Pruhealth scrapping its free/discounted gym loophole in November. Discussion

Gambit

SmileY wrote: »

you make it sound so easy bargain!!
as the main policy holder is my OH ill make her suffer the call
hopefully gambit is right though!

I'm gonna make the call tomorrow too so will let you guys know what they say...

Let me know what they say to the OH too SmileY as I'm hoping we will both get an answer of yes... fingers crossed! :huh:

Gambit

It seems you were right Bargain Rzl - the maximum number of points you can receive for the category of exercise is 1500 (for an individual)

I was surprised at this especially as when I look at my points statement it looks like the maximum of gym workouts is 1500 and the maximum for fitbug is also 1500. I told them that the statement made this unclear and they told me that this was being addressed and would be changed when the website was updated.

But that doesnt help me get to a Platinum status... grrr!! :mad:

Sorry to creating confusion on the forum as I did not mean to misinform!!

cheeky

SmileY wrote: »

thanks bargain ... yes sorry for a couple membership
we took the membership a couple of months ago but havnt joined a gym yet ... so its unlikely we will accumulate enough points for even silver membership by november.
so from the sounds of it i may as well go ahead and get gym membership as it only applies for a small amount of points anyway!

we joined the gym around 22nd June, between us we have 100 points for June, 200 for july so far (we both try to go every day). On top of this we have lots of the "easy points" - eg login, stress assess, diet assess, etc. This comes to 700ish, or 1000+ so far.

I have constructed a elaborate (to say the least!!!) excel spreadsheet with target and achieved columns for each area by month (gym, sainsburys, ebay etc.) and we should hit 2770 points by 31st oct - onto that i can add 2 fitness assessments (600) and 2 basic health screens if desperate @ £25 (400) We should clear 3700 points, as platinum is 3000, we should make it quite easily. There are other health screenings you could add too.

If you crack on NOW/TODAY you could make platinum by 31st oct. BTW, i have lost weight and am feeling really good! Swimming every morning is excellent!

Bargain_Rzl

I've just had a lengthy conversation with customer services too, and been told that:

Fitbug and gym visits contribute to a COMBINED cap of 1,500 points.

I pointed out that this wasn't clear, and was referred to the summary table of category limits where it states that the cap for the entire exercise category is 1,500 points.

In which case, I said, that must mean that the points available through Fitness Assessments - also part of the Exercise category - must also be subject to this combined cap (which I know is not the case). "Oh no, fitness assessments definitely count in addition to the 1,500 point Exercise cap". So why do they come under the Exercise category, which the website clearly states is capped overall at 1,500? And if they are separate, how is anybody to guess that Fitbug isn't also separate from the gym?

I also queried whether the combined cap applied monthly, too, so a 150-point limit for both combined. Advisor said he thought it did. I again pointed out that there was absolutely no indication on the website that this was the case. Advisor admitted that his understanding that a combined monthly cap applied was just that - an understanding - and he didn't actually know.

This conversation went round in circles for some time :mad: and I think my best course of action will be to put my concerns in writing and hope my letter gets dealt with by somebody with slightly more brain cells to rub together than this one had.

SmileY_4

thanks for clarifying this for me guys ... what a shame! again cheeky makes it sound so easy so if OH and I get on with accumulating points ... so long as we reach even Silver we will be saving on the gym (which I think was the original reason for joining Pru in the 1st place - obv with additional benefit of having health insurance!).

So for the ease of understanding (as we are just about sure whats going on):

- a MAXIMUM of 30 visits to the gym/fitbug between me and OH in each month
- a MAXIMUM of 3,000 points available in gym/fitbug category in each year (from taking out the insurance I presume?)
- fitness assessments give ADDITIONAL points
- we will only retain 5% of our points at the end of the first year of the insurance term
- we will pay pru £50 in first month to join gym (if we joined today), then 2 months of £25, then we will pay £0 (provided we go twice a week) then will revert to £42 a month as we will be on bronze (or less if silver etc) until end of first year of insurance

thanks

Bargain_Rzl

OK - in an attempt at getting some clarification in writing both for now and the future, I have just sent the following message to Customer Services via the website:

Dear PruHealth,

I would like to draw your attention to some confusing and misleading information on your website with regard to Vitality points.

I have already raised these issues via a phone call, but the customer service advisor who dealt with my enquiry did not seem to understand fully why I considered the information misleading. Furthermore, I have sought advice from customer services in the past on some of my individual points, and have been given contradictory answers depending on which advisor I have spoken to!

