"In my opinion, consumer insurance is not a B2C industry, it is actually a C2B industry because it’s totally a buyer’s market."
FR: How did you come up with the concept of Homelyfe and what are the primary reasons behind its service?
After selling my business, I stayed as part of the earn-out at Salesforce, working with the leadership and executive teams. During this time, I was able to see first-hand their vision of turning companies into ‘customer companies’, by putting an emphasis on customer centricity.
When I went to renew some of my insurance policies during that time, it was clear that the process of buying/renewing your insurance was not set up in a customer centric way. It’s a begrudged purchase. The reality is that no one looks forward to buying or renewing their insurance policies, so why does the process have to be so long winded and difficult to buy? Homelyfe will change that, making it much easier and simpler to buy, manage, and if needs be, claim on your insurance.
FR: How can the use of technology improve the way the insurance industry currently runs in terms of ensuring that customers are receiving the best customer service possible?
In this day and age where you can book holidays, change the heating settings at home, transfer large sums of money all on your phone, why is still not possible to easily manage all your insurance needs in one place? This is what we are going to fix: making it easier to buy, administer and if required, make a claim on your insurance. Having all of your insurance information on different platforms and in different places makes little sense for time poor professionals looking for a convenient, but fair way to manage their insurance policies across the board.
FR: The insurance industry is notorious for having a very 'traditional' model. As such, there are many 'insuretech' startups that have come and gone in recent years because of this. How does Homelyfe set itself apart from the other 'disruptive' technologies in the insurance space?
’Disruptive’ is a word that doesn’t sit very well with me. Too many start-ups use the word ‘disruption’ as a point of existence. At Homelyfe we concentrate on how the consumer would like to manage insurance and we build our product around them.
Customer centricity is at the heart of what we are building, and we believe this sets us apart because we have a very focused mission: to make obtaining, changing and managing insurance policies easier for consumers. As the business grows and we take feedback from our customers, we will ensure that our offering continues to evolve to meet consumer needs. We’re lucky that we don’t face the same challenges and are not limited to the same constraints as the large incumbent companies already in the market.
FR: How do you see the General Insurance market changing in the future and how can providers and advisers develop their protection practices?
In my opinion, consumer insurance is not a B2C industry, it is actually a C2B industry because it’s totally a buyer’s market. The choice on offer puts the consumer firmly in control. This has been particularly true in the last 15 years where consumers have been able to search online, compare the market and make their own decisions on what policies to buy.
The issue has become that there is very little to differentiate between providers so price has become the dominant factor in the decision as opposed to buying the product because it holds the most appropriate cover for their current situation. Providers and advisers need to be looking at the consumer and the way they wish to transact in this day and age and not just relying on price to drive renewals and customer acquisition because the tech savvy consumer will be looking for much more.”
FR: What steps will Homelyfe undertake to improve the perception of protection and general insurance?
Homelyfe is about making insurance easier for both providers and consumers. We are going to change the perception that insurance is an arduous task undertaken every year begrudgingly. For instance, one of the major annoyances with insurance is consumers are often penalised for loyalty. In the second year, the prices increase dramatically causing another week of panic and ‘searching’ for a comparable deal. Homelyfe has technology at its heart, which will reduce overheads and other administrative costs, enabling us to take that pressure away at the point of renewal and keep the price as competitive in year 2 as it was in year 1.
FR: If you could see one headline about the insurance industry in 2017, what would it be?
“The insurance industry is finally welcoming the mobile digital consumer with new offering Homelyfe.”
