Health and beauty retailer Boots has agreed a partnership with PruHealth that will see it sell private medical insurance (PMI) in its 1,500 stores.

Recent research by Boots revealed that around 80 per cent of people believed they are precluded from taking out private health insurance due to its cost and that 36 per cent would consider it at a more competitive rate.

With this in mind, Boots is hoping to break into the UK PMI market, worth around £3bn at present.

Boots PMI will offer three levels of cover which include 24-hour access to the CallADoctor service and full cancer cover at every stage of treatment as standard.

Kevin Johnson, head of Boots Insurance Services, said: “This is an opportunity for us to use our position on the high street to offer the public greater access to private healthcare.”