PMI renewal season is when brokers lose clients. Premiums are up 12–18% year-on-year across the UK market in 2026, and competitor brokers are pitching switch business aggressively. This is the renewal defence playbook we recommend.
Pre-renewal: the 60-day window
Sixty days before renewal, you should already have three documents on the desk:
- The current schedule of benefits and the renewal quote.
- A like-for-like quote from at least one competitor insurer on the same underwriting basis.
- The client's last 12 months of claims, with the dominant condition categories highlighted.
If you don't have all three at -60, you're defending the renewal blind.
The premium-shock conversation
Lead with the why, not the number. UK PMI premiums are up across every insurer in 2026 because of medical inflation, consultant fee inflation, and post-pandemic claims pent-up demand. Make the client understand the market moved — then show what you've done to mitigate.
Three levers that almost always work
- Hospital list reduction: drop the London teaching hospital tier if the client isn't central London. Typical saving 20–30%.
- Excess increase: moving from £100 to £500 excess typically saves 8–12% without changing cover.
- Module trim: remove dental/optical if the client doesn't claim — usually 5–8% saving.
When to actually switch
Switching insurer at renewal is a real lever, but it has costs: continued personal medical exclusions (CPME) need to transfer cleanly, and the new insurer may apply fresh moratoria on conditions claimed in the last 12 months. Switch when:
- The current insurer's premium has moved more than 20% above market.
- The client has new clinical risk that another insurer handles better (e.g. cancer history → Bupa).
- The current insurer has changed the schedule in a way the client materially loses on.
How HealthCareCompare helps at renewal
Brokers using HealthCareCompare run the client's specific concerns through all five insurers in 30 seconds — and bring the renewal meeting a cited table of "here's how each insurer would handle your situation". Renewal retention goes up because the conversation is grounded in facts the client can verify.