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Strong results with 33.5% growth in Q1

Uinsure announces strong results with 33.5% growth in Q1

By Tom Gibson

Insurtech firm, Uinsure, has announced strong initial results in the first phase of 2021, with 33.5% sales growth in the opening quarter.

The results are the latest piece of good news for the B2B insurtech firm, which was, this weekend, announced as one of the businesses on the Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits over their latest three years.

The strong financial performance comes directly as a result of innovative work by the company to reshape how advisers offer insurance to customers in the homebuying process.

What has traditionally been a lengthy insurance process, which included numerous, detailed questions and could take anything from 20- 30 minutes to complete, has been whittled down to three questions to get a quote in 20 seconds and apply via a new Adviser Platform in under a minute.

The launch of the platform, coupled with the mortgage market stimulation driven by the stamp-duty holiday, has allowed the Manchester-based firm to go from strength to strength despite the challenges Covid has put on virtually every sector.

Uinsure’s Chief Commercial Officer, Martin Schultheiss, commented: “The strong start we’ve been able to enjoy in 2021 is a direct result of the innovation and creativity shown by the Uinsure team to completely remove the complexity behind offering insurance.

“Our strong start is also as a result of the incredible relationships we hold with our key partners and advisers, who have been able to turn around such a high volume of mortgages to meet current demand.

“We’ve also welcomed new advisory firms as a result of our new technology and, as with all of our existing relationships we will continually take their feedback on board to ultimately make our product offering, and platform, better.

“Hopefully, as lockdown eases through 2021, our tech can help customers and advisers get back to enjoying some of the better things in life.”

Final Rule GI Pricing Practices

You will have seen that on 28^th May 2021 the FCA published its paper on pricing rules in the GI Market. This follows several years’ work from the regulator to address the harms suffered by loyal customers of home and motor insurance providers.

New ruling

It has long been the case that regulated firms have a duty to treat their customers fairly, however the work performed by the regulator has shown that in many cases this has not been delivered in the GI space. The most prominent change that the FCA brings in is that firms will no longer be able to slash new business premiums in order to attract new customers, only to penalise them in subsequent years with hugely inflated prices which bear little resemblance to the actual cost of providing the policy. This unfair profiteering has become known as ‘Price Walking’ and it will be banned from the start of 2022, removing the need for customers to outwit insurance providers and move their polices year on year in order to get a fair deal.

As we know, price is only part of the story and there is a raft of new rules on product governance which take effect from September 2021, meaning firms must test the products they provide for “value” on a regular basis.

Key considerations

There are some key considerations for distributors and firms as a result of the FCA’s recent moves. This will include having a clear understanding of GI provider panels value proposition and whether or not these providers have undertaken the practice of price walking your customers, whom will probably have paid a financial penalty for their loyalty. In the case of legacy back books there is also a strong likelihood that some customers will be holding policies that are outdated, have not benefited from product development and would not pass any of the tests that the FCA has introduced.

The ultimate aim for the regulator is to create consistent pricing; this may well mean the end of cheap deals in the first year, but it will bring about a more sustainable ongoing insurance bill for the customer who will have a better idea how much their home insurance costs year on year.

What this means for advisers

For advisory firms, the new rules will mean that, as price will no longer be the sole representation of value, the profession can lead the insurance conversation without the traditional sensitivity on first-year prices. It’s a significant opportunity to reclaim intermediary market share from price comparison sites which had become more successful when new business pricing competition became artificially more aggressive.

The unethical practice of price walking

By Martin Schultheiss

Most are familiar now with the FCA’s intention to ban the practice of price walking for general insurance but, with the rules still in consultation, should advisory firms sit back and wait for the proposed ban to come into effect, or be acting with more urgency?

The FCA’s proposal to prevent insurers from price walking will mean that every customer will be offered a new business price at renewal. This would outlaw a practice which has helped providers pocket an extra £1.2bn in fees from six million policyholders it identified in October 2019, as paying high or very high premiums.

Price has always been the dominant factor in any insurance purchase decision and although a low price doesn’t necessarily translate to good value, it’s easy to assume when comparing like for like cover across multiple insurance providers, that the cheapest price may seem like the best option.

However, in the interim of any regulation, Boards and Senior Managers should take some time to consider their customers best interests in relation to how they are comparing these policies. The reality is that what appears to be the cheapest first-year price, may ultimately become a bad deal if not calculated over the lifetime of the policy.

Uinsure has never price walked. This strategy has been under pressure given the nature of a very competitive market, but our practice and offering has remained consistent since our inception in 2007.

It’s an ethical standpoint that we believe is fairer and more transparent for customers, while ensuring a better outcome. Of course, refusing to price walk has occasionally meant that our first-year prices might be slightly higher than those of our competitors, but our fair pricing strategy has meant that prices are consistent and honest with no hidden fees and, therefore, representing fairer value of the lifetime of the policy.

As we move forward, our strategy will remain the same for what we believe is the ultimate benefit of the end customer and this will ensure all of our customers are treated fairly, in return for the trust they put in us.

Guest Blog: Don’t forget the tenant

With Makayla Everett, SimplyBiz

As a continuation of Uinsure’s ‘How the pro’s do it’ campaign, Makayla Everitt, Head of SimplyBiz Mortgages discusses the insurance opportunity that lies within the Buy-to-Let market with her top 10 tips… Don’t forget the tenant!

