Innovation of the month: Accessible injury insurance
Innovation of the month is an opportunity for innovators to receive recognition for their innovations early on in the awards program. This month’s winning innovation goes to Flip, a new insurtech business built specifically to provide injury insurance to approximately 50% of young Australians without health insurance.
The market need was clear. Australians pay some of the highest out-of-pocket medical costs in the world, but despite this, over 50% of Australians do not have private health insurance, the majority of these being under the age of 35.
Chris Borrett, Chief Officer at Flip says, “We started with a challenge to create an insurance proposition that would engage and be relevant for a younger demographic. Young consumers do not think about illness and typical chronic conditions, but they are risk-takers, they do get injured, they are underrepresented in having health insurance and they typically have less disposable income to be able to pay for unexpected treatments and follow-on expenses.
We were naturally operating within the health and life insurance verticals as this offers the best way to leverage our corporate backer’s (HCF) privileged assets.”
Flip has turned the insurance customer experience on its head, transforming it from a grudge purchase to a genuinely helpful, customer-centred product. The result: one of the world’s first episodic injury insurance products that consumers can ‘switch on and switch off’. For example, a customer going on a mountain bike ride or hike can switch Flip on for the day and unlock up to $20,000 paid in cash if they get injured (and depending on the injury).
Flip launched in October 2021 with a ‘Day Pass’ product, an ‘Always On’ subscription product and a ‘boost’ function that allows subscribers to double their cover for selected days. In spreading the word about the product, they have actively tried to reset the insurance-consumer relationship.
Borrett says, “The nature of Flip cover is episodic, so we want to have a relationship with customers whether or not they are currently paying for cover. We expect our customers to turn their cover on and off many times in a year. So when the cover is off, we continue to engage. We are running exclusive adventure-based competitions and encouraging customers to do more activities through deals and partner offers.”
In addition to direct customer engagement, Flip is also exploring more embedded insurance models by partnering with mountain bike races, adventure races and other venues and events. Flip is backed by a not-for-profit that has made a commitment to tying the business model (specifically their loss ratio) to a charitable giveback scheme focussed on driving positive environmental impact.
The sign-up experience is digital-enabled and quick. Members are able to sign up and have cover start within two minutes. The claims experience is no less impressive, with 90%+ of claims approved within 24 hours. Flip has also incorporated a free membership structure which is unique within the insurance space and fundamentally changes the traditional acquisition and retention of customers. Chris Borrett adds, “One of the major pieces of feedback we have received from customers to date is the ease of joining.”
Flip is still new in the market, but is making waves for being the first of its kind, a new breed of insurtech companies looking to offer young consumers a purpose-driven, relevant and affordable product.
The results of this innovation are breaking through across a number of topics:
Perception: Helping to reposition insurance in the minds of young consumers, turning insurance into something relevant, connected and even cool.
Non-traditional distribution channels: Influencers, sports events, charities, Instagram, etc.
Digital experience: >90% of claims have been approved within 24 hrs and members can sign up in under 2 minutes.
Insurance product innovation: A first of its kind episodic insurance product from scratch and brought to market in less than 6-months.
Looking forward, Flip plans to connect with consumers even further, and leverage on the valuable assets within the HCF group that enables rapid innovation and speed-to-market.
Borrett says, “The common thread to our future strategy is a focus on young active consumers and on continuing to build insurance products that people love. We have a number of new improvements to our existing injury product that we will be launching in the next few months, all of which will add additional value to our members. In addition to injury product extension, we are also beginning to scope out new products in adjacent spaces. We are working with partners within the activity, adventure and sporting industries so that we can educate younger consumers about the value of insurance and offer cover when and where consumers most need it.”
Innovation is as much about enabling technologies as it is about connecting to underserved markets. Flip is an inspiring example of both. Congratulations to Flip for their exciting innovation!
Boris Plantier, Efma, Content Manager says, “We really appreciated Flip Insurance’s offering and their innovative way of approaching a niche market with a different mindset from what we traditionally see in insurance. Their willingness to center the company around a specific community is the type of fresh idea we love to celebrate in the Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards and use to inspire others.”
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