UK Health Insurer Bribes Customers To Exercise with Apple Watch

With popularity of self-monitoring with wearable devices growing,  UK insurance company Vitality has signed a deal with Apple, according to a report from The Telegraph.

Vitality has signed a deal with the technology giant Apple that it hopes will tap into Britons’ growing taste for tracking their own movements and nutrition through wearable gadgets.

Vitality plans to sign up its insurance customers to an Apple Watch for a deeply-discounted £69 each with the proviso that they “earn” the rest of the £369 purchase price by reaching exercise goals over a 24 month period.

To avoid a penalty charge, users must walk at least 10,000 steps every day, or undertake more vigorous exercise on 20 days a month.

But customers are being warned that cheating on their daily quota is insurance fraud.

Customers who decide to lend their watch to someone more active to fulfil their quota could be accused of insurance fraud.

A spokeswoman for Vitality said “the vast majority” of its existing customers who log their activity to earn rewards do so within the rules. “There are always going to be a few people who try to cheat any type of system.  However, our experience is that abuse of the Vitality Active Rewards benefit is very rare and we monitor it to ensure that a few people do not spoil it for the majority,” she said.

Would you take that deal, an Apple Watch for £69 ($89.54) in exchange for being required to walk 10,000 steps per day and/or vigorous exercise 20 days per month? Many insurance companies here in the US give out pedometers and FitBits and will lower rates if you complete a certain amount of exercise. Theoretically, at least, the insurance company saves money in the long run due to its customers being fitter and thus needing less pricey health care. It will be interesting to see if more insurance companies make deals like this with Apple for steeply discounted Apple Watches. You can read the full story here.