Have you ever searched for the perfect market technology of today – a digital tool or service that would instantly solve a problem or create value in your business?
You won’t be alone in your search for this, but does it exist?
Instead, what we’re experiencing is technology that is always progressing. Living in a progressive state means that nothing is ever finished. To put it differently, everything is in a state of “becoming”. For example, Uinsure’s technology is in a continuous cycle of progression and always in flux – one new development could create five more ideas and innovations. More broadly it means you, me, and everyone else will always be “newbies” in this evolving technological world, no matter our experience.
The mortgage market is undergoing enormous change brought about by lots of new technologies, increased regulatory attention and incumbents that are slow or have failed to evolve. What this demonstrates is that a perfect solution of today, which stands still, is not going to be perfect for long.
So when you’re deciding on a new CRM platform, sourcing system or other market technology, my only advice is to not only choose it based on the problems it solves or the value it creates today but also, and perhaps more importantly, choosing the partner that can demonstrate the most agility, flexibility, and continued evolution.
Since technology never stops improving, you’ll always feel like a newcomer. It’s also likely you won’t get to spend enough time with any technology to truly master it in its current form, so just get involved, try it out and embrace change as it arrives, because perfect technology will never exist – it will just get better and better.
Uinsure has launched two new insurance journeys on its Adviser Platform, meaning advisers can now offer landlord property owners insurance, including property portfolios, as well as liability insurance for trades people and professions. This can be done in under 90 seconds.
Through the Adviser Platform, advisers can protect their clients who require cover for multiple properties, commercial lets and blocks of flats whilst also having the facility to quote public and employer’s liability for over 500 different types of businesses.
Traditionally, these journeys have been very time-consuming but by integrating them into Uinsure’s Adviser Platform, intermediaries are able to apply in as little as 90 seconds with simplified, intuitive quote journeys that are reflective of Uinsure’s market-leading mainstream home and BTL experiences.
Martin Schultheiss, Uinsure’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Uinsure’s new property owners and trade and profession journeys have been developed using our industry-leading technology to simplify traditionally more time consuming applications. And now, for the first time, advisers can apply online in the same way they can for standard home insurance.
“After launching a pilot, we had resounding feedback that made it clear the new journeys have enabled partners to expand their own offerings and convert policies they previously wouldn’t have considered after straightforward product training. We’re now very much looking forward to taking this further and opening up these journeys on a national scale as a result.
“This new functionality will not only generate additional income for advisers but reinforce our belief that Uinsure is continually offering and developing the most effective solutions for anything in the general insurance space.”
Ed Jackson, Nest’s Managing Director, said: “Since we’ve had online access to the new journeys it’s changed the way we look at our clients and do business. After some quick product training with Sean and his team, we’ve been able to place many more commercial enquiries than we could before, meaning we’ve been able to increase our own revenues whilst saving time.
“For anyone who’s looking to open up their proposition, and especially anyone who’s already doing GI themselves, it’s an absolute no-brainer because the process has been made that easy.”
Uinsure is holding training workshops for firms and individuals who are looking to expand into these areas. To register your interest in a workshop, click here.
Why specialist insurance is becoming standard practice
By Lauren Bagley
The property market is becoming increasingly diverse, both in respect of home and landlord types. Homeowners and landlords alike are becoming more adventurous with their own developments and renovations meaning an increasing number of insurance queries are falling out of what is deemed to be ‘standard’.
There is also, too, disparity between how advisers perceive the landscape to be, what is reality and how advisers can actually serve these insurance risks.
With the current technology capabilities of price comparison websites, there are increasing numbers of property risks that can’t be protected instantly via an online search for insurance, such as unoccupied properties, holiday homes and different methods of construction.
And then for landlords, with a massive 85% of private rental properties in the UK being part of a portfolio, these clients are seeking ways to reduce their insurance spend and consolidate policies, meaning opportunities for advisers to support with property portfolio insurance are growing, too.
