Health monitoring technology set to change insurance landscape

Enable of Bishop’s Stortfords experienced IFA’s know that insurance has been subject to much abuse over the years that have cost the end-user millions in premiums over the years.  Experts in the field have started to predict  a future where protection policies will be technologically tailored to individuals’ needs and insurers will be using more technology to keep closer tabs on their customers’ particularly their health. Many insurers say the main benefit of using wearable technology is the reduction in premiums for healthier individuals.

 Wearable devices like Google Glass and wristbands which track blood pressure and the rate at which calories are burned are already increasingly being used by insurance providers to spot health risks. Underwriteme chief executive Martin Werth says: “The more insurers can track people the more discounts they can offer. If you are overweight and you lose weight then we can give you a discount because your health has improved.” “If someone gets up every day to exercise and eats well then they should be credited for it. These wearable devices will help prove how healthy they are.”

These technological advances will probably dramatically reduce protection premiums for some, but that doesn’t stop there being a host of ethical and practical stumbling blocks coming up from privacy issues to how to really use these devices in the underwriting  process.

Highclere Financial Services partner Alan Lakey says: “Technology is a double-edged sword that could be negative for many in poor health. We could have genetic testing that makes people uninsurable from birth because it is known they will get a certain illness. That is the natural path we are on, which will see the development of an insurance underclass. Using more technology will be divisive.”  LV= head of protection Mark Jones says: “The difficulty we have with wearable equipment is who is actually wearing it? You could easily have a very lucrative secondary market from people abusing it.” Interesting stuff to consider.


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