 and therefore there are no time pressures to make any decisions on how to move forward.
"The operation and people work well, and so we want to retain the expertise held at Groupama and keep the business running well," he concluded.
Alistair Sclare, director of healthcare at Groupama, added: "Throughout this process both companies will take care to ensure that service levels are not impacted and that we continue to service our customers and clients well."
