Marketers at health and life insurance carriers face a host of challenges common to their counterparts in other industries, such as the ever rising costs of paid marketing channels like Google Ads and paid social, to the diminished effectiveness of organic social reach etc. However, in addition to the restrictions on the use of personal data applied by rules and legislation, such as GDPR and the CCPA, that apply to all marketers, insurance carriers face additional rules and compliance requirements around how they can market their products and services, and those in health and life insurance tend to face even more restrictions in regards to investment advice and solvency requirements. These challenges often effect the marketing strategies open to health and life insurers.
Along with most insurance products, health and life insurance is not typically considered to be a passion-product, unlike music, fashion, holidays or interior design, where customers often delight in telling friends and families about their latest purchases and discoveries. The sad truth is that most discussions about insurance tend to follow a negative experience. However, and often contrary to popular belief, customers do discuss insurance, and life and health insurance, with their friends, family and colleagues, particularly because of the high stakes involved in and the difficulty in choosing the right provider and policy.
In fact, referral marketing, is not only applicable to fast growing companies like Uber and Airbnb, but if implemented and marketed correctly, can be a game changer for health and life insurers seeking cost-effective and impactful ways to reach new customers. In fact, according to our comprehensive Reward Revolution study, referral marketing is embraced across all age groups with 95% of consumers having referred a friend at least once in the past year and the majority of consumers having reported participating in between two to five referral programs over the same period. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of rewards in referral programs, noting that 74% of people are less likely to refer without a reward, highlighting the necessity for insurers to design attractive referral incentives to sustain this marketing channel. Our ground breaking Referral Codebreakers report also asked participants which channels were the most effective to notify policyholders about a referral program, and identified email, bills, texts, notifications, app notifications as the most effectiveness means to promote a referral program for insurers, which is not surprising given that policyholders probably have little need to keeping coming back to the insurer’s website after having taken out a policy.
1. Vitality Health and Life
Vitality Health and Life is a renowned provider of health and life insurance solutions, with a strong focus on incentivizing healthy living through its rewards-based programs. Established 25 years ago, Vitality has grown to become the largest incentive-based health promotion program in the world. In 2019, members of the Vitality Programme collectively saved £103 million.
Vitality incorporates rewards marketing across different facets of its operations. Through its carefully designed and sophisticated Health and Life insurance referral program, customers receive a choice between a £100 John Lewis or Amazon voucher for each referral they make. Additionally, once a new policy is initiated, the referred friend also benefits from a £100 voucher, which can be redeemed at either John Lewis or Amazon.
2. AXA Health
Established in 1940, AXA stands as a leading global multinational private insurance company. It operates primarily across Western Europe, North America, the Indian Pacific region, and the Middle East. The AXA Group is comprised of a collection of independently managed businesses. Within the UK, AXA maintains subsidiaries across various sectors including car, health, business, landlord, travel, and van insurance. AXA Health provides private healthcare coverage for both individuals and businesses, encompassing health and dental insurance.
AXA Health’s referral program, launched in December 2022 in the United Kingdom, offers rewards worth up to £139 (being a choice of a £100 Amazon or M&S e-gift card, National Trust Joint membership worth £139, or Bluecrest health MOT worth £119), to both the referrer and the referred-in customer for each successful policy purchase by a new customer. The program allows customers to refer multiple times, maximizing their rewards and incentivizing them to actively promote AXA Health’s services.
3. APRIL
APRIL is a leading wholesale insurance broker in France, offering a wide range of insurance products and services to individuals and businesses. With operations in 16 countries and a network of 15,000 partner brokers, APRIL is recognized for its expertise in asset management, loan insurance, foreign health insurance, and personal protection.
APRIL’s referral program enables customers to invite their friends and relatives to take out a policy on their pension and life insurance products, with both the referrer and the referred-in customer receiving rewards in the form of gift cards or PayPal cash worth up to €50.
4. Aréas Assurance
Aréas Assurance is a prominent group of mutual insurance companies based in France, offering a comprehensive range of insurance products. With a strong market presence in France, Aréas Assurance caters to diverse customer segments with its health, life, property, and casualty insurance offerings.
Aréas Assurance offers a versatile referral program that allows existing customers to refer new clients to a wide range of products. For every eligible product that a new customer purchases, the referrer is rewarded with a €30 gift voucher, up to a maximum of 5 referrals, totaling €150. For referrals that result in a professional insurance policy, the referrer is rewarded even more generously, receiving €100 in vouchers for each referral, up to a total of €500. In both scenarios, the new customer does not receive a reward. To qualify, new customers must meet a minimum annual expenditure requirement of €150 for personal insurance products and €300 for professional insurance policies.
5. Bupa Australia
Bupa is a global healthcare leader serving over 38 million customers across the UK, Ireland, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, the US and the Middle East. Bupa Australia offers healthcare insurance tailored for individuals working, visiting, or studying in Australia, facilitated by a user-friendly app for easy access to healthcare services.
Bupa Australia’s referral program rewards existing customers with a AU$100 e-gift card if their referrals purchase a combined hospital and extras package for at least 30 consecutive days. These e-gift cards are redeemable at a wide range of retailers, although referred customers do not receive a direct reward, they can access the latest Bupa offers. Only existing customers are eligible to make referrals.
