PruProtect: Premium Saver
PruProtect
The Product
Premium Saver is an add-on benefit to PruProtect’s existing protection solutions. For a small extra premium (or inbuilt on new plans taken out), customers build up accrued premium discounts over a five year period.
After five years, the savings built up are then applied towards premiums over the next two years. Someone who fully engages with PruProtect's Vitality health and wellbeing programme could get up to two free years of premiums every five years. In year six, as well as benefiting from any premium benefits, the five year clock starts again and benefits are accrued for the next five year period.
Benefits accrue depending on a range of factors including whether the plan is indexed, level or decreasing and what the customer’s Vitality status is at each plan anniversary. Top benefits go to platinum members with index linked plans.
Customers can also benefit from premium discounts and the healthier they get, the bigger the premium discounts.
PruProtect has also updated its quote tool and its Vitality programme. New Vitality partners have been added (and some removed) and partners fall into two broad categories – health partners and reward partners. So, a customer could get 50% discount on various health screens and gym memberships, discounted National Trust membership and 50% off two year monthly subscriptions from Vodafone among other external benefits. Some of these benefits are available to all, some only to those with Vitality Plus, and in some cases the benefit or discount is dependent on Vitality status too.
The changes take place between January and April 2012.
The Company
PruProtect is a joint venture between the UK’s Prudential and South Africa’s Discovery. Since its launch it has built a reputation as a strong innovator, partly based around its Vitality concept.
The Literature
See website for full details including of the timescales.
What They Say
Actuarial and product director Deepak Jobanputra said: "We are really pleased to launch our Premium Saver benefit to the market, as it gives something back to customers and supports the broker community with advice based solutions. We acknowledge that getting clients to recognise the value of their policy and feel that their cover is an ongoing contract, rather than a one off document to be filed away, is crucial in helping our brokers promote the value of protection."
What We Say
Andy Couchman
"This is a slightly unusual product review as the underlying product itself is broadly the same but the overall proposition is changed. PruProtect offers benefits to those who can be bothered to both find out and understand how the various options work, and also who choose to take conscious decisions to improve their health and wellbeing.
"The result can be complex at first glance but if it gets people taking action to improve their health that must be a good thing. The downside is added complexity for both customer and intermediary (arguably, compounded by frequent changes to the proposition), and premiums are likely to be higher initially in some cases too. But that’s an old fashioned view and we welcome especially the Premium Saver concept, which can make a significant difference to the long term cost of having protection cover. And isn’t protection really about the long term anyway?"
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