Given that many clients will be on a tighter budget than usual right now, allowing them to pay up to 40% less for their life cover1 is just one of the benefits of Optimiser – which have been made more relevant by the economic climate we face in the UK right now.
So here are seven reasons why choosing Optimiser is better for everyone involved, including you as an adviser.
1. Save clients money
During a time when most people are looking to save money, Optimiser gives your clients access to our best available premium. This gives you the opportunity to place the most comprehensive cover available at a more affordable price. Our members benefited from £44m in lower premiums during 2021 at an average of £112 per plan. During a cost-of-living crisis, it’s a no-brainer. And not only that – they received richer benefits through their plan and were more likely to stay healthy too2.
2. More likely to engage
From our member data we can see that those who choose Optimiser are three times more likely to engage with the Vitality Programme3. Why is better engagement a good thing? Making healthy choices is good for them (obviously) but also for us as an insurer, as it lowers their level of risk. Society benefits too because it helps bring down the burden on the NHS. More engagement also unlocks more tangible value through our rewards and partners. Advisers, meanwhile, can therefore enjoy longer, more loyal client relationships offering plenty of opportunity for referral to family and friends to grow their business. Still need convincing?
3. Deliver more value
Last year alone, we helped our members understand their health better through almost 380,000 health assessments. They also enjoyed more than 1.7m gym sessions, logged almost 815,000 mindfulness sessions and received around 60,000 discounted activity trackers. In 2021, the most highly engaged, our Platinum members, saved on average 62% of their annual premium through discounts and rewards through partners such as Apple Watch, Amazon Prime and Caffe Nero4. All without needing to make a claim. Even Bronze members on average saved a quarter of their annual premium5.
4. They are less likely to claim
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, it’s always worth repeating. Healthier members lead to less claims. As part of the Shared Value virtuous circle, we charge lower premiums and deliver richer benefits that offer something tangible. Our data proves it works too: engaged Optimised members are 30% less likely to make a life insurance claim, while those who engage with the Vitality Programme have a 39% lower risk of critical illness than those who don’t6. And, of course, our plans are there for our members when they really needed it too – we paid 99.8% claims in 2021 and £54m in total for Life Cover. And 91% for Serious Illness Cover and 96.5% for Income Protection in 2021.
5. Less likely to cancel
Greater chance of your client living a longer, healthier life while generating extra value are not the only benefits of high levels of engagement. The upshot for you is stickier business. We’ve found that where Optimiser was properly explained and utilised by a member, they are up to 36% less likely to lapse than those without it. At a time when many clients might be questioning their cover – or worse, considering cancelling it – Optimiser offers a good way to help ensure they stay on the books at this time.
6. Clients take out more
Because it is positioned at a discount, we also see Optimised clients take out higher levels of cover (on average +52% more). They are also two-and-a-half times more likely to select more than one product7. That’s why we see it as the best way to stretch your client’s budget and get them the best possible cover they can get, especially if the cost-of-living crisis is impacting their spending power.
7. It offers more touchpoints
Talking to advisers who already see the benefits of Optimiser, they tell us that that it offers them softer opportunities that allow them to go back to their clients – and, in some cases, more often. “A good adviser would regularly get back in touch with their client, hopefully at periodic points throughout the lifetime of their plan,” Alan Knowles, Managing Director of Cura Financial Services, told us. “By having these extras [such as rewards and partners to engage with], it gives us a much nicer way in. It can be simple as ‘how’s it going with your Apple watch and the steps and things?’ Rather than being about reviewing their life insurance, it can be much better opening.”
We explore all our 2021 claims and benefits engagement data in depth in our Life Claims and Benefits Report 2022. If you haven’t already, you can read the report in full here.
To find out more about how to offer Optimiser and its many benefits to your clients, read this.
1 VitalityLIfe Claims and Benefits Report 2022
2 Seven key lifestyle factors which include physical activity, sleep, healthy eating, alcohol intake, smoking, BMI and mental health, based on Vitality data – Vitality Claims and Benefits report 2020
3 VitalityLife Claims and Benefits Report 2022
4 VitalityLife Claims and Benefits Report 2022
5 Active Vitality Plus members between June 2021 and May 2022
6 VitalityLife Claims and Benefits Report 2022
7 The Adviser guide to driving better business, Vitality, 2022
