Insurer Westfield in the best financial health

Westfield reported that it is “more financially secure today than ever before”, with total company assets standing at £86.6m and reserves at £79.5m.

At the end of the previous financial year, total reserves stood at £76.2m, while total reserves and liabilities were £83.9m.

Chief executive, Jill Davies, said: “As a not-for-profit company we have no shareholders and so our surplus can be used for the benefit of our customers rather than paying dividends.

“Our continued financial strength enables us to develop our products and services so that they continue to meet our policyholders’ healthcare needs at a time of great change in the NHS.

“A good example of this was the launch of the Hospital Treatment Insurance product earlier in the year, which fulfilled a real and growing need for affordable but valuable health insurance plans and is already proving very successful.”

Other highlights for the year include £850,000 of charitable donations to Westfield’s Charitable Trust.

The company’s continued support for the Charitable Trust (Sheffield and District Hospital Services Charitable Fund) has enabled it to make its biggest ever single donation of £350,000 to the Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity’s ‘Do Your Bit’ appeal, in aid of a new state-of-the-art research and treatment facility.

Ms Davies concluded: “The past year has been tremendously rewarding for Westfield Health and our customers.

“We have achieved our best ever sales results against a backdrop of extremely difficult economic conditions and, in turn, provided our customers with the reassurance and confidence that is so essential in this climate and helped them achieve better, more cost-effective healthcare for themselves and their families.”

Established in 1919, Westfield Health, provides cover for more than 300,000 policyholders and more than 8,000 companies. As well as cash benefits, its plans include a range of healthcare services such as an online personal health risk assessment.