Principle of solidarity

A person’s individual health and risk profile determines how high or low their premium is and which benefits are included in their cover. Nowadays these profiles can be determined more precisely thanks to today’s modern generation of sensors and digital apps to track user behaviour. In theory, insurance premiums could be personalised using this data.

In Europe, these digital apps are still very much in their infancy, as indeed are pay as you live models from insurance companies. The picture is somewhat different, however, for self-tracking, for example the use of fitness trackers. The challenge now is to combine health insurers and digital solutions to create real added value for customers.

There are currently various attempts to launch such models. Their success depends on whether enough people are willing to part with more personal data and share it with their insurer. A secure infrastructure is absolutely essential but, above all, a great deal of trust in insurers - something which is not really to hand at the moment. Similarly, it remains to be seen how sustainable these personalised premiums would be and whether the entire insurance collective would able to profit from it.