Hello Claims, a claims management disruptor in the motor insurance industry, has announced a two-year partnership with Splend, a car leasing and rental service designed for Uber drivers.
The deal will see Hello Claims manage all motor claims nationally for Splend as the leasing company adopts Hello Claims’ smart assessing technology for its vehicles.
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Hello Claims will complete vehicle assessments nationwide within 24 hours as part of the deal, and will also conduct repairs within an average of five days.
Nick Herford, chief executive officer of Hello Claims, told Insurance Business that the deal came about following a speech he gave at an industry event and follows a successful trial period.
“We have worked very closely with Splend during the trial and really catered what we do to their business,” Herford said. “The bottom line is for an Uber driver to have a vehicle off the road is a catastrophic event because they rely on that money every single day and nine times out of 10 they won’t have business interruption insurance. Just to have it off the road for five days, not the industry average of 16 days, is a huge benefit and selling point.”
Chris King, CEO of Splend, said that Hello Claims has already helped to provide cost savings and efficiencies for the business.
“As our fleet has grown rapidly, we needed to digitise our claims management function to keep up with demand, and to ensure our customers have the best claims experience possible,” King said.
Herford noted that the insurance industry needs to ensure it keeps pace with client demand in the sharing economy as more clients begin to use the likes of Uber in their everyday life.
“I’ve spent time with the clients through our relationship with Splend and their experience is that there is not really a strong or clear insurance product in the market for them,” Herford continued.
“To be fair to the insurers, with the legislation not being finalised or not having a clear direction in relation to the legislation, I think it has been hard for insurers to tailor a product to suit an Uber like driver. I think in the next 12 months to two years you are going to see a number of start-ups and mid-size type insurers really come in and attack that area of the market.”
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