Bupa UK has partnered with the Plain Numbers Project, a social enterprise that enables businesses to better communicate with customers who struggle with numbers.
During a three-year partnership, Bupa and Plain Numbers will work together to help the health insurer communicate numbers and data more clearly to its customers to improve understanding, through staff training, document certification and ongoing support.
Data from the Financial Conduct Authority shows that poor numeracy is the single most common customer vulnerability; and just under half the adult population in the UK have the everyday maths skills expected of an eleven-year old. [1]
Combining insights from behavioural science with Plain Numbers’ knowledge of adult numeracy levels, select Bupa staff will be trained to become Plain Numbers practitioners and communicate key numbers clearly and fairly in documents like policy quotes and renewal letters.
"We want our communications to be clear and easy to understand"
Richard Washington, General Manager, Consumer at Bupa UK said: “Our ambition at Bupa is to be the most customer-centric healthcare company in the world. We want our communications to be clear and easy to understand so that our customers can make well-informed decisions when they purchase or renew a policy from us. We’re delighted to be working with Plain Numbers to continually improve our customer experience.”
Bupa has recently become the Official Healthcare Partner of ParalympicsGB, in a three-year partnership to provide British Paralympians with the highest quality healthcare on their journey to success at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games - and beyond. Through the partnership Bupa and ParalympicsGB will also collaborate to promote accessibility and inclusivity in business and healthcare.
Anne Marie Cooklin, Head of Communications at Bupa UK, who recently completed the Plain Numbers Practitioner training said: “Insurance and financial services can be complex. Simple changes to the way we communicate numbers can make a huge difference for our customers. It's great to be able to help them, especially those who are vulnerable, understand important information we give them and make things even clearer.”
Mike Ellicock, CEO and Co-Founder of Plain Numbers said: “We are delighted to be working with Bupa UK to help ensure as many Bupa customers as possible understand the numbers around their health insurance. We’re thrilled to be starting our new partnership and can’t wait to work with Bupa’s newly trained Plain Numbers Practitioners to start embedding a Plain Numbers Approach together.”
Notes to editors
[1] https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/occasional-papers/infographicop8.pdf
About Plain Numbers
Plain Numbers is an organisation enabling firms to take practical action to support customers who struggle with numbers. We work with a wide range of partners to help improve the clarity of consumer communications by applying our unique Plain Numbers Approach. Our research has shown that applying the Plain Numbers Approach can double the number of customers who understand communications. This gives consumers a better chance of making informed decisions, improving their financial wellbeing and achieving better outcomes.
