Vitality car insurance review
We've scrutinised the car insurance cover available from Vitality to help you decide if its rewards-based plans are right for you.
![Vitality Vitality](https://www.finder.com/niche-builder/63f8d9f8c4bc5.png)
Best known for its rewards-based health insurance, Vitality now also offers car insurance that aims to reward careful and/or greener driving habits with cashback, discounts and free coffees. Read on to find out more about how it works, and whether the perks and quality of cover justify adding Vitality to your car insurance shortlist next time you renew.
You may be familiar with Vitality (previously known as PruHealth and PruProtect) as one of the UK’s biggest providers of health insurance and life insurance. In both cases, Vitality offers rewards for living a healthier lifestyle, which entitle you to vouchers and discounts for anything from a takeaway coffee to a smart watch.
In 2021, Vitality branched out into car insurance, in partnership with underwriter Covea. As with its health products, Vitality’s taken a similar, rewards-based approach. When you take out a car insurance plan, Vitality sends you a sensor to install in your car – a form of telematics-based insurance (though Vitality won’t increase your premium for poor driving, unlike some telematics policies). You link this to a Vitality Member app on your smartphone. Vitality can then measure how well you drive. In exchange for safe, careful driving you can earn cashback on your premium plus points to get you further benefits.
The sensor alerts Vitality if you’ve been in an accident, so it can more easily get help to you if required.
You can take out Vitality car insurance without installing and using the sensor, but you won’t benefit from any cashback on your premiums or build up any rewards.
Vitality’s parent company is Discovery Limited, a multinational financial services organisation based in South Africa.
Covea Insurance plc underwrites and administer Vitality car insurance.
Vitality Corporate Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It’s permitted by the FCA to act as a general insurance intermediary and credit broker. You can find more details about its authorisation on the Financial Services Register.
Vitality only offers comprehensive car insurance – so if you’re looking for third-party or third-party, fire and theft cover, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Its comprehensive policy is 5-star rated by insurance analyst Defaqto, and it doesn’t charge any admin fees for mid-term adjustments.
Its car insurance is available to permanent UK residents aged between 18 and 85 from the cover start date. It doesn’t offer multi-car cover, but you can add up to 3 named drivers to your policy if you wish.
Our table below summarises what’s included with Vitality car insurance.
Product Name | Vitality car insurance |
---|---|
Damage to your car | ✓ |
Damaged windscreen and window glass | ✓ |
Fire and theft | ✓ |
Personal accident cover | ✓ |
Medical expenses | ✓ |
Personal belongings | ✓ |
Liabilities to third parties | ✓ |
Using the car abroad | ✓ |
Alternative travel costs | ✓ |
No-claims discount | ✓ |
Replacement locks | ✓ |
Permanently fitted audio equipment | ✓ |
To benefit from rewards and discounts on your Vitality car insurance, you’ll need to install the free sensor it sends you in your car and link it to a Vitality Member smartphone app. Vitality will use the sensor and the app to track your driving behaviours for each trip. Aspects of your driving it measures include:
For each trip, you’ll be rated as green, amber or red. Drive well, and you could earn up to 6 points a day. You’ll also accrue up to 6 points for each day you don’t drive at all, as a reward for “greener” behaviour. And, as we all know, points mean prizes. There are 3 main ways in which you can receive benefits.
Vitality has a range of optional extras that you can add onto your policy for an extra fee. These include:
A car insurance excess is the amount of money you will need to pay towards any claims you make. You can usually adjust an insurer’s default excess, and the higher the excess, typically the lower the premium. But bear in mind that insurers won’t pay out for any claims that cost less than the excess amount, so don’t set it so high that you can’t afford to pay it in the event of a claim.
Vitality’s excess works a bit differently to most, in that you can reduce it simply by driving well and earning Vitality points. When you first take out a Vitality car insurance policy, you’ll start on Bronze status, which doesn’t give you a discount. Earn 1,000 points and you’ll move up to Silver status, which gets you £50 off your excess. Platinum status holders get the maximum discount of £250, in exchange for earning 1,800+ points.
You’ll find details about any compulsory or voluntary excesses in your policy document.
To make a claim with Vitality, for most claims you’ll need to call its car insurance claims line on 0330 024 0631. For a windscreen or window claim, you can claim online or call its dedicated glassline on 0330 024 0633 You can call at any time – both numbers are open 24/7 and 365 days a year.
Have the following details to hand before you make the call:
You need to let your insurer know about an incident as soon as possible, even if it’s not your fault. If you don’t, any claim could be rejected claim later on.
Vitality’s car insurance is still fairly new to the market, so there are limited customer reviews that cover car insurance specifically. It gets a 3.9 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot for its health insurance as of February 2023, with some customers giving it a glowing 5-star review. It’s received praise in particular for its app and its rewards system. It also got a smattering of 1-star reviews, however, with some customers expressing frustration about poor customer service and loopholes in its cover. To its credit, though, Vitality takes the time to respond to 98% of negative reviews, and typically within 24 hours.
It also received a good 4.4 our of 5 stars for its Member App on Apple’s App store. Views from Android app users were more mixed, netting it just 3.4 stars out of 5. Issues with the app syncing with other devices to build up points were a fairly frequent cause of concern. Most niggles mentioned were with fitness trackers, but one review from early 2023 mentioned problems syncing with the in-car sensor.
Vitality has also been shortlisted for Finder’s 2023 car insurance awards.
With its rewards for careful driving, or for being more sustainable by leaving your car at home for the day, Vitality is certainly offering a different and potentially appealing new car insurance proposition. And its 5-star Defaqto rated policy suggests the quality of its cover makes it worth consideration, if the price is right for you. And don’t forget, that aforementioned careful driving has the potential to bring your premiums down.
Sure, it doesn’t offer third-party or third-party, fire and theft cover, but this isn’t necessarily a major flaw. Surprisingly, evidence suggests that these lower-level policies don’t always cost less than comprehensive cover.
We reckon that Vitality car insurance is worth a look next time your car insurance comes up for renewal. Or, if you’ve read this review and decided that Vitality is not for you, you can also compare other car insurance policies on the market.
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