The Fairer Finance Trust in Private Medical Insurance Index - Spring 2026

Trust Remains Stable

Trust in private medical insurance (PMI) has remained largely unchanged over the last 6 months according to the latest Fairer Finance customer experience ratings.

In Fairer Finance’s latest customer experience polling of over 10,000 PMI customers trust has fallen marginally by 0.11p.p since Autumn 2025. This means trust continues to sit at around 58.5%, broadly in line with where it has been since an uplift in 2024 when scores peaked at 58.57%.

Claims satisfaction continues its upward trend

Although trust has plateaued, claims satisfaction has continued to rise. Claims satisfaction has risen over 10p.p. in the last 3 years and in the latest wave it stands at 66.08% - up 1.23p.p in the last 6 months.

Unsurprisingly when the product delivers at the point it matters most trust follows.

This raises the question, how can providers build trust with customers who are yet to claim earlier in the purchase journey. Some ways to achieve this could include:

• Better communication using real examples of how claims are handled 

• Improved clarity in documents around policy coverage and exclusions 

• Improved clarity of how making claims will affect no claims discounts and the exact impact this has on premiums

When looking at brands Aviva has the highest trust score among customers who have made a recent claim at 69.34%. AXA Health has the largest gap in trust for those who have or have not made a claim where customers who have made a claim have trust scores over 15p.p. higher. All but one have a positive value, the only exception being Saga.

When looking at claims satisfaction scores by age we also see a dip in the 46-64 category. This suggests there may be some level of shock for customers when they begin to use their policy more, with many not testing the limitations of their policy until they get more complex medical problems in mid-life.

Value for Money and trust

Fairer Finance also polls customers on how satisfied they are with certain features of their products. Perceived value for money scores have risen from 44.22% in Autumn 2023 to 47.2% in Spring 2026. However, the most recent wave is the first time that scores have dipped which might suggest one reason as to why levels of trust have stagnated.

When examining the relationship between value and trust the measures have a correlation of around 58%. So while claims experience is a key driver, perceptions of value also play an important role in shaping trust in the market. If customers feel premiums are rising faster than benefits, improvements in claims handling might not be enough to increase trust.

Value for money scores also decline steadily with age, with the gap between the youngest and oldest customer groups almost 19p.p, from 56.5% among 18-30 year-olds to 37.6% among over-65s. This could reflect the impact of rising premiums on older policyholders.

Trust by brand:

Freedom Health Insurance and WPA continue to sit at the top of the trust scores in the PMI sector. Freedom had the highest trust score in Spring 2026 despite a fall of 4.36p.p from Autumn 2025. Meanwhile Vitality saw the greatest increase in trust with a rise of 2.3p.p.