Month: May 2024

Thought Leadership

Lauren Bagley, Chief Distribution Officer

 

Embedded Insurance…what?

 

So, what exactly is embedded insurance and why should any mortgage businesses care? 

 

Embedded insurance simply means insurance that is integrated with a product or service into an existing customer journey. Therefore, the consumer is offered the right insurance for a product or service directly during the purchasing process.

 

For example, you book your all-inclusive summer holiday online and its convenient to add travel insurance as it’s offered as a booking option. Embedded insurance makes this possible.

 

Eureka! Embedded home insurance alongside a mortgage perhaps?

 

As you can see, the goal of embedded insurance is to seamlessly integrate insurance into existing purchasing processes to create the best and smoothest buying experience for the customer.

 

The main reason for considering embedding home insurance in your mortgage process is vast changes in consumer behaviour in recent years. Consumers demand convenience and comfort above all, which means uncomplicated and individual customer journeys in all areas are essential.

 

It presents a gigantic opportunity for mortgage advisers to capitalise on because it’s within your mortgage advice process that this product becomes a need, and within your data that provides the mechanism to automate and ‘embed’ digital insurance into individual customer journeys.

 

Is embedded insurance right for your business? Things to consider:

 

1. Do you currently offer home insurance consistently to all buyer types e.g. remortgage and purchase customers? 


If you do, and it’s working – great, certainly continue. But if your business isn’t making the most of the insurance opportunity, embedded insurance would deliver this for you.

 

2. How good is your data?

Ensuring data quality across your business is such a critical element to be considering, not just for embedded insurance but wider utility as other mortgage related tech advances. Quality data allows your embedded insurance partner to enrich and personalise insurance offerings according to individual customer profiles and preferences. For example, is it a first-time buyer with no current insurance or remortgage customer potentially switching insurance to a new provider? These data points enable deeper personalisation and supercharged customer experiences.

 

3. Are you seeking business diversification?

Embedded insurance can serve as an additional revenue stream. By earning commissions from insurance sales, you will diversify income sources and improve overall financial performance. 

Embedded home insurance isn’t just an add-on; it’s a highly effective gateway to providing a comprehensive service. By integrating insurance directly into mortgage journeys, you’re prioritising clients’ needs and seamlessly addressing a very core aspect of homeownership. 

Press Release

Private equity investor, LDC, has invested in the rapidly expanding insurtech business Uinsure, to support its ambitious growth strategy.

Founded in 2007, Uinsure is a cloud-based technology platform that connects financial intermediaries and lenders with a panel of the UK’s leading insurers, enabling its customers to arrange cover through a frictionless platform that has removed the complexities from insurance. 

Uinsure has achieved 27% compound annual revenue growth over the last 10 years and LDC’s investment and strategic support will increase its market share further, while developing new markets, as well as growing its network of partnerships with intermediaries, major building societies, and banks.

 

Uinsure has invested heavily in its technology capability in recent years, including in new API integrations, improvements to its customer experience and in the development of its new pricing engine, enabling it to offer disruptive and award-winning digital-first insurance solutions.

 

The Manchester-based business has doubled the size of its team dedicated to technology over the last two years, while it has won twelve prestigious industry awards during that time for its UinsureCX product, which tracks an individual’s mortgage progress and triggers communications at the most relevant moments of the mortgage cycle.

LDC is backing the existing management team led by founder and CEO Simon Taylor, who is also the former founder and CEO of Bankhall. Martin Schultheiss will continue as Group Managing Director, James Fawcett as Chief Financial Officer, and Dan Wright as Non-Executive Chair. As part of the transaction, Peter Thompson, industry expert and former CEO of BGL Insurance has joined Uinsure as a Non-Executive Director.

The investment was led by LDC North West Partner Aziz Ul-Haq and Partner and Head of North West Dale Alderson, alongside Investment Director Grant Goodwin and Investment Manager Camilla Greenwood. Dale and Aziz will join the board.

Simon Taylor, CEO of Uinsure, said: “Right from the very first meeting, LDC has been aligned with our vision to remove the complexity of insurance for our partners and their customers. When we started looking for an investor to support us through our next phase of growth, finding the right partner who shares our culture was extremely important to us. The team at LDC will be working closely to strategically support us with our long term goals, as we explore new markets and grow our network of partnerships.”

