The partnership arrives at a moment of acute financial pressure across the UK's healthcare insurance market. Spending on private medical insurance has surged 50% since the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from £6.3 billion, as pandemic-driven disruption fuelled a sharp increase in NHS waiting times and prompted more large employers to offer private cover as staff benefit.
Under the agreement, Marsh's clients will gain access to Kirontech's retrospective analysis of historic claims data, using machine learning and medical expertise to scrutinise treatment records and insurer-approved care plans. The platform flags issues affecting an estimated 10% to 30% of claims value.
Founded in Cambridge, Kirontech combines in-depth knowledge of the medical industry with big data and machine learning to detect fraud, waste and abuse in health insurance payments.
Omar Chebli, Kirontech's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Healthcare organisations are sitting on data that could transform how they manage risk and allocate resources, but turning that into confident, board-level decisions requires the right expertise alongside the right technology," said Omar Chebli, Kirontech's CEO. "Collaborating with Marsh means we can bring that full picture to a much wider range of organisations, faster."
Group and corporate policies held a 67.56% share of the UK health and medical insurance market in 2025, making employer-funded schemes the single largest pool of health insurance spend in the country. Almost a third of employers without PMI are considering introducing it within the next three years, with the proportion holding definite plans to do so rising from 9% in 2023 to 11% in 2025, according to research by employee beenfits consultancy Broadstone.
The deal also has implications for NHS-commissioned care. The NHS Counter Fraud Authority estimates that fraud, bribery and corruption costs the public purse approximately £1.21 billion annually, a figure that does not account for the broader costs of low-value care and clinical waste.
The deal signals a broader shift in how data analytics and AI are being integrated into health insurance risk management, moving from a largely reactive, post-claims function toward proactive, intelligence-led governance. Around 63% of healthcare providers have now introduced AI into administrative workflows, according to Howdens analysis of the UK healthcare AI landscape.
Meanwhile, brokers advising corporate clients on health trust structures or self-insured arrangements will increasingly find that demonstrating data-driven oversight of clinical spend becomes a differentiating factor at renewal. The UK private healthcare market was valued at US$13.75 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$18.56 billion by 2033.
The Kirontech collaboration is the latest step in the firm's deepening UK healthcare proposition, positioning its consulting arm at the intersection of two of the most pressing issues in UK insurance today.
