National Friendly unveils One Fund cash plan

National Friendly has launched a new corporate health cash plan.

One Fund provides an annual sum of money that policyholders can spend on a range of core healthcare treatments.

These are: dental; optical; POCAH (Physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and homeopathy); specialist consultations; health screening and counselling.

The provider says it has opted to give policyholders as much choice as possible in how they spend their cover, rather than setting limits.

It cites two of the most common causes of absence from work, stress and musculoskeletal problems, as examples, in which it says traditional cash plans only cover an initial consultation and a few treatments.

But the insurer suggests the One Fund can provide cover for a full course of treatment (up to the annual limit), that would ensure the employee can be treated and back at work as quickly as possible.

Premiums are available at six different levels between £10 and £20 a month, although a £40 excess is payable for each benefit category accessed each year.

After the excess, the policyholder can claim up to an annual limit of 72 x the monthly premium, which can be claimed in full for any benefit aside from optical and health screening, which are subject to an annual limit due to these being elective treatments.

Available from July 2010, One Fund will initially be sold through brokers and is aimed at companies with more than 25 employees.

Richard Sear, chief executive at National Friendly, believes the new product is unlike anything currently available.

"The cash plan market is largely formulaic, with many providers covering an extensive range of treatments but offering very low levels of cover," he says.

"We wanted to develop a product that was different, that stands apart from the others, and believe that One Fund really is a cash plan as you would want it if you could design it yourself."

"Feedback indicates that consumers would welcome bigger sums of money that can be used to cover more expensive treatments rather than a small contribution to lots of little ones," he adds.