‘To better protect people, cover must go further’
In light of Vitality Launch 2025, financial protection must go further in strengthening people’s finances and unlocking better value, writes Vitality Life CEO Justin Taurog.
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.
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.
Life is for living
On 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.
Benefits like the Vitality Programme can harness the power of behaviour change to drive healthy habits, whilst also delivering upfront, tangible value to consumers.
And the recent Vitality Programme enhancements we unveiled will take this to the next level, by driving higher levels of engagement and making it even more rewarding for your clients.
Cover that goes further
Given the changing needs of consumers, as well as the emphasis on delivering good outcomes and avoiding foreseeable harm within Consumer Duty, we also need to think holistically and offer broader, more comprehensive cover at every stage of a client’s life.
It’s why Vitality has pioneered a unique severity-based approach through products like Serious Illness Cover and our new Accident and Fracture cover, that offer financial protection even at the earlier stages of illness or for less serious fractures and cover a broader range of risks.
Meanwhile, for working-age clients’ products like income protection are vital, as is the support provided to help them get back on their feet after a claim.
Vitality’s Income Protection Cover includes a unique enhanced Recovery Benefit, providing members with unlimited access to physiotherapy, mental health support, cancer care and now support for neurological illnesses as well.
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 and deliver much more immediate value during 2025 and beyond.
To find out more about our 2025 Launch, take a look at our interactive brochure.
