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by zelon88 2484 days ago
> That Instagram pic showing you teasing a grizzly bear at Yellowstone with a martini in one hand, a bucket of cheese fries in the other, and a cigarette in your mouth, could cost you. On the other hand, a Facebook post showing you doing yoga might save you money.

It will be a cold day in hell when any insurance company investigates you for potential fraud, decides you're not guilty, and then decides to LOWER your premiums as a result of their investigation. Premiums don't work that way. It's frustrating to see that float around as even a possibility from a blog like FastCompany that claims to know how the business world works. I find it incredibly frustrating anyone would even insinuate that insurance companies have a conscience.
2 comments
pfranz 2484 days ago
Insurance companies already give away FitBits, have "health fairs," I remember getting a $50 Visa gift card for participating in some health thing at work. These are all in exchange for lower premiums your employer is likely negotiated.

I've heard similar stories about car insurance companies asking to install GPS into your car for discounts or per-mile billing.

I'm not quite sure about the end-game for insurance companies for things that aren't about catching fraud. If we have perfect data then we lose the risk-pooling for insurance--then you're no longer insuring against anything and that seems like a different type of business to me.

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Nasrudith 2484 days ago
The innocent explanation is if they see it as reducing the risk in their pool - the equivalent of it is cheaper to give away flu vaccines than say 25% reduction in flu hospitalizations it is a win-win. Assuming it is always the case is naive however.

However the tracking is suspicious. Insurance companies have a bad habit of trying to never pay what they promise out of greed - despite doing so sawing at the branch they sit upon.

As a rule of thumb if the insurance company learns nothing from what it gives away it is probably trustworthy.

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creaghpatr 2484 days ago
If it's like car insurance, a competitor would use that data to lure you away with a lower premium.
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zelon88 2484 days ago
Except we know that's not how the younger generations buy insurance. [1]

Many people buy the insurance they can afford. That means lowest up-front costs or flat out whoever will actually give you a policy. There's not nearly as much choice in the matter as you're making it out to be. Most people don't have the luxury of shopping for the best value plan. So the lowest barrier for picking up an insurance plan isn't who has the best price.

It's who has the lowest standards for what they'll insure. The nature of the game means that those two selling points (price & availability) are mutually exclusive.

[1] https://www.agencynation.com/millennials-independent-agents/

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