Leading Liverpool-based health insurer, and the UK’s largest provider of corporate health cash plans, Medicash has announced another strong year of growth, with a net increase of 105,000 new policyholders in 2023.
It is the second year in a row that the business has seen net growth of over 100,000 policyholders, largely driven by increased demand from businesses across the UK looking to put a low-cost health plan in place to care for their employees. In total, Medicash’s policy base increased by 21.7% to reach 586,470 at the end of 2023.
As a result, Medicash’s turnover rose by £10 million over the period to reach £51 million for the first time in the company’s history, whilst claim payouts increased by £10.6 million. Despite this, Medicash reported a pre-tax profit of £1.8 million for the period, turning around a pre-tax loss of £2.2 million in 2022.
This period of sustained growth has been possible whilst maintaining exceptional customer service and is backed by industry recognition, with Medicash picking up eight industry awards in 2023, plus a further five in the first six months of 2024. These include Best Health Insurer of the Year at the National Insurance Awards, Business Excellence in Insurance at the Global 100 Awards, plus a number of other awards for best health cash plan provider. Medicash also continues to be rated as Excellent on Trustpilot.
Paul Gambon, Sales & Marketing Director at Medicash, said: “The demand for employee health benefits has surged in recent years as more employers are looking for affordable solutions to support the health and wellbeing of their entire workforce. A health cash plan provides the perfect means of doing this, with over 900 new companies signing up to a Medicash health plan in 2023.
“We’re also thrilled with the amount of industry recognition we’ve received for our top-quality customer service and health plans. The tremendous period of growth that we’ve seen demonstrates how employers, and their workforce, value our health plans, and coupled with the growing importance of digital technology in everyday healthcare, our continued investment in this area has also played a key factor in our market success.”
2023 also saw Medicash acquire One Derby Square, the former Pearl Assurance House in Liverpool, in a deal worth £12m. This strategic investment formed a key part of Medicash’s future growth plans, presenting an opportunity for the business to continue to expand its services, whilst generating new income streams that will allow it to better serve its existing and future customers for decades to come.
“The diversification of our investment portfolio to include One Derby Square marked a key milestone for the business in 2023. Not only does this include high profile tenants such as Tesco, Pret a Manger and Exchange Chambers, it will also deliver a strong and regular income stream going forward,” says Andy Roberts, Finance & IT Director at Medicash.
“Despite seeing such seismic growth in our customer base over recent years, our investment in digital innovation and back-office systems have allowed us to service this growth in policyholders whilst maintaining our high levels of customer service. They’ve also allowed us to maintain one of the lowest operating expense ratios in the industry of just 23.1%, helping us to remain one of the most competitive health cash plan providers in the market.”