Tenants could hold the key

With many struggling to get a foot on the property ladder, the demand for rental properties has soared over recent years.

The stigma around owning your own home has changed as more people see long-term rental solutions more financially viable than getting a place of their own. Bearing this in mind, tenants are no different to homeowners in the respect that should something happen to their home, their most cherished possessions are covered. Not only that, but should the property become uninhabitable to any reasons, tenant insurance would find them a place to stay whilst the repairs are made.

Commonly, many tenants believe it is the landlord’s responsibility to arrange contents insurance, where of course, it isn’t. There is also a real risk that many tenants maybe unaware and in breach of tenancy agreements of their contract stipulates contents insurance is required.

Raising awareness in their area is essential. By partnering with local letting agents, you would be able to promote this issue whilst also opening to a new, under-serviced area of the market, with potential to re-engage with these clients further down the line if they do require potential mortgage and protection advice.

You can make a real difference

Don’t forget tenants want to protect their income and families too. Offer them a review to ensure they are kept secure.
Don’t forget that Landlords also need protection and there are a number of landlord focused products available to support across a number of areas.
Don’t have the time? Referring Landlord Insurances, LPS and Rent Guarantee offers security and will open the door to new future clients.
Win, win – offer an enhanced letting agreement for better protected tenants.
You can support your landlords in getting back to auctions and undertaking refurbishment with Bridge-to-Let products.
Clients of tomorrow – don’t underestimate the value of Contents Only policies.
Create loyalty with existing landlords, use the agent’s knowledge to guide where they buy. This will create an instant let, the landlord is then happy to give the agent yet another property.
Tenants giving notice are potentially your purchasers of today. Referrals from the letting agent can benefit all concerned.
Free marketing literature to support referral business is available from most insurance providers.
Increase your brand awareness, board presence and overall business growth by developing string relationships with agents in your area.

Let’s not forget landlords

With rental property demand the highest it has been in decades, and more clients entering the Buy-to-Let space- have you considered targeting portfolio and landlord clients in your area?

Following the turbulent year that was 2020, the mantra ‘expect the unexpected’ never rang truer. Landlords and letting agents place great value on loyal and dependable tenants who provide regular income. Landlord insurance is a viable solution to all landlords ensuring that if the property is damaged, uninhabitable or lays vacant for an extended period that the property is repaired, and the landlord is not left out of pocket.

You can offer to work in association with your local letting agents in a mutually beneficent manner, you work can provide them, and you, with an income, it can safeguard the owner of the property against having to find another tenant, thus running the risk of a loss of income and, perhaps most importantly, it will also provide safety and security for the renting party. Quite literally, and like every fairground across the UK, everyone’s a winner.

So, hopefully you are now thinking which letting agents you have in your area, and who will benefit from your experience, knowledge, and professionalism. Please remember a lot of these business leads can be referred, ensuring you receive maximum income for minimum time spent.

Creating simplicity in a complex market

By Lauren Bagley

Simple products and services stand out. It has become a necessity worth striving to achieve in a complex market and within busy mortgage firms across the UK.

Creating Simplicity

So how do you go about achieving simplicity in your business? Simplicity is all about finding the right balance of what is necessary and what is not.

In the past, many advisers preferred to structure their sales process across several face-to-face client appointments. The pandemic forced a move to online meetings, which resulted in much improved efficiencies for both advisers and customers alike with many firms choosing to continue this approach post lockdown. This even led to wider benefits such as being able to return mortgage recommendations within a few hours of the call because of the time savings generated.

This is a great illustration of how simplicity has been created on such a wide scale, despite it being forced on us by a global pandemic. And, importantly, it makes the advisory community stand out.

Hiding complexity to create simplicity

Once you cut through everything in your business that isn’t necessary, the next stage is to look at what is necessary but repetitive.

This is where good technology solutions come into play, effectively hiding the complexity of most repetitive actions (that’s what it’s really good at), so the users only see simplicity.

As an example, Uinsure knew that asking lots of questions to apply for insurance was complex, boring, arduous and sometimes ambiguous. So instead, we decided to shed all the complexity of traditional providers, by only asking the critical questions and sourced the rest of the data from other places. This was a meaningful innovation because it simplified the experience of accessing insurance and hid the complexity to the end user.

In a world full of complexity, it is simplicity that makes a product or a service stand out. It’s therefore crucial that we understand how to balance complexity with simplicity and can implement this understanding in our businesses.

Does perfect technology exist?

By Lauren Bagley

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.

New online commercial and landlord journeys

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.

Uinsure targets next phase of growth

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.”

Uinsure announces strong results with 33.5% growth in Q1

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Recent Posts

Final Rule GI Pricing Practices

New ruling

Key considerations

What this means for advisers

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Recent Posts

The unethical practice of price walking

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Guest Blog: Don’t forget the tenant

Tenants could hold the key

You can make a real difference

Let’s not forget landlords

Share this

Recent Posts

Creating simplicity in a complex market

Creating Simplicity

Hiding complexity to create simplicity

Share this

Recent Posts

Does perfect technology exist?

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Recent Posts

New online commercial and landlord journeys

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Recent Posts

Why specialist insurance is becoming standard practice

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Recent Posts

Customer experience platforms in today’s marketplace

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Recent Posts

Uinsure targets next phase of growth

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