Why Incentivising User Behaviour Is vital to the Future of Insurance
Incentivising user behaviour is a practice that has been gaining traction across various sectors, including healthcare and pet insurance. This approach not only engages customers more deeply but also contributes to reducing risks, lowering claims, and increasing user satisfaction. Companies like Biscuit Pet Care and Vitality have shown just how effective incentivisation can be in shaping positive behaviour. At Planna, we see this model as having already made significant strides in transforming home insurance.
The Success of Incentivisation in Other Insurance Sectors
Both Biscuit Pet Care and Vitality have set examples in their respective fields, demonstrating that when users are rewarded for certain actions, they are more likely to engage in positive, proactive behaviour. Let's explore these examples in detail.
Biscuit Pet Care: Healthy Pets, Happy Owners
Biscuit Pet Care offers pet owners a unique opportunity to reduce their premiums by engaging in proactive care for their pets. The app tracks various activities, such as regular vet visits and exercise routines, rewarding users with lower costs when they take good care of their pets. This encourages owners to maintain their pets' health, reducing the likelihood of expensive claims related to preventable conditions.
The model is simple but effective: happy, healthy pets mean fewer claims for pet insurers. Additionally, pet owners get the satisfaction of not only seeing their pets thrive but also benefiting from tangible financial rewards. This leads to a win-win situation where both the insurer and the customer save money in the long run.
Vitality: Redefining Healthcare Insurance
Vitality, a company focused on healthcare insurance, has made incentivising healthy behaviour a cornerstone of its business model. Users are encouraged to take up physical activities, undergo health checks, and adopt healthy lifestyles, all of which are tracked via wearable devices. In exchange, users receive discounts on their premiums, gym memberships, and even cashback.
Vitality’s model empowers users to take control of their health. The more they engage, the more they save—creating a deeply ingrained habit of proactive care. By reducing the number of health-related claims, Vitality also secures its bottom line while offering an enhanced user experience.
Both Biscuit and Vitality show how these methods can lead to healthier customers and pets, fewer claims, and, consequently, lower premiums. These are clear examples of how incentivising behaviour benefits everyone involved, paving the way for other sectors, including home insurance.
Bringing Incentivisation to Home Insurance
Home insurance has long been a reactive industry, where claims are often made after something has gone wrong, such as water damage or a fire. However, at Planna, we see a tremendous opportunity to shift this paradigm by applying the principles of incentivisation, much like Biscuit and Vitality have done in their respective fields.
Preventive Measures: A Game-Changer
At Planna, homeowners are incentivised to engage in preventive maintenance tasks. Just as tenants on the platform earn rewards for maintaining their homes to prevent issues like mould, homeowners can be encouraged to take routine actions such as checking for leaks, cleaning gutters, or scheduling boiler services. By engaging in these preventive activities, homeowners significantly reduce the chances of needing to make large, reactive claims.
This proactive approach already allows homeowners to reap benefits—lowering overall insurance costs while fostering a safer and better-maintained living environment. The model is designed to align the homeowner’s interests with those of the insurer, resulting in a win-win scenario for both.
Reduced Risks, Better Homes
Incentivising proactive care leads to reduced risks and fewer claims for insurers, while also giving homeowners an active role in maintaining their properties. By offering rewards for tasks that improve home upkeep, this model not only decreases the likelihood of costly repairs but also enhances the overall safety and well-being of the home environment.
A Personalised Approach to Home Insurance
Just as not all pets or people are the same, not all homes face the same risks. By encouraging users to take action based on the specific needs of their property, this model allows for a more tailored approach to home insurance. Whether it’s incentivising flood preparation in high-risk areas or fire safety for homes with open fireplaces, the ability to customise based on individual circumstances ensures that coverage and prevention efforts are as effective as possible.
Conclusion
Incentivising user behaviour is not just a trend—it’s a proven approach that delivers lasting benefits for both companies and consumers. Biscuit Pet Care and Vitality have demonstrated how well this model works in healthcare and pet insurance. At Planna, we are showing how this concept applies to home insurance, by encouraging proactive care to reduce claims, improve safety, and create more personalised policies.
The future of home insurance is not just about reacting to problems after they arise; it’s about empowering homeowners to play an active role in protecting their homes. Through incentivisation, we can transform the home insurance landscape into one that benefits everyone.