Such is the advance in intermediary technology, which far exceeds what is available directly to the consumer, these are all client needs that can be served by advisers who can provide valuable cover for multiple properties, non-standard, commercial lets and blocks of flats through the familiar Uinsure Adviser Platform.
The same basic principles to generating quotes for clients apply and, fortunately, intermediary technology now exists that means with simple training, advisers can get both the confidence and know-how to operate in these spaces.
Traditionally, these journeys have been very time-consuming but by integrating them into our platform, advisers are able to apply in as little as 90 seconds with simplified, intuitive quote journeys that are reflective of Uinsure’s market-leading mainstream home and BTL experiences.
The housing and property market won’t stand still and tech that supports the insurance industry will need to undergo ongoing evolution to ensure it keeps progressing with the times. The new ‘AirBnB’ may be just around the corner and by easily expanding areas of expertise, firms from across the UK have the very real opportunity to expand their income streams as client needs continue to evolve.
Those that do make this small leap into the new give their businesses opportunity for growth and longevity in what is an ever-changing market.
Customer experience platforms in today’s marketplace
By Martin Schulthiess
The reality of today’s landscape is your customer is overwhelmed with choice. Brand loyalty is lower than ever and switching to competitors is getting easier and easier – Facebook recently learned this the hard way after it showed negative user growth for the first time ever and lost $250bn dollars of value in the process.
Customer experience (CX) is the most important thing any organisation needs to be obsessing about to compete, grow and even survive. Everything from systems and communications to processes and proposition needs to be created with CX technology at the very heart of the business.
For most of us, we can’t build an entire ecosystem ourselves so choosing the right partners who can integrate seamlessly enabling the CX you want to create for your business is mission critical.
When assessing the market for partners you’ll find two kinds of businesses, on the one hand are those that are largely product siloed and use technology to automate traditional processes. These firms will essentially take the same arduous paper processes customers used to fulfil and digitise them without any thought as to how they will intertwine into the CX you’re developing to accelerate your business.
This is then often supported by sub-standard API integrations making your CX slow, fragmented and clunky – a recipe to send your clients elsewhere.
On the other hand are the true technology companies that have learned the above approach isn’t good enough, nor the way forward, because CX is not being seen as the most important single element of your development. It’s these firms that are focussed on coding new solutions and have been able to understand how to embed a culture of customer centricity using technology and data that are outperforming their peers.
So when you’re looking for potential partners, it’s vital to assess if organisations you could partner with for technology, culturally embrace customer centricity principles and place CX at the heart – or is it simply used as a tag line? Culture is the key.
Those that do embed CX culture are the businesses that are led by the engine room, not from the boardroom. It’s the individuals that are on the front-line within an organisation that are experiencing the live customer feedback and are working daily to solve problems, who will not only know where to focus the business but will also often come up with the best solutions and are empowered to make decisions.
The leadership team should be there to orchestrate the direction, reward bold thinking and be responsible for setting the boundaries – that is how true customer centricity is achieved.
When firms are choosing their business partners of the future it’s vital to assess who has built customer centricity and not just technology, and who is driven by a talented and trusted empowered team, as they will be the ones thinking outside the box to create progressive solutions that work for your customers.
Insurtech firm, Uinsure, has today announced the appointment of two new non-executive directors who have joined its board and leadership team.
Dan Wright joins as non-executive chair and Jo Smith joins as non-executive director, having both led businesses and supported SMEs across the technology, financial services, and insurance sectors.
The additions to Uinsure’s board come as the Manchester-based business continues to progress with its ongoing mission to simplify insurance using data and technology.
By bringing on board Jo, the founder of two successful industry tech businesses and award-winning entrepreneur, and Dan, who has a strong track record in investment across public and private markets [the investor community and AIM listed companies], Uinsure is investing in its board at a time when it plans significant expansion of its technology and distribution.
Speaking about her appointment, Jo said: “It’s clear there is a fantastic business here with an amazing team that is continually innovating for its distribution partners and consumers at large.”