Aziz Ul-Haq, Partner at LDC in the North West, added: “Uinsure’s recent large-scale investment in its technology means it is perfectly placed to serve its target market by offering a digital-first solution with a competitive edge. It has a highly experienced and incredibly ambitious management team whose offering has disrupted the industry and revolutionised the market. We’re looking forward to working with them to help it grow further.”

LDC has a successful track record in the technology sector. Since 2012, we have invested over £650m into more than 35 fast growing technology businesses, backing management teams to achieve their ambitions.

Uinsure was advised by GP Bullhound (corporate finance), Eversheds Sutherland (legal) and Deloitte (debt advisory), with bank facilities provided by HSBC and Santander.

LDC was advised by DLA Piper (legal), KPMG (financial due diligence and tax) and LEK (commercial due diligence).

8th May 2024. Nottingham, UK: Nottingham Building Society has today announced a partnership with leading insurance technology firm, Uinsure, to provide seamless home insurance quotes in as little as 60 seconds.

Members will be able to obtain a home insurance quote through one of the quickest platforms available on the market online and within a minute in branch.

The innovative solution streamlines the application process and requires customers to enter three simple criteria: their name, date of birth and postcode. Powered by the Manchester-based insuretech, the partnership will grant Nottingham Building Society’s members access to a product which uses quotes from leading UK insurers, all competing to offer the most competitive price on Uinsure’s 5-star Defaqto rated policy.

The cheapest quote is then presented to members, ensuring they receive the best value policy that meets their needs.

Commenting on the partnership, Sue Hayes, CEO at Nottingham Building Society, said: “Our purpose has always been to make homeownership as easy and achievable a process for the UK public as possible. This collaboration with Uinsure enables us to offer potential homeowners and existing members the peace of mind that their property is protected against unexpected losses or damage.

“By leveraging cutting-edge technology, we’ve simplified the insurance process during a time where expenses continue to rise and the cost-of-living crisis remains front of mind.” Uinsure provide comprehensive home insurance policies that includes up to £1m of buildings protection, £75K or £100K contents cover and accidental breakage of technology equipment; landlords can also benefit by insuring rental properties.

Martin Schulthiess, Uinsure Group Managing Director, concluded: “We’re delighted Nottingham Building Society has selected us as its new insurance partner, allowing its members to access our seamless insurance technology to arrange their cover at the right time alongside their mortgage applications.

“Our mission is to remove the complexities from insurance by leveraging technology and data to make insurance quotes more convenient and accessible nationwide. The team have worked tirelessly to expand our partner network, which is an essential in allowing us to achieve our goals, this partnership underlines the trust leading building societies have placed in us to deliver excellent insurance experiences for their Members.”

For more information, please visit https://www.thenottingham.com

Leek Building Society has today announced its new partnership with leading insurtech, Uinsure, that will significantly improve members’ experiences when arranging home and landlord insurance.

After reaching its 160-year milestone this year, Leek Building Society, recently awarded the UK’s Best Building Society 2023, continues to demonstrate its commitment to putting members first by offering them Uinsure’s highly rated insurance.

By working with Uinsure, Leek members can get a quote in as little as 20 seconds and buy online in under a minute, using a journey that’s significantly quicker and more simple than other direct insurers or aggregators.

Uinsure has built a strong reputation backed by five-star ratings from Defaqto and Trustpilot, and its comprehensive coverage and commitment in providing exceptional customer experiences aligns with Leek Building Society’s dedication to delivering great value and a great service to its members.

Ian Blurton, Head of Branch Network and Customer Support said: “At Leek Building Society, our members are at the heart of everything we do. Our partnership with Uinsure emphasises our commitment to offering them peace of mind by providing access to highly rated home and landlord insurance through integrated and seamless journeys that are accessible, convenient and priced competitively.”

Lauren Bagley, Uinsure’s chief partnership and marketing officer, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Leek Building Society, in what is our ninth society partnership, as we continue the rollout of our distribution strategy that’s making insurance more accessible and convenient for people across the UK.

“With both the expansion of our partner network and ongoing development of our technology we’ve proven how our agility and innovation is changing the way insurance is being offered and the outcome of this is improved customer experiences that are no longer hindered by complexities once associated with general insurance.”

For more information on Leek Building Society and the products and services they offer, visit www.leekbs.co.uk.