Pruhealth Members Set To Lose ££s As Well As lbs

Emma Lunn signed up for the innovative Pruhealth scheme that offered cheaper gym memberships and lower health insurance premiums in return for frequent gym visits. She's not renewing....

Private medical insurance can be pricey, so the Pruhealth scheme where regular gym visits can reduce premiums -- and the cost of gym membership -- sounds very attractive.

Sadly, however, Pruhealth is changing the terms of the deal from November 1st. This means that gym goers who have been paying nothing for their workouts will have to pay up to £50 a month.

Pruhealth launched its Vitality programme in October 2004 and the idea was that people who took care of their health could get cheaper premiums and discounts on health-related products. 

Members earn `Vitality points' by doing all manner of healthy things; going to the gym, walking a certain amount each day, not smoking, buying fruit and veg and going for regular health check-ups. Donna Werbner explained how the scheme works earlier this year.

The more points earned the higher your Vitality status (bronze, silver, gold or platinum) and the lower your premium the following year.

Whatever your status the policy offered discounted gym memberships in a deal with LA Fitness, Cannons and Virgin Active. The more you went to the gym, the less you paid for gym membership and if you managed to average two or more gym visits each week, your gym membership could in some cases become free.

Everyone loved it

The critics loved it. The members loved it. Even I loved it and I duly signed up for a Pruhealth PMI policy and joined my local LA Fitness.  

Urged on by the thought of getting something for nothing, I dragged myself to the gym through rain, wind and snow and pounded the treadmill like never before. I wasn't the only one; a quick search of some internet discussion boards suggests that the gym offer went down a storm and thousands of people took out a PMI policy with Pruhealth just to get cheap or free gym membership.

Such was my own dedication that by the time the first three months -- the period over which gym visits are counted -- were up I'd been going regularly enough to receive the full discount and pay a grand total of zero for my gym membership for the next three months.

On top of that I was also pretty fit -- the thought of saving money seemed to have motivated me to go to the gym more than any impending special event or hot date had ever done. Friends commented on my weight loss and I was even fit enough to run the British Asics 10k race at the beginning of July and in a decent time too.

But no sooner had I hung up my race medal than I noticed a note on Pru's website saying that the gym discounts would be changing from 1^st November. Apparently the insurer `wanted to bring gym fees into line with other member benefits'. However, a cynic might suggest the existing gym deal had proved a little too popular and ended up costing Prudential money.

From November instead of calculating fees by counting gym visits the amount members pay will be worked out according to their Vitality status - bronze, silver, gold or platinum.

The trouble is despite seemingly spending half my life pumping iron, my Vitality points have remained depressingly low and I'm still a bronze member needing something like 800 points to go up a level. 

Pruhealth's website informed me that my lowly status meant that from November I'd be paying a massive £50 a month for my gym membership. Shockingly this is more than I'd be charged than if I walked in off the street and joined up; the going rate is currently £40 a month for my branch of LA Fitness.

Can Pruhealth do this?

Can Pruhealth change the terms and conditions of a deal after enticing people in with a no-brainer like free gym membership? Yes, it seems it can although a quick call to the members' hotline confirmed I was free to cancel my PMI policy, gym membership or both if I wanted to.  However the adviser took the time to try and convince me that moving up a level or two wouldn't be that hard; I beg to differ.

Although I can gain 300 Vitality points by going for a "fitness assessment" at the gym I can't really see the point. I already know my weight and height and my doctor tells me my blood pressure is OK.

I could get more points by buying fitness-related goods on ebay.co.uk -- but there's nothing I need -- or by buying fruit and vegetables at Sainsburys but my nearest one is too far away if I just want to stock up on bananas.

Another option is to log on to Pruhealth's online nutrition centre and create a `healthy meal plan' or read some self-help articles on the site. But I'm not a complete idiot and know very well that fruit and veg are good while  booze and kebabs are bad. And I really haven't got the time to sit around reading self-help articles.

For more Vitality points I could have a health screen which detects early signs of certain illnesses but this would cost me up to £375.

The truth is I simply haven't got the time or inclination to do all these things and report back to Pru what I've been up to. So for me at least, and I suspect thousands of other Pruhealth members, come November it will be time to look round for a new PMI policy and a cheaper gym membership.

More: Private Medical Insurance: Is It Worth It?