The Client:

Leading provider of private medical insurance

The Brief:

At the time the PMI market was facing increasingly concerning lapse rates for personal private medical insurance due to economic pressures.
Specifically, TIH was asked to consider: 

• Enhancing the loyalty of personal members – specifically to increase retention levels by two percentage points over two years. 

• Increasing the potential for other PMI and general insurance products within the portfolio.  

• Adding long-term value as the core deliverable to raise perceptions of PMI brand’s contribution to the members’ healthcare requirements. 

• Reflecting and reinforcing the overall PMI brand proposition – “dedicated to supporting your health”. 

The Challenge:

Private Medical Insurance (PMI) is a ‘negative purchase’ – bought for reassurance, but in the hope that it will never be used. However, if no claims are made, the perceived value of membership can decline over time.

Our Approach:

We designed and implemented a data-led segmented relationship programme delivering added value healthcare-related benefits to become more and more relevant to each member. “Best of Health” not only provided immediate and cost-effective improvements in member retention but simultaneously built long-term bonds with the membership base.

Created a dialogue-driven communication programme, the Best of Health Programme to make a significant contribution to the successful relationship the PMI brand enjoyed with its members.  

This relationship was built on a thorough investigation and understanding of the relationship that members seek with the brand and converting this into deliverables which reinforce this relationship. 

The programme was delivered cost-effectively in the short-term in a way which positively reinforced and built brand values for the long term.

Business Impact:

The programme created a positive and relevant personal experience of the brand for the members which added value to the point of counteracting heavy price-based commoditisation, reducing customer lapse rates by 24% in the first year in the process.  

Supportive brand values were further underlined through continued reinforcement of the benefits the company offered to the membership: 

• New ways of contacting the company. 

• Further explanation of the benefits of PMI. 

• General information on the increasing sophistication and knowledge available about general healthcare matters. 

Dialogue was encouraged at every point of contact. The resulting information was used to continuously update member profiles, refine targeting and improve the programme’s value to individual members.

Insight with an action plan