Justin Taurog, CEO, Vitality Life
It's not just economic turbulence and ongoing health challenges in the UK that's seen the protection insurance landscape shift in recent years. Consumer needs and expectations have also changed.
People today are much more discerning about how and where they spend their money, and this has understandably led to a flight towards insurance products that deliver more immediate, tangible value at a time when financial protection is more needed than ever.
At the same time, we've seen the way people live and work evolve, with major implications for our industry. Less people follow a linear path through life, marked by obvious milestones like starting a career, getting married, buying a house and having children.
Changing the conversation
With the shift in many of the traditional moments that would have triggered a protection conversation, we've had to find new ways of reaching and engaging with consumers.
Despite the obvious need for protection, most people aren't automatically compelled to take out cover and the adage that protection is sold not bought remains true. Traditional arguments based on peace of mind often clash with people's optimism bias and belief that ‘it won't happen to them'.
To grow the market and better protect people, we need to change the conversation.
We must recognise that it is no longer enough for insurance to simply provide cover for when things go catastrophically wrong.
Life is for living
On the one hand, we have it in our power to not just protect people, but to actively help them lead healthier, more active lives and, in turn, reduce the chances of them falling ill and even improve their life expectancy. Life is for living, so why shouldn't protection insurance help people to live?
This is best reflected in the Vitality Programme, which inverts the traditional model of insurance by offering upfront, tangible value - alongside long-term protection – and harnesses the power of behaviour change and healthy habits.
As we unveiled at our recent Launch 2025, by taking the Vitality Programme to the next level and making it more rewarding and enhancing the member experience, we can drive even higher levels of engagement that unlock better value.
This unique approach to insurance aligns naturally with the key principles of Consumer Duty by preventing foreseeable harm, providing fair value, and, ultimately, driving more positive outcomes for our members.
Cover that goes further
Given the changing needs of consumers, we also need to move away from viewing protection insurance as simply providing limited cover for narrowly defined life-changing risks.
We're neither delivering good outcomes nor avoiding foreseeable harm, if product recommendations fail to provide a broad financial safety net for a range of different needs. In other words, protection can't just be about death or the most critical of illnesses.
To really improve people's financial resilience and deliver good outcomes, we need to think holistically and offer broader, more comprehensive cover at every stage of a client's life.
Its why Vitality has pioneered products like Serious Illness Cover, with its unique severity-based approach to risk that offers financial protection even at the earlier stages of an illness and doesn't end after a claim has been paid.
This thinking is also behind our new Accident and Fracture Cover, which like Serious Illness Cover will redefine industry standards once again by offering protection more aligned with the needs of clients today.
By providing market-leading payouts of up to £10,000 that more closely reflect the financial impact of an event, we can protect members against a broader set of risks. We also go further by paying out up to £2,000 for accidents and emergency surgeries that lead to hospital stays of 48 hours or more.
The moment of truth
As important as financial payouts, so too is the support offered to help people get back on their feet and return to better health, particularly with products like income protection.
Its why our Income Protection Cover includes a unique enhanced Recovery Benefit, providing members with unlimited access to physiotherapy, mental health support and cancer care when they make a relevant claim – and now, as part of our Launch 2025, a new support pathway for neurological illnesses as well.
At the other end of the spectrum, when a client does unfortunately pass away, either because of an accident or illness, it's imperative their loved ones get timely financial support.
To help at that difficult time, we've introduced our Advanced Funeral Pledge to advance a payment of £2,000 of our existing £10,000 funeral benefit as soon as we've received proof of death, to ensure immediate funeral costs are covered.
All these developments, I sincerely believe, add to the enormous opportunity we already have to move the industry forward together. Not just to ensure clients have the best possible cover available, but to also drive healthier behaviour (as seen through how we're taking the Vitality Programme to the next level) and deliver much more immediate value through during 2025 and beyond.
Find out more about how Vitality Launch 2025 is taking health and life insurance to the next level by clicking below. By clicking "Learn More" you agree to the data protection statement below and the sharing of your contact details with Vitality.
A version of this article originally appeared on Vitality Adviser Insights Hub: Justin Taurog: 'To better protect people, cover must go further' | Insights | Adviser
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