“I have always enjoyed working with distributive technology businesses and Uinsure has certainly demonstrated its ability to reimagine this important sector. I aim to bring relevant and real experience as they continue their journey and accelerate their growth.”
Dan added: “It’s testament to the whole team just how Uinsure has progressed in recent years, by not only consistently delivering strong results but also tackling a very complex marketplace.
I’m excited to be part of a strong and vibrant board that will support Uinsure’s technology-driven mission and drive the future growth of the company.”
Simon Taylor, Uinsure CEO, added: “We’re delighted to welcome two visionary leaders. Both Jo and Dan have helped build and guide some of the most renowned financial services businesses across the UK.
“They bring a lot of experience, as well as industry and tech expertise that will help guide us in our next phase of ambitious growth.”
Acre simplifies home insurance, with the help of Uinsure
23 May 2022: Acre, the innovative end-to-end mortgage intermediaries platform, has announced a new partnership with Uinsure to drastically simplify building and contents insurance advice. This exciting move means that advisers using Acre will now be able to help protect client homes as part of the mortgage journey in a matter of seconds.
There has never been a more important time to ensure consumers have the right coverage for their home as they face pressure from the rise in the cost of living. Advisers using Acre’s platform will be able to access the most accurate and best value home protection quotes at a click of a button, thanks to Uinsure’s advanced quoting technology and Acre’s unique way of storing and reusing property and client data.
Previous implementations required extensive data entry to get accurate quotes that provided good customer value. Acre and Uinsure’s teams have worked closely together to maximise data re-use, pulling on Acre’s proprietary property dataset and its unique client-centric data model. This helps Acre in its aim to be the one-stop shop for brokers – from CRM, lead capture and sourcing to fact finding, recommendation and application – saving brokers time and money whilst promoting better compliance.
Justus Brown, CEO and founder of Acre said: “Our aim is to allow brokers to spend more time focusing on their clients’ needs and deliver better outcomes with fewer delays. The way we approach data means we understand more about a property than any other tool available to brokers. Combining this deep, data-driven insight with Uinsure’s quoting and application capabilities means brokers can easily and quickly deliver the most accurate and best value policies – ensuring customers are well-covered should circumstances change in the current climate.
“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Uinsure to help brokers deliver the home coverage clients need without data leakage and tons of extra effort.”
Lauren Bagley, Uinsure’s Chief Partnership and Marketing Officer, said: “Our ongoing mission is to remove the complexities from the GI journey and our integration with Acre means advisers have industry-leading tech available at their fingertips to make the journey for both themselves and their clients as easy as possible – all while including the purchase of insurance as part of their service.
“The partnership with Acre is a natural one. Acre’s software, like ours, has been built with customer experience at the very heart of the development. We’ve both been able to massively streamline and simplify the way our products can be offered through new tech developments and smart data integrations that gives advisers tremendous opportunity for significant time savings when using the platform.”
Since coming to market last year, brokers using Acre have already helped over 10 000 homebuyers get their mortgage, and active brokers have been doubling every three months. To find out more about Acre or to sign up to a demonstration, please visit www.acresoftware.com
Smartr365 expands its offering into home insurance with Uinsure partnership
UK, X 2022: The industry’s leading end-to-end mortgage provider, Smartr365, has expanded its offering into home insurance through a partnership with Uinsure, it was announced today. The integration seeks to further streamline the homeownership journey through the addition of home insurance to the integrated services already offered via Smartr365 platform.
Clients will now be able to access quotes for home insurance within the platform in seconds, eliminating the need to consult external brokers. Instead, advisors utilising the Smartr365 platform can provide customers with a total-solution package across borrowing and insurance, with the aim of reducing paperwork and allowing more time for client engagement, in turn, helping to boost client retention.
Thanks to auto-fill technology, brokers that have initially keyed in client data through Smartr365 will be able to create, tailor and compare quotes in seconds without needing to re-type personal details entered elsewhere on the platform. Other benefits include coordination between both Smartr365 and Uinsure platforms to ensure updates made through Uinsure are automatically reflected on Smartr365, streamlining the process to save advisors up to one hour per application.
