Insurance was once an industry that protects its customers over events that are unexpected and can have dramatic impact on you and your loved ones. Today, insurance is all about protecting the insurance company and selling fear. Yet insurance is still relevant as the impact of us losing either income or time is phenomenal.
The UK insurance market (the first pilot market for Sherpa) consists of some 26.7 million households (as of 2013) and represents a total premium income of over £245 billion (2014). The UK insurance and long-term savings industry is the third largest in the world and the largest in the EU. It generates almost a quarter of total EU premium income. Despite the vast size of the market, it remains characterised by legacy practices and traditional commission structures. The latest ‘innovation’ in insurance distribution, Price Comparison Websites (PCWs), shifts the focus exclusively onto price. As a result, coverage levels have dropped as carriers fight to rank at the top. The market uses traditional intermediaries and brokers (including the PCWs) to make introductions and sell standardised policies, which are priced based on asymmetric information (the insurer knows more than the customer). These parties are remunerated by commission payments from the insurer, which create a significant conflict of interest.
Companies have tried to make insurance fun with characters, bots, meerkats and incentives, but it’s not really working. Insurance is seen as a burden for consumers, each household in the UK spending on average £2600 annually for something they can’t see and often, don’t use. To make matter worse, three out of four people do not think their insurer will live up to its promises and insurance companies rank in the bottom quartile for simplicity and trust.
So why did we set up Sherpa? We wanted to create an insurance brand people love, help people be less afraid, to help them be more in control, enable them to make informed decisions, and feel empowered to manage their own risk.
When we started to think about what is wrong we came up with a pretty simple answer – the insurance product is the problem. Putting a boundary around a risk and manufacturing a product to offset that risk only works for the industry. Insurance companies can contain, manage, understand and price risk. But all of this is incredibly unhelpful for the customer who is unique, disorganised, and ever-changing.
The concept behind Sherpa is deceptively simple: a single, personalised insurance account that covers you for the risks that matter most. If insurance ‘products’ are the root cause of all the confusion and complexity that a person faces when trying to deal with their insurance why not change them. At Sherpa we are doing away with the concept of the insurance ‘product’ and inventing a new, holistic way of underwriting risk. We are looking to give tailored, customer-driven cover by using a single underwriting process for all the risks you face – amalgamating all policies to one account rather than selling on a product by product bases.
Starting with the consumer, we gather data through APIs, telematics, links to social media and user input. We then use advanced mathematics, risk analysis and actuarial science to analyse the data and calculate a unique risk profile and Risk Protection ScoreTM which explains the risks that matter most to you, educating you along the way.
We then comparing your profile with your current insurance portfolio and create a unique picture of how well or badly you are protected against your risks. Customers get an unbiased view on what they should be using insurance for (and what is just a waste of money), and the ability to get covered at the click of a button. Additionally, Sherpa will protect your data, and be remunerated directly by the you, not through commissions. Removing these inherent conflicts within the existing market structure, customers will save money and secure better coverage. No more insurance companies. Effortless, personalised insurance.
Sherpa will be operating in all insurance sectors, including home, health, life, travel, car, devices and pets, to provide a truly connected, worry-free solution to life risks. Malta-based, with a team in the UK, Sherpa has used its 7 figure seed funds (to date) to build an interface designed to make choosing the right insurance and then purchasing it, easy on any device. Built with cutting-edge AI, bot technologies as well as a new customer engagement platform Sherpa delivers a simple, comprehensive solution for personal risk management.
Insurance. Now it’s personal.
See what it is all about here – https://youtu.be/EnvZNrS3q98