Hancock, which is owned by Manulife Financial Corp., sells Vitality branded life insurance policies with premium reductions of up to 25% for healthy-living habits such as exercising, eating nutritious foods, and getting mammograms.
Allstate's Drivewise program tracks motorists' speeding, braking, and other driving behaviors using smartphone apps or devices embedded in their vehicles. It also provides premium reductions of up to 25%.
Vitality policyholders who achieve safe-driving status in the Drivewise program will now earn points toward their Hancock premium discount. The pairing makes sense, according to the two carriers, because car accidents are a leading cause of death for people of all ages. The partnership does not extend the other way, so drivers who maintain healthy habits will not receive credit toward an Allstate discount.
Brooks Tingle, president and CEO of John Hancock Insurance, stated that he was motivated to pursue an initiative with Allstate when motor-vehicle deaths increased in the first half of 2021, when many Americans returned to the roads.
"I noticed people driving like idiots," Mr. Tingle observed. "I thought to myself, 'This is insane.'" According to studies, excessive speed, distracted driving, or alcohol impairment are frequently the causes of collisions.
Officials from Allstate were intrigued. "As an industry, we need to do a better job of engaging customers before they are in a car accident, rather than just waiting until they are in a car accident," Allstate Financial Products President Jess Merten said. "That's exactly what Hancock is doing, not just waiting for a death claim."
Both Allstate and Hancock are hoping that their customers will be enticed to purchase their policies from the other. According to Mr. Tingle, the Vitality program has a six-figure participant base, whereas Allstate has 1.75 million drivers enrolled in the Drivewise telematics program.
Both programs include a game component that allows good drivers or frequent exercisers to win gift cards and other prizes. As a result, policyholders are more engaged and having more fun. "It's difficult to think of a product that consumers have less engagement with, get less joy from ownership than life insurance," Mr. Tingle said of how it's typically sold.
Some consumers are concerned about their privacy as a result of these programs. Allstate essentially knows where and when its users go, whereas Hancock can learn what foods they buy, how frequently they exercise, and how well their weight-loss plans are working.
Allstate states that it uses the data to provide feedback to customers in order for them to be safer drivers. The level of detail provided to the insurer is entirely up to the customer at Hancock. Many people are fine with sharing, according to Mr. Tingle, because "as anyone who has gone through the process of buying life insurance knows, the insurer already knows virtually everything about your medical and financial history" from the application process.
According to the companies, they do not sell their customers' personal information.
Mr. Tingle believes it will take four or five years of additional data to determine whether Hancock's seven-year-old effort to encourage better health translates into longer-living (and thus more profitable) policyholders. Telematics programs have been around for about two decades and, according to insurers, have proven to be a good way to set auto premiums.