The integration forms part of Smartr365’s quest to digitalise the mortgage journey, enhancing the borrowing experience from broker to buyer.
Conor Murphy, CEO and Founder, Smartr365 said:
“There has been real appetite amongst mortgage advisors to expand their services and we have listened, bringing borrowing and insurance together to allow brokers to offer clients a one-stop shop to homeownership and a truly end-to-end mortgage experience. This partnership means that brokers can offer a more comprehensive service to their clients, without the need for time consuming training and accreditation, available via the Smartr365 platform.
“Smartr365 is committed to saving brokers time and preventing paperwork in a bid to simplify the mortgage journey, and this partnership with Uinsure is no exception. Our innovative digital technologies and auto-population features will allow brokers to concentrate their efforts on providing ever-crucial advice to clients amidst such challenging economic circumstances.”
Martin Schultheiss, Uinsure CCO, said: “As a result of our integration, advisers will benefit from industry-leading insurance technology that automatically extracts client data to build the relevant insurance policy, massively simplifying and streamlining the application process, all from within their existing client management platform – Smartr365.
“This technology was developed to help us achieve our mission of seeing GI offered alongside every mortgage application and as this can now be done in seconds from within adviser’s existing workspace, this will prove to be a significant hurdle in helping us achieve our goal.
“Both ourselves at Uinsure and the team at Smartr365 have delivered tech solutions that are built solely with the end customer in mind and given how we’re closely aligned in our drive to continually progress, we’re very much looking forward to how our partnership will evolve.”
Uinsure celebrates silver at the UK Business & Innovation Awards
Uinsure collected the Silver Award at the 2022 UK Business and Innovation Awards in recognition for its Adviser Platform.
The award is further recognition for a platform that collected the Technology Innovation of the Year at the recent Tech & Innovation Awards.
The new Adviser Platform itself was launched in early 2021 as a result of an in-depth research and development phase with the goal to remove the complexities associated with general insurance.
Getting a home insurance quote was typically a drawn out, complex process that asked home owners upwards of 50 questions, many of which are difficult or impossible to answer correctly, meaning the end customer would always carry a risk of their policy being invalidated.
As a result, Uinsure developed its own technology platform, a revolutionary experience that allows general insurance to be quoted in just three questions, taking less than 20 seconds, helping to negate the risk of invalid policies but also to add speed, simplicity and transparency to the home insurance process.
Advisers are now able to receive an insurance quote across home, buy to let and non-standard by inputting just their client’s name, date of birth and postcode.
This hugely simplified journey impressed judges and has helped to recognise the insurtech industry as one of the most progressive in amongst some highly impressive fields.
Martin Schulthiess, Uinsure’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The recognition we’re receiving for the new Adviser Platform is testament to the creativity and innovation our team has shown in bringing our technology successfully to market.
“We do not ever view any of our technologies as finished articles and instead will always be working both behind the scenes and closely with our expanding network of partners to continually develop and improve further.”
Uinsure awarded Defaqto Five Star rating for the ninth consecutive year
Uinsure has been awarded the highest possible 5* Defaqto rating for the ninth consecutive year.
Throughout our existence, we have always placed massive emphasis on the quality of our customers’ experiences along with making sure they have the most comprehensive cover available.
Our Home Insurance product has been given Defaqto’s highest possible rating since 2014, while our BTL / Landlord Insurance product has also been awarded 5 stars since 2015.
The Defaqto 5* rating is an integral measure in order for us to make sure advisers and their clients both have the confidence of knowing, should the unfortunate happen and a claim is needed, they will be properly covered by a comprehensive policy.
To demonstrate value and quality of cover to your clients over price, use the Defaqto compare tool here.
The rating is judged by Defaqto, an independent body, which considers all of the key features and benefits on offer, as well as any optional add-ons or extras, before giving an overall rating.
The aim of the service is to ultimately give consumers an impartial and easy-to-understand assessment of an insurance product to help them weigh up benefits before purchasing.
