Five benefits of health checks for you and your client
It’s not just clients who reap the benefits of a health check through their insurance plan – advisers do too, writes Vitality Sales and Distribution Director Greg Levine.
From detecting illness early to adding immediate value to their plan, the client advantages of health checks and screenings are obvious. But what often gets overlooked are the benefits on offer to you, as advisers.
“At a time when access to care is limited, the ability to offer health screenings to clients is another great way to add additional value to conversations about protection and health insurance”
From helping to build client relationships to improving the quality of business on your books, there are many reasons why encouraging your clients to engage with a plan with preventative health benefits is good for you too. Here are just five.
1. Help clients understand their health
Protection and health insurance can do much more than pay out when things go wrong these days. For example, clients can do an online health review to reveal their Vitality Age - as an incentive to improve it - or get access to a Vitality Healthcheck carried out remotely or in-person, or a more in-depth Advanced Health Screening. From measuring blood pressure, body mass index and glucose and cholesterol levels to more detailed screenings, including for bowel cancer, these services can not only save a client some money (and potentially their life too), they can unlock additional value through a range of rewards.
2. Add value to conversations
Given the immense pressure on the NHS, access to a health MOT that can detect cancer early or flag the risk of diabetes is going to be more appealing to clients than ever. Especially as people today are increasingly looking to take ownership of their health and wellbeing1. With a Vitality Healthcheck now available to Life members at no cost within the first year of their plan– and discounts on Advanced Health Screenings – positioning this at the point of sale can add significant weight to a recommendation, especially at this time.
3. Improve client engagement
Completing the online health review is an important first step in engaging with the Vitality Programme and our data shows that more than half (54%) of Vitality members who complete their online health review on Member Zone, go on to achieve Platinum or Gold status within the first year2. Why is this a good thing? Those with a higher Vitality status are less likely to lapse or cancel their plan, our data also shows3.
4. Build better relationships
With Vitality, a highly engaged client is much more likely to be a happy and healthy client4 too. Those who participate with the Vitality Programme are not just less likely to get sick5, but they also generate far more value from their plan6 - long before a claim is made. All this means they value their adviser more, which tends to lead to more referrals and generate additional sales opportunities7.
5. Support at-risk clients
Our online health review also helps alert clients to areas of their health that they can improve based on the lifestyle choices they make. As announced during our 2023 Life Launch, we’ll also soon be offering fully discounted Advanced Health Screenings for most at-risk members, to ensure those that really need help get it. Not only that. Through our recently launched Next Best Action initiative, we go one step further by incentivising those who need support to lose weight or give up smoking, to get access to evidence-based programmes tailored to their individual needs. Yet another way we strive to improve long-term health outcomes.
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1 7 in 10 UK adults motivated to get healthier, Better Health Campaign, Public Health England, 2021
2 Vitality analysis, 2022
3 Platinum VitalityLife members with Optimiser are 59% less likely to cancel their plan, compared to non-engaged members, VitalityLife Claims & Benefits Report 2022
4 Members who participate in the Vitality Programme are on average 20% more likely to improve their health across seven key lifestyle factors (physical activity, sleep, healthy eating, alcohol intake, smoking, BMI and mental health) year on year, Vitality data 2020
5 Analysis of VitalityHealth claims between 2017 and 2021 revealed significantly reduced healthcare costs for more highly engaged Vitality members across all major claim categories, including musculoskeletal (-31%), oncology (-37%) and cardiovascular (-46%). Vitality Health Claims and Insights report 2022
6 Platinum members generated 60% of their annual premium back through savings from the Vitality Programme, VitalityLife Claims & Benefits Report, 2022
7 Average commission for advisers over time is 35% more for engaged clients than for non-Optimised plans, according to Vitality internal data, September 2019