Bupa is the first health care provider to be Plain Numbers Certified.

Bupa has achieved Plain Numbers Certification on key critical communications, a first for a health insurer. Certification means the document has been assessed by Plain Numbers and has reached a high standard of clarity in the way numbers are communicated.  

More than half of working age adults or around 20 million people in the UK have the numeracy levels of a primary school child. This can be a huge barrier to customers understanding important communications, such as policy documents, and is a key area of focus in the FCA’s Consumer Duty regulations which come into force on 31 July 2023.  

Content creators who develop communications for customers have focused on ensuring copy is jargon free and used measures such as readability for clarity and understanding, but with the Plain Numbers Partnership there’s a new focus on the numbers too. 

Bupa’s Plain Numbers Practitioners have taken part in the comprehensive training course, and, with support from the Plain Numbers team, have implemented improvements to the way numbers are communicated. Research trials across a variety of industries and forms of communication saw that when the Plain Numbers Approach was adopted the number of people who understood customer information doubled. 

The first communications to be Certified are a leaflet which explains the no claims discount and the initial quote email a potential customer receives. Both are critical communications that include numbers and require a customer to make an informed decision. 

The Partnership between Bupa and Plain Numbers will continue over at least the next few years and the insurer strives to go even further on improving customer outcomes.  

Bupa are a member of the Association of British Insurers, who support Plain Numbers as an Advisory Partner to encourage improved consumer understanding across the industry.  

Mike, Chief Exec and Co-Founder of Plain Numbers: 

‘We’re delighted to have helped Bupa take their focus on customer outcomes to the next level by achieving Plain Numbers Certification on key documents, particularly as they are the first health insurer to do so. The concepts they are explaining, such as a no claims discount, are often misunderstood by consumers. With the work Bupa have done to improve understanding those customers should now be able to make informed decisions about their insurance.’ 

Richard Washington, General Manager for Consumer at Bupa UK Insurance: 

“This collaboration has been driven by a shared goal of helping customers and putting them first in all that we do. Simple changes to presenting numbers in a way that customers can understand, irrespective of their level of numeracy, can make a huge difference, help them make the right decisions about their health cover and ensure good outcomes. We are embedding Plain Numbers approach across our business, so it becomes part of our culture.”