PMI trust levels plateau as claims satisfaction reaches new high – Fairer Finance
The latest 'Trust in PMI' Index, based on polling of more than 10,000 PMI customers, found trust levels edged down by just 0.11% since Autumn 2025.
Consumer trust in the private medical insurance (PMI) market has remained broadly stable, while claims satisfaction has continued to rise, according to research from Fairer Finance.
The latest ‘Trust in PMI’ Index from Fairer Finance, based on polling of more than 10,000 PMI customers, found trust levels edged down by just 0.11% since Autumn 2025 to around 58.5%, broadly in line with levels recorded over the past 18 months.
The data suggested the sector has reached a trust plateau following a peak of 58.57% in Autumn 2024.
Claims satisfaction, however, continued its upward trajectory, rising by 1.23% in the latest survey wave to 66.08%.
Over the past three years, claims satisfaction has increased by more than 10%.
Fairer Finance found that customers who had made a claim within the past three years recorded trust scores almost 12% higher than those who had not.
The research also showed that policyholders aged between 46 and 64 recorded the lowest claims satisfaction scores among all age groups.
Among individual providers, Aviva recorded the highest trust score among customers who had made a recent claim, while AXA Health showed the largest trust gap between claimants and non-claimants.
The report also highlighted concerns around value for money.
While satisfaction with value for money has improved overall since Autumn 2023, the latest survey wave recorded the first decline since tracking began.
Value for money scores were found to fall steadily with age, from 56.5% among consumers aged 18 to 30 to 37.6% among those aged over 65.
Freedom Health Insurance and WPA continued to lead the market on overall trust scores, while Vitality recorded the largest increase in trust among providers.
James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, said: “The sustained rise in claims satisfaction is genuinely encouraging – particularly at a time when the sector has been growing.
“However, a deeper look at the data shows that claims satisfaction falls markedly among customers in the 46-64 age bracket – with many not testing the limitations of their policies until they get more complex medical problems in mid-life.
“Private medical insurers still have work to do to ensure that customers understand exactly what is and isn’t covered – and also have a clearer idea of how premiums will rise as they reach the time in their life where they’re most likely to need to claim.”
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