The additional questions focus on the type of weight loss treatment prescribed by a medical professional, how long it has been used, and what effect it has had. This will help ensure insurers receive all relevant information needed to make clear and accurate decisions for individuals seeking cover and, where possible, offer buy-now decisions. Seven insurers currently offer buy-now decisions, subject to the answers provided.
The update follows a notable rise in the use of weight loss treatments such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, with an estimated 2.5 million people in the UK now using them for weight loss. Reflecting this wider trend, the Protection Platform has seen 739 applicants disclose taking medical treatment to lose weight.
Nilesh Patel, chief revenue and customer officer at UnderwriteMe, commented: “Protection insurance is often highly dependent upon medical underwriting, and after speaking to our insurer partners we collectively felt it was the right time to enhance the questions on the Protection Platform so that our insurer partners can continue to innovate and evolve their underwriting philosophies in this area on our Platform. Underwriting efficiency and accuracy are key for advisers and the Protection Platform continues to offer highly competitive STP (straight through processing) rates year-on-year. We are the first in the market with these underwriting changes, but we expect others to follow.”
Chris Reed, executive marketing director at Protect Line, commented: “Insurance has a reputation for being slow to change, especially around underwriting. The world our customers live in is moving much faster – from the rapid rise of weight loss treatments to the way Gen Z think about health and lifestyle – and our questions haven’t always kept pace. UnderwriteMe’s enhancements are a clear sign that this is changing. By asking smarter, more nuanced questions about clinically supervised weight loss, they’re helping distributors like us secure fair, timely outcomes for customers who are simply trying to take control of their health.
“It’s also a great example of Consumer Duty in action. UnderwriteMe, their insurers and reinsurers have clearly worked hard behind the scenes to make this possible, and it shows that a once sleepy industry is now very much awake.”
