If you’re a home insurance provider or broker, you’ve most likely heard by now that there’s a new kid moving in come the third quarter of this year. Now up-and-coming buzzvault insurance is making a pretty strong statement – that it’s determined to address the lack of coverage among UK households.
Chief executive Becky Downing, who herself had the misfortune of losing priced possessions to theft, knows from experience what underinsurance could mean for policyholders.
“When I was burgled a few years ago, I recovered about 50% of what I lost because it turned out I was underinsured and hadn’t kept a record of what I had,” recalled Downing. “Like many people, I had loyally auto-renewed each year and assumed that my insurance would be there for me in times of difficulty.
“It was a horrible experience and made me realise the value of home contents data in putting householders like me in much greater control of their insurance cover.”
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), out of the nearly £1 trillion worth of possessions owned by households across the UK, possibly more than £266 billion are unprotected. The ABI said about 7.5 million households have no contents insurance – the average cost of which stands at only £141 a year.
“The ABI’s research underlines the chronic issue of underinsurance in the home insurance market which buzzvault is setting out to tackle,” said the buzzvault CEO. “An overly complex application process along with lack of transparency and lack of clarity over exactly what needs to covered leads to a poor customer experience from start to finish.”
Touted to be game-changing, the new player’s proposition centres on the use of secure digital inventory of the insured’s belongings, which combines video survey technology with customer data. This is in line with the ABI’s advice for those renewing their policies: review the value of possessions to ensure adequate coverage.
“Crucially, we will know exactly what we are insuring,” added Downing. “This immediately addresses the risk of underinsurance while ensuring customers receive an efficient and stress-free service at point of claim.”
