Prudential health insurance venture

Prudential is launching into private medical insurance it has announced.

The insurer will launch policies which link the cost of premiums to the efforts people make to look after their health, the MoneyMarketing website reports.

The product launches on October 4th and is designed to help people improve their health and provide extra medical cover when needed.

PruHealth said it aims to reward customers with vitality points for making efforts to improve their health.

Under the scheme, everyone will get a portion of their unused premium back depending on the efforts they make to manage their health.

People who choose to do nothing will still get 25 per cent of that year's unused premium off the cost of the following year's cover while those who make greater efforts can get up to 100 per cent off the cost of cover the following year.

These customers would have to pay the underlying medical and age inflation increase.

PruHealth distribution director David Priestly said: "In the same way that we will seek to reward customers who engage in vitality and / or exhibit low claims, significantly increased commission earnings will be available to intermediaries who work in partnership with PruHealth."