6. Assurpeople
Assurpeople.com, a brand of LSA Courtage, is a leading French brokerage specializing in property and casualty insurance, including auto and home insurance. They offer customized insurance products in collaboration with major insurers like AXA, GENERALI, Allianz, and SwissLife, catering to over 200,000 customers through a streamlined online process. While they primarily provide insurance for damaged vehicles, canceled policies, and young drivers, their portfolio also includes home, pet, and funeral insurance.
Assurpeople features a tiered referral program where rewards vary based on the insurance policy purchased by the referred friend. In this structure, for car insurance referrals, the referrer earns €25 and the new customer receives €20 via cheque. For home insurance, both parties receive €15, and for health insurance, both are awarded €20. This system rewards participants differently based on the type and value of the policy secured through the referral.
7. La France Mutualiste
La France Mutualiste, one of France’s oldest insurance companies with over 130 years of history, offers a broad range of insurance products, including retirement savings, life, automotive, housing, loans, health, and provident insurance through its subsidiary Média Courtage, acquired in 2017.
Designed to reinforce the family-oriented ethos of the brand, it rewards customers who refer friends to their various insurance policies. Their referral program (access to which is IP restricted) features a free month of coverage for new customers of motor, home, or health insurance and a special incentive for pension and savings customers, where the referrer receives a €50 voucher and the new customer enjoys 0% charges on their first payment.
8. Protect Line
Founded in 2010, Protect Line stands out as one of the premier fee-free Life Insurance Brokers in the UK, boasting over 30,000 five-star reviews on Trustpilot and numerous consumer accolades. The company specializes in life insurance and has safeguarded over 200,000 families against unforeseen emergencies.
Protect Line offers a referral program exclusively for existing customers, allowing them to recommend friends and family for life insurance or critical illness cover. The referral process is straightforward: customers refer their contacts, who then sign up for a policy. Once the new policyholder maintains their policy for at least three months, the referrer receives a reward. There is no cap on the number of referrals an existing customer can make, and for each successful referral that results in a policy, the referrer is rewarded with a £40 voucher redeemable at various high street retailers. No rewards are offered to the referred new customers.
9. CNR Insurance
CNR operates as an independent insurance agency in the United States, partnering with several top-rated insurers to offer a range of Personal, Commercial, and Life insurance products. Beyond merely selling insurance, CNR is committed to engaging deeply with clients to aid them in making critical and well-informed decisions about their protection and future.
Their refer-a-friend program awards US$25 to the referrer for each new customer they bring in, regardless of whether the referrer is a current customer. The program does not provide any reward to the new customer.
Although there is limited data on the effectiveness of this program, it exemplifies a basic approach that might benefit from enhancements. The current setup, which primarily involves a form for entering the referrer’s details, lacks engaging elements that could potentially attract more participants and highlight the benefits more effectively.
10. DundasLife
Dundaslife is a modern insurance provider, offering simple and transparent life insurance solutions for individuals and families. With a focus on digital innovation and customer-centricity, Dundaslife aims to make life insurance accessible and easy to understand for everyone.
Dundaslife’s referral program for life insurance rewards the referrer with up to $1,000, though the amount per referral is unclear to non-members. However, it’s clear that the referred-in customer doesn’t get a reward.
11. Assurancevie.com
Assurancevie.com is a well-established provider of life and pension insurance in France, offering comprehensive products tailored to individuals seeking financial security for themselves and their families. With a focus on long-term savings and life protection, Assurancevie.com has built a reputation for reliability and customer-centric solutions.
Assurancevie.com offers a referral program for its life insurance customers. After logging into their account, customers receive a unique referral code to share via SMS, email, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger. When the referred person subscribes to an insurance policy and keeps it for at least 12 months, the referrer earns €100, and the new customer receives €50. Payments are made within 60 days of the contract being finalized and each customer can refer up to 10 people per year.
12. Ethos Life
Ethos Life simplifies the process of obtaining life insurance by eliminating the need for medical exams or blood tests. Applicants can secure the coverage necessary to protect their families by simply answering a few health-related questions online, a process that only takes minutes.
Ethos Life encourages its customers to refer others through a straightforward referral program (access to which is IP restricted). When you use your referral link to recommend someone who is eligible, you receive a $10 Amazon gift card for each person who creates an Ethos account. Furthermore, if a referral is approved for a AAA Life policy, you are rewarded with a $50 Amazon gift card. There is no limit to the number of people you can refer, allowing you to earn a minimum of $100 per year from this program.
13. Emma Insurance
Emma Insurance offers a straightforward process to protect your family with life insurance, providing coverage in less than 20 minutes for just $8 a month. The application requires answering only a few eligibility questions, and children’s coverage is automatically approved.
Once you become a policyholder with Emma Insurance, you can refer friends and family. For each referral who is approved, you earn a C$50 reward. Initially, Emma Life Insurance managed its referral program in-house, which was inefficient and costly. This method involved manually tracking referrals and issuing rewards, which proved to be cumbersome.
The above referral programs in the health and life insurance sectors showcase the potential for both traditional and digital insurers to thrive by fostering a culture of trust and shared benefits. At Buyapowa, we understand the crucial role well-crafted referral programs play in driving organizational growth and enhancing customer satisfaction. Drawing on successful examples from the wider insurance industry, we’re eager to help you achieve similar success by developing a referral program that aligns with your community’s values and growth ambitions. Get in touch today.