Here’s how Advisers can reclaim market share in 2022
By Lauren Bagley
The year of opportunity
2022 will be a big year in the advisory sector for numerous reasons. It will be one of the biggest years for remortgages ever recorded, with almost £40bn worth expiring in January alone, and new FCA regulations on GI pricing practices come into force meaning price walking will be banned.
Such a large volume of expiring mortgages presents opportunity for obvious reason, and when you consider many of these remortgaging customers will be paying over the odds for their current home insurance policy, in the likely situation they have been subject to price walking, it’s easy to see why 2022 could be the year for advisers to truly reclaim their market share once lost to price comparison sites.
The advisory sector itself will become much more competitively positioned on price as a direct result of the new regulations. Not only that, but Advisers are now also able to offer a quicker, easier and more streamlined insurance application than price comparison websites as well being able to more effectively advise on products that add value and those that don’t.
This means there is not only great opportunity in the short term for the scores of customers remortgaging, but advancements in technology in the intermediary space can be used to help secure the long-term futures of advisory firms, too.
Customer adoption of PCWs
PCWs took huge chunks of market share from Advisers very quickly following their inception in the late 1990s and they now dominate the market.
They became symbols of efficiency, and an example of how technology can be used to find the “best” price for insurance. It was simply unheard of that you could get numerous quotes from different businesses by filling out one form. But what was innovative and more efficient then, is now viewed as long and laborious.
In order to meet the underwriting requirements of all of the dozens of insurers who are providing a quote, the questionnaire home owners need to answer involves anything upwards of 50 questions in a longwinded exam for the consumer.
Innovation in the intermediary sector
Innovation has been prevalent in the intermediary space and, as a result, Advisers have the advantage when it comes to being able to get the best price quickly and conveniently from a range of providers.
Through our platform, for example, you can get a quote from a wide-ranging panel of the UK’s leading insurers by answering just three questions (name, date of birth and postcode), with a full application taking less than a minute. A far cry from lengthy exams that consumers are faced with should they opt for PCWs.
The ace cards of convenience and speed are therefore right back with the Adviser and the opportunities that both mortgage cessation and new regulation bring means the intermediary sector has all the tools it needs to be able to reclaim market share as we head into 2022.
Using technology to help future proof your business
In addition to the huge short-term opportunities, we’re presented with, there is also the chance to capitalise on the innovation we have made as a sector to help change the way future generations purchase insurance.
The next generation of first-time buyers are the most tech-savvy of the lot and are very happy to spend their money with disruptors who offer easy-to-use platforms.
To protect against future losses in market share, just as the opportunity to reclaim from PCWs has hit us, intermediary firms must adopt the technology available to them. That means not only offering tech solutions to a more digitally savvy, Gen-Z and late-millennial audience, but tech solutions that deliver greater value.
Now is the time to integrate technology
Advisers already have a huge head start on PCWs on being able to do this as they know how their client is progressing in their mortgage journey. Holding data such as, ‘mortgage offer received’ or ‘exchange date’ indicates the exact timing of when home insurance is needed. This data is gold dust, yet today we estimate that c.675,000 advised mortgage clients still go outside of the intermediary industry to buy their insurance.
The problem with neglecting general insurance and allowing so many potential customers to end up on price comparison websites means advisory firms are essentially feeding other businesses with a lead flow that have an intention to cross sell into more core product areas, such as mortgages and protection, which is a major reason why market share has been lost across the wider space.
Fortunately, when speaking to Principals and seeing how our partners are operating, we know that the tide is turning on this issue.
In 2022, we’ll see more and more firms using integrated technology that help Advisers properly take advantage of the ‘gold dust’ knowledge they own and with it, insurance will seamlessly integrate into mortgage journeys, so the product is offered at exactly the right time.
And so, looking to next year, now is the time to make the forward-thinking choices on the digital tools you’re going to use to truly seize the opportunity that lies ahead. From an insurance perspective, it is no longer time consuming and stressful and can instead exceed the expectations of existing and prospective clients, helping to reclaim market share.
