It’s not often I begin my blog by telling you what I’m wearing, but today I’m going to make an exception, because I’m currently rather delighted to be sporting my new purple Fitbit. This is in a tasteful shade of purple and I’m only a little hurt that, although it perfectly matches my bridesmaid dress, my sister has put her foot down firmly and says I’m not allowed to wear it to her wedding.
My trusty new gadget is all about putting a foot down firmly, at the same time as making me far fitter by measuring and telling me how many steps I’ve taken in a day. I’m confident it’s going to give me the motivation to hugely improve my health and well-being, and the additional upside to all of that is it will substantially decrease my private medical insurance (PMI).
Contemplating the potential long-term financial effects in relation to my PMI, made me stop and think about how so many of the people I talk to, think PMI is synonymous with BUPA. It does seem to be the name that springs to mind first, whenever the subject comes up for discussion. This is most probably because they did seem have the market pretty tied up for a good number of years. But it’s always worth looking farther afield, particularly when it comes to an important and on-going expense, which is going to continue through the years. It’s always worth seeing if you can get the same or improved benefits at the same time as a better deal. The big benefit, naturally, is that the healthier you are, the lower your monthly premiums, so it’s an indisputable win, win situation as you move forward!
An example of a PMI provider, perhaps not quite so high profile as Bupa, is Vitality Health, which used to be Pru Health. They know, the better your health, the less likely you are to make claims on your policy, so their policy is to offer you every opportunity for health improvement. It makes both practical and commercial sense that the less money paid out, the more there is available for them to offer further options, discounts and benefits.
I happen to know about Vitality Health because, after shopping around, I found they provided the best insurance for my personal needs. With Vitality Health, you start off on Bronze Status, with no points and then gain them as you complete their online health questionnaire. You gain additional points when you go for a health screening to check on things such as, blood pressure, height, weight, glucose levels etc. You also gain when you prove you’re a non-smoker and can add to your total by achieving a certain number of steps per day or if you spend time in the gym. The more points you build up, the more your premiums go down and you find there are more benefits available to you.
Just to give you an idea of how it works for me, by doing just a little bit of exercise, I can not only get a free weekly drink from Starbucks, but a complimentary weekly cinema ticket and some monthly iTunes vouchers. I also get half price gym membership at Virgin Active, which for me is worth over £70 per month! But in case you’re thinking that this is all me, me, me – I’d like to mention that my husband’s pretty happy too. He purchased the bike he wanted from Evans Cycles and received £250 cashback from Vitality. The list goes on, with holiday deals, half price trainers and discounts on Champneys Spa Breaks. Obviously, this is just one of the policies that are out there, but I’m always more than delighted to look at your personal PMI requirements and preferences, so we can isolate the best possible one for you.
My new Fitbit has certainly changed the way I look at a lot of things and I like the feeling of achievement at the end of a busy day, when you can look back and see, not only have you done all your allotted tasks but you’ve totted up a nice number of steps at the same time.
However, I should say that at this precise moment of writing, I’m only on 7,208 steps and I need 12,500 for my maximum daily point allowance, so I know you’ll excuse me if I dash . . .
