PruHealth upgrades gym offer

Innovative private medical insurer, PruHealth, has today upgraded its gym offering bringing it closer to the company’s core philosophy of rewarding members for being healthy. The concept is simple: the more you to go the gym, the less you pay for your membership. And, if you go twice a week or more on average – depending on which gym you go to - you could soon be paying nothing at all.

Since its launch in 2004, PruHealth has been striving to make private medical insurance (PMI) affordable and desirable for everyone. Its philosophy is to encourage people to lead healthier, fitter lives - because there is a direct link between exercise and state of health – and to reward them for doing so.

Now you could even get PMI and be a gym member for a similar price to the retail cost of a gym membership alone. 5 year deals – exclusive to PruHealth - with Cannons, Virgin Active/Holmes Place plus new gym partner, LA Fitness, provide added value to PruHealth members, giving them the opportunity to improve their health and reduce their claims. This new network of gyms covers almost a third of specialist health clubs. If you have always wanted health insurance and have also always wanted to join the gym, but thought both were too expensive, this offer could provide the solution.

How it works

Research has shown that only 27 per cent of gym members regularly go to the gym. But what if your gym rate was matched to your usage? Perhaps this could provide the ultimate incentive?

PruHealth members pay an activation fee and a standard, subsidised fee for the first 3 months, which is charged at the Occasional User Rate (if you go on average between once and twice a week). Then, depending on the frequency of your gym visits and the particular gym partner you are a member of, your next 3 months could start from £0 for standard LA Fitness and Cannons memberships, and from £5 for Virgin Active/Holmes Place.

Membership allows you to go any day, any time. And even if you go less than twice a week, you should still pay less than the retail price.

What you get out of it

In addition to the immediate cash in pocket this system can provide, there are also longer term benefits - and not just health ones. By visiting their gym on average twice a week or more over the course of the year, a PruHealth member can earn 1,040 Vitality points. For an individual on Bronze status this guarantees a move up to Silver status which means 50 per cent of this year’s unclaimed premium off the cost of next year’s cover for individual members. For corporate members who have not made a claim, moving up to Silver status means twice as much cashback or an increase to their Personal Health Fund.

Shaun Matisonn, PruHealth Chief Executive, said of the new gym offering: “We are always thinking of new ways to encourage people to live healthy lives and look after their wellbeing, and exercising regularly is one way to do this. The more you exercise, the happier and healthier your life could be. But an initiative like this extends beyond the individual as well. For employers, having employees that exercise could mean a happier and healthier workforce which can work harder. And for us, the insurers, having a fitter pool of policyholders means that they’re less likely to make claims, which in turn should help us to keep premiums down for everyone.

“We know that going to the gym can be difficult for some people due to the expense or time constraints or even lack of motivation. We wanted to give people a greater incentive to go and hopefully this is it: keep exercising and bring the cost of your premiums down!”