Personal health insurance

Should you rely on a supermarket for surgery?

Supermarket banks have entered the car insurance market and the home insurance market, and now they're moving in to the personal health insurance market too. No-frills insurance certainly works in other areas, but should you trust a supermarket with serious surgery? Yes - if you know exactly what you're signing up for.

The supermarket banks have a track record of moving into moribund markets and shaking things up: they did it with loans, they did it with car insurance and they did it with travel insurance. Now, banks such as Sainsbury's are moving in to the personal health insurance market - but can you rely on them? After all, it's not the end of the world if there's a problem getting a courtesy car when your own car is off the road, but surgery is a bit more complicated and an awful lot more serious.