Breaking into international PMI can be complex and brokers need to be careful, an adviser warned at COVER's breakfast briefing yesterday.
According to Guy Jones, managing director of Berwick Devoil Healthcare, one of three speakers, filling in one regional application form with the FSA did not necessarily mean an adviser would be licensed in neighbouring local areas.
He said: "If UK PMI advisers were asking if they should get into this market, the answer would be a resounding yes. But I would urge brokers to be careful. Each country has its own requirements."
Jones added that there was a shortage of advice in the sector probably owing mianly to PMI advisers prioritising their UK business.
Delegate questions to the event's later panel discussion were focused on underwriting barriers.
Jones said: "For the future I would ask insurers to provide less strict underwriting and some form of 24-hour telephone communication."
Speaker Phil Austin, head of global iPMI at Cigna Global Health Options, said underwriting was one thing that would change with current movement suggesting it would continue to develop.
He added: "Insurers have a big part to play in health risk assessments. Wellbeing choices needed to be brought more out of the product and made more available to the consumer."
Austin said that consumer demand was also shifting from just wanting cover to seeking support on the soft issues associated with adapting to a new country.
And Cigna reported a 305% year-on-year increase in hits to the website from consumer online searches.
Third speaker, Declan Meighan, managing director of security and situation awareness specialists Maxwell Lucas, said technology would drive sales into the future with consumers now expecting to find information instantly on smart phones and devices.
