Start-up Insure a Thing has ushered in the new year with a rebrand and a partnership with
Zurich.
Now known as Laka, the insurtech has rolled out a bike insurance product that aims to challenge the conventional insurance model. Co-built and financially backed by Zurich, the disruptive offering uses a pooled payment system.
Consumers do not make upfront payments; instead, monthly claims are settled as part of a group risk pool plus a fee. Imagine a bike club but in the context of insurance. Laka, for its part, will only earn fees when settling claims.
“The payment will change each month but will be capped at the price of a traditional insurance policy; therefore, if claims performance is better than expected in one month everyone will share in that improvement,” explained the start-up, which has tested its model as part of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Regulatory Sandbox.
Laka believes its method of pooled payment calculation will encourage consumers to behave a certain way in order to reduce the number of claims.
“While this tried and tested insurance model obviously works, we think there’s an alternative way which can benefit careful consumers – a way which shares with them the pricing and claims decision-making,” said Laka co-founder Jens Hartwig. “We’re starting with high-value bike cover but as our model proves successful we look to explore other products in the pipeline.”
The insurtech added that claims are paid with no excess.
“Innovation is an often over-used word but Laka is one of very few insurtechs doing something genuinely exciting and disruptive,” commented David White, head of retail management at Zurich. “We look forward to working with Laka in the future as they expand their proposition further.”
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