“People having access to their health record via the NHS app could be a game changer for protection”

"People having access to their health record via the NHS mobile app could be a game changer for the protection marketplace. One of the major reasons why many do not have adequate insurance in place is the often long-winded application process and being asked for medical records. Having access to their full patient record will give the power back to the consumer. It will also arguably cut costs for providers when asking for this information, which should in theory drive down the price of protection and make it quicker for more people to get cover. With too many people having too little cover, this could revolutionise protection. "

"This could reinvent the insurance industry, cutting out the archaic need for written medical reports that take forever to come back from surgeries, often with inaccuracies. It also clears up the non-disclosure issue overnight. Insurers and the NHS can negotiate a price and process for their data feeds, and this could mean near-instant underwriting on most applications, encouraging people to insure and removing some enormous hurdles in the current process."

"The digital health revolution could be the shot in the arm the protection industry needs. Imagine a world where clients can swipe right on their medical records and left on lengthy underwriting processes. With instant access to full health histories, we could potentially wave goodbye to those nail-biting six-month waits for GP reports. Insurance providers could streamline their underwriting processes and quicker decisions mean happier clients and more policies sold. Plus, it might just take some pressure off our overworked NHS, freeing up GPs to focus on patients rather than paperwork. Of course, the devil's in the detail. How this data is shared and protected will be just as crucial. But if done right, it could make buying protection as easy as checking your step count."

"This could potentially be a reinvention of the underwriting process. No longer waiting for over-stretched GP surgeries to send back reports will save months of waiting, but only if insurance firms are given access to records and specialist reports. A vast amount of extra funds could be raised by the NHS if they charged for access. Insurance firms already pay for the reports so diverting those funds to a trust’s coffers could go some way to support a woefully underfunded national treasure, namely the NHS. "

"Doctor’s reports have long been the largest friction to getting protection policies in force within a reasonable timeframe. The insurers pay the GP surgery and weeks and months of constant chasing are required to obtain what is essentially a printout of medical records with no added value. Making these records available is a great first step, but getting insurers to accept them from the applicant and not directly from the surgery will likely be the bigger challenge."

"I have had several cases that have been delayed for weeks because of waiting for medical reports. This is not great when we’re trying to align protection with house completions. People want to know they have the necessary insurances in place to cover upcoming mortgage debt, but sometimes this isn’t the case due to poor admin. Surely access to records is a simple and immediate fix?"

"This would revolutionise the protection market if it can link up with insurers in some way, such as a downloadable report or link directly to the NHS app with the permission of the individual in question. Already stretched GPs are taking months to send in reports, delaying access to insurance polices and meaning people are left uninsured, so this would bypass GPs and mean that insurers can underwrite the policies much quicker and without so much stress for the clients. One reason many people are underinsured is that it all takes so long and they give up or move on."