After the pandemic shook everybody’s lives, high net worth individuals (HNWIs) became even more aware of how important it is to have health insurance policies that cover their needs as their wealth and lives become ever-more global and mobile.
David Eline, founder of France-based international platform Health Compass, told International Adviser that covid has “thrust the international private medical insurance market into the limelight for HNWIs, and brought home how important health cover and access to first-class hospital are”.
He added that many HNWs can be demanding of their financial advisers and expect them to provide “thorough guidance, quickly”. But he believes that spending time comparing and contrasting different types of international cover can drown financial advisers in a sea of products, take away time they could be spending with clients, and potentially lose them business at the same time.
Eline set up Health Compass in 2019 in a bid to help financial advisers procuring international private medical insurance (IPMI) for their clients more efficiently.
It currently works with advisers and intermediaries across north America, Europe and Asia, with 10 IPMI insurers providing access to their products on the platform.
How it works
Eline told IA: “Our clients are intermediaries and international financial advisers who already have or are looking to tab into a lucrative market and build a book of IPMI business. The platform also caters for non-specialist advisers looking for an easy way to fulfil the occasional IPMI request themselves and not have customers seek the services of a competitor.”
The idea behind the platform was to help advisers compare products by cover option and price, Eline explained, but he didn’t want to create “another price aggregator”-type solution, rather allocate a score to individual products based on the client needs.
“The platform also allows proposal forms, quotes and cover binding to be handled electronically, reducing the need for re-keying and with it the potential for human error,” he continued. “In a nutshell, it significantly speeds up the process and delivers the ability for advisers to make IPMI cover recommendations with real confidence.”
When asked about the regulatory status of Health Compass, Eline said the platform is “fully aligned to GDPR and IDD regulations” and that it only provides advisers with regulated products.
“Our digital application workflow and mail system communicates sensitive medical information safely to those with proper accreditations, such as medical underwriting departments.
“Brexit meant that UK-based intermediaries and advisers lost the freedom to service customers in the EU. Health Compass is undergoing the process of full regulation and currently operates as a bridge between the EU and the UK for the intermediaries connected to the platform, making it possible for a UK-based broker to service customers in Europe (and vice and versa).
“Of course, offshore business can be placed through Health Compass when permitted by the provider.”
