A new insurance start-up is looking to protect Kiwis from the financial fallout of an earthquake, and is offering ‘top up’ insurance to cover immediate expenses like income support, temporary accommodation and living costs.
Bounce CEO and founder Paul Barton (pictured) said his new product is not designed to replace traditional home insurance, but will offer financial assistance in the immediate aftermath of any potential earthquake. Bounce uses GeoNet data to pay customers within five days of a strong earthquake, and aims to be an affordable option for customers wanting to speed up their financial recovery.
“The idea behind Bounce was based around the environment that we live in,” Barton told Insurance Business.
“New Zealand is a uniquely seismic country, we’re positioned on the Pacific ring of fire and we experience our fair share of earthquakes. We were also thinking about the real-life experiences of Kiwis who have gone through earthquakes, and we recognised that everyone seemed to have quite a unique response to their recovery.”
“We observed that households with access to cash and financial resources seemed to be able to fly through their recovery, and the timelines of their response was quicker as well,” he explained.
“Both of those factors were critical in minimising the financial hardship and emotional stress that comes with what is quite a disruptive event. Given my own experience of working with insurers and dealing with Canterbury and Kaikoura, I’ve seen firsthand the impact they’ve had on Kiwis, and that got me thinking about how we can use innovation to better respond to their needs off the back of an earthquake.”
Barton said the product is the first of its kind in New Zealand, but is based on similar offerings sold by insurers in California and Mexico. Under Bounce’s policies, households can get cover for the sum insured of $10k or $20k, while businesses can take out a policy covering up to $50k.
“The intent is not to cover your whole loss - that’s what the traditional insurance policy is there for,” Barton said.
“It’s more to provide quick cashflow to help with the immediate expenses that come out of an earthquake. We’re not trying to duplicate any traditional household insurance products, but it’s more to ‘top up’ and cover any additional expenses and lifestyle costs that might come out of an earthquake event.”
Bounce recently received backing from Lloyd’s of London, and Barton said that the response to the idea has been very positive across the market.
“Lloyd’s of London was very open to supporting this idea in New Zealand, and it’s been a really constructive engagement with them,” he said.
“They provide 100% underwriting support for this product, along with operational support.
“People have been really receptive to the concept, and there’s a recognition that everyone ends up being vulnerable after an earthquake. It becomes an issue of how quickly you can recover, and a product like this can really help with cashflow.”
