Vitality health and life insurance

[toastie]

Any one have a vitality account, any views on benefits and rewards of having one?
Just looking at taking out health insurance mainly started looking because it would get me a reduced gym membership but reading through all the benefits I’m starting to think it may actually be a good thing to have anyway. That said I cannot understand how the points and benefits work or what you can do with the points once you have earned them.

[plw]

I used to be with PruHealth, before the Vitality programme started. I would be very careful that you are not paying a premium for their commercial tie ups. I moved to AXA three years ago and saved over £1,000 pa for my wife and self. Weirdly I'm going through the same cost comparison exercise at the moment and my broker found another AXA product called Health On Line which is essentially the same with some minor differences and saves several hundred on this year's premium.

Worth checking the competition and then seeing if the value of the gym offer is worth any extra.

[wombleh]

We got it based purely on the price and cover it offered, was found out about the benefits afterwards. We moved health insurance from AXA as it was cheaper and better cover.

The benefits are good and they do encourage you to be healthier, but the app is a bit crap and often wont sync properly so you can miss out on points. Good discount on running shoes, wife got an Apple watch for a massive discount and my gym is now 50% discounted.

[tredders]

I've got Vitality through work. As others have said, there are some decent benefits (50% off big name gyms, free Apple Watch depending on your activity levels, free Starbucks voucher each week, free Vue cinema ticket each week, half price Polar or Garmin fitness bands, half price trainers from Sweatshop, up to 40% off bikes at Evans etc).

Regarding the actual policy, I've never had cause to claim, but the coverage is extensive - things like dental care are covered for us.

There's also the ability to book a virtual appointment (via video chat) with a doctor / specialist. All seems pretty good.

The way it works is that you are rewarded for getting fitter. So, you can do an online health questionnaire and earn points. You can log a dental visit and get points. You can take a fitness test at a gym and get points. The main point-earning is from recording activity, on an Apple Watch / Polar / Garmin wearable. You link the wearable to your Vitality account and earn daily points, for example by completing a workout, run, walk, row, cycle for a certain duration. The higher the effort level (based upon your heart rate) and duration, the more points you get. At the end of each week, you get a total, which earns things like the Starbucks voucher or Vue cinema ticket.

[toastie]

Thanks tredders.
From what I’ve read the Starbucks, gym membership and cinema tickets are just a given every week are they not?
I was trying to understand what the points are for? I currently don’t belong to a gym but I do use a Garmin Fenix to record my activities which are over 10,000 steps a day and I cycle an average of 100 miles a week which gives me a fair few points already according to their online calculator but I can’t understand what you can do with them once I have earned them?

[Miocene]

I spoke to one of their advisors the other day - it can help reduce your premium next year (marginally, of course) and I think they said if you hit Platinum you get £125 cash back.

We're looking more at critical / serious illness cover due to my wife caring for our disabled daughter - if anything happened to her / myself, we've got savings we keep adding to, but they won't last forever clearly.

[tredders]

Thanks tredders.
From what I’ve read the Starbucks, gym membership and cinema tickets are just a given every week are they not?
I was trying to understand what the points are for? I currently don’t belong to a gym but I do use a Garmin Fenix to record my activities which are over 10,000 steps a day and I cycle an average of 100 miles a week which gives me a fair few points already according to their online calculator but I can’t understand what you can do with them once I have earned them?

Starbucks is 12 points per week for one drink voucher. Vue is (I think) 16 points. As an indication, a 30 minute high intensity run gives you 8 points, an hours gym session at a lower intensity gives you 8 points. So, as long as you do some activity (i.e. 2 30 minute runs a week, or 2 gym workouts), you'll get the Starbucks and cinema tickets.

As you earn more points, you go through bronze, silver and then gold status levels. The higher your status, the more discount you get at certain partners (i.e. bigger discount off a bike, more discount on BA flights etc). The Apple Watch 3 offer is £49 up front, and then anything from £15 a month (if you do no activity), to no monthly charge (if you do 4 workouts a week). Hence, the more activity you do, the better.

[toastie]

Oh ok that helps thank you for that.
Seems like quite a good idea as long as the goals are achievable and it seems like they are.
I remember collecting points years ago from petrol stations but you needed so many to actually get anything that unless you were a long distance hgv driver then it wasn’t really possible to ever get anything

[wombleh]

Mrs wombleh and I tend to get the free starbucks every week, couple of days at 7000 steps or a few gym visits is enough points for that. I notice the difference when we start getting sick and stop exercising as I have to pay for coffee!