Throughout the current economic crisis, the insurance sector has been struggling, with many people who are feeling the pinch choosing to cut back on many types of insurance.

The life insurance sector has really felt the effects of shrinking household budgets, as has the home contents insurance industry and the travel insurance business.

It seems that when struggling families look at their outgoings, insurance is one of the first things to go, seen as an unnecessary luxury which can easily be cut out.

What many are not thinking of when making this choice, is the long term effects. If the worst should happen, families will soon regret cutting out insurance.

However, despite all this woe for insurance in general, it seems that the health insurance industry is doing well during these difficult times.

Bupa, Britain’s largest private health insurance provider, has released figures which show an increase in the number of customers by 2 per cent and Simplyhealth reveals that sales of HSA’s employee paid Health Cash Plan were up 25% in the final quarter of last year.

For many, private medical insurance really feels like a necessity, with speedier access to healthcare services at the top of most users agendas.

Despite the NHS hitting their target of a minimum wait of 18 weeks for treatment, research has shown that 80 per cent of people think that this is still too long to wait.

49% of respondents believed hospital waiting times should be less than one month, while, 69% of people were concerned their health could deteriorate further if they went without medical attention for as long as 18 weeks.

Eamon Hynes, protection insurance expert at BeatThatQuote.com, says, "Once consumers experience making a claim under a PMI policy, they generally have an immediate understanding of the benefits of the policy and why they need it.

"Many other forms of insurance are much more intangible and are therefore easier to let go when money feels tight. However, people can more easily perceive the advantages of private medical insurance and may feel a stronger, more emotional pull towards these types of policies."

Others have been concerned by standards of cleanliness in NHS hospitals, so have decided that in order to have access to a high standard of care they must take out private medical insurance.

David Royle, Chief Executive of CS Healthcare said “The UK public is sometimes presented as being unconcerned about their health, which is clearly not the case. However, the fact that people are saving or prepared to break into their precious savings, especially in today’s economic climate, signals that there is not only concern over the NHS’s ability to cope, perhaps unfairly, but also confusion about the role and cost of PMI.”

He also pointed out that many customers over-estimated the cost of private health insurance, with some estimating the cost to be three times more than the actual cost of private care.

Royle continued: “PMI can be a low cost route to peace of mind when it comes to medical treatment. However, as an industry, we need to break down misconceptions over cost and make our products clear and easy to buy.

This is for Health insurance UK news.