In the PDF document outlining the Vitality points available in the various categories, the activities making up the EXERCISE category are listed as follows, with maximum points per annum on an individual membership:

Maintaining fitness rating over 6-month period (max 400)
Improving fitness rating over 6-month period (max 600)
Gym workout (max 1,500)
Fitness assessment (max 600)
Organised fitness event (1 star) (max 500)
Organised fitness event (2 stars) (max 1,000)
Fitbug (pedometer) (max 1,500)
Purchasing eligible goods from eBay (max 120)

In the top right-hand corner of the same page, it states that the overall maximum per annum for points within the Exercise category is 1,500.

It is my understanding that this ‘Exercise category limit’ of 1,500 points is incorrect, because while 1,500 is the limit for points from gym visits, it’s still possible (if I have been advised correctly when I queried it by phone in the past) to gain up to the maximum IN ADDITION for some of the other categories within the Exercise category, namely the 600 points available for fitness assessments and up to 600 points available for an improvement in fitness rating. So if I got 1,500 points from gym visits and 300+300 points by having two fitness assessments, I would end up with 2,100 points, not 1,500.

In summary, if the points I can get from Fitness Assessments and for maintaining/improving fitness levels are not included in the 1,500-point limit for the Exercise category, then they should not be listed in the Exercise category at all, but should have a category to themselves. Either this, or the points limit for the overall Exercise category should be changed to reflect the fact that it allows 1,500 gym/Fitbug points PLUS the points available from fitness assessments.

There is also no indication of whether gym and Fitbug limits are separate or combined (except for the daily limit of 10 points on the two together), or of whether Fitbug is subject to a 150-point monthly limit such as applies to gym visits. It is my understanding that points cannot exceed 1,500 per annum for gym and Fitbug activities combined, but nowhere on your site is this confirmed, except in the table stating that the points limit for the Exercise category is 1,500 (which, because of the additional points I know are available on top of this for Fitness Assessments, is clearly incorrect, so I do not consider that I can make any assumption on the basis of this figure).

Please also make clear whether the points available from gym visits and Fitbug are subject to separate or combined maximums, on (a) a monthly basis, and (b) an annual basis.

I look forward to your response, as I am asking these questions not only on my own behalf but on behalf of a number of confused members!

Regards

Will share the reply when it comes...

Gambit

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

In which case, I said, that must mean that the points available through Fitness Assessments - also part of the Exercise category - must also be subject to this combined cap (which I know is not the case). "Oh no, fitness assessments definitely count in addition to the 1,500 point Exercise cap". So why do they come under the Exercise category, which the website clearly states is capped overall at 1,500? And if they are separate, how is anybody to guess that Fitbug isn't also separate from the gym?

I just called again and asked them about this. After saying that the fitness assessment was definitely NOT in the exercise limit of 1500 the customer service staff went to ask his manager. He came back and apologised saying he was wrong and that the exercise limit of 1500 included the fitness assessments.

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

This conversation went round in circles for some time :mad: and I think my best course of action will be to put my concerns in writing and hope my letter gets dealt with by somebody with slightly more brain cells to rub together than this one had.

Sounds like my conversation!!! :rotfl: They really dont know what's going on do they? You would have thought that they would get their stories straight as they must have known people would be calling in with all these questions about vitality points...

Bargain_Rzl

Gambit - I'm almost certain the fitness assessments are in addition! There must be loads of MSErs who've already rolled over into their second policy year and for whom those fitness assessments would have made the difference between silver and platinum I'm sure we'd have heard plenty about it on these forums if they hadn't got all the points they expected...

Gambit

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

Gambit - I'm almost certain the fitness assessments are in addition! There must be loads of MSErs who've already rolled over into their second policy year and for whom those fitness assessments would have made the difference between silver and platinum I'm sure we'd have heard plenty about it on these forums if they hadn't got all the points they expected...

Well I think I'm going to assume he's wrong and keep going to the gym and using fitbug (which I do anyways) and see what happens when I hit 900 for the gym/fitbug (ie. the 'limit' if what I was told today was true)

Bargain_Rzl

If the fitness assessments ARE part of the 1,500 limit, I'm going to have to pay for a screening of some kind - I'm on 1,845 points at the moment, of which 1,455 are from Exercise (including fitness assessments), so (given that my policy anniversary is 29th September) if I can only make another 55 points from gymgoing/fitness assessments/Fitbug, and if I click on 2 self help articles in August and another 2 in September I will still be a few points short...

...on the other hand, if it's additional, my second fitness assessment (next Thursday) will tip me nicely into the Platinum.

I'm just CONVINCED that we'd have heard about it by now if the fitness assessments didn't count in addition to the 1,500 exercise limit.