The insurtech aims to become the dominant player in the market for temporary vehicle insurance
Insurtech GoShorty plans to build its policy sales volumes to more than 200,000 in 2022, taking advantage of the growing customer demand for short-term vehicle insurance, according to the company’s co-founder and director Simon Jackson.
GoShