We all know that keeping fit is good for us, it’s good for our bodies, it’s good for our mind and it’s good for our own personal health. For some people, keeping fit is part of their daily routine but for others it’s the last thing on their minds. But would this mindset change if insurance companies suddenly started recognising exercise as a positive and started giving people a break on their premiums?
This is nothing new.
When we apply for any type of insurance that is connected with our lives be it health insurance, life insurance or critical illness cover we have to complete a long application form that asks us lots of questions about ourselves. Questions such as your age, weight, and height are standard and are asked so the underwriters can assess your physical being and ascertain the type of risk you might be to them. But these stats can be diceptive and may indicate that you are overweight when in fact you could just be a bodybuilder!
Enter the FitBit!
Many people these days either wear a fitbit and apple watch or a specific fitness watch when they exercise. These watches not only track your steps during a day but they also track how many stairs you climb and how much sleep you get. They are a great indicator of how active you are and they even monitor your heart rate. So, with all this information on your arm why wouldn’t insurance companies want to tap into it?
App for Insurance Premiums
And this is exactly what a few insurance companies have done they are now giving people the opportunity to link their ‘fitbit’ data to an app to see if it can reduce premiums. It’s a simple process that downloads the data off your watch into an app which then analyses the data and categorises you into tiers, these tiers will determine your premium amount.
It is also possible to work up to the next tier by completing certain criteria such as the 4 point checkup of cholesterol, BMI, blood pressure, and lucose. Once again giving the insurance company more information and hopefully lowering the premiums again if you are fit and healthy.
Goodness of their hearts
Although this could be considered a bit cynical, insurers don’t offer these schemes out of the goodness of their hearts. Yes it makes sense to use this data and of course they want you to be fit and healthy but by you being fit and healthy means that you are less risk to them and you will probably live longer, so that they can keep charging you premiums until you’re ancient.
With that being said, it’s still a win-win situation, you get rewarded for living a healthier lifestyle, and the insurance companies make more money. Sure, it discriminates in favour of healthy people, but even if your not healthy and you upload your data, your premiums won’t drop below the standard market rate so you might be surprised!
To find out more about whether your insurance could reduce due to a healthier lifestyle contact one of our advisers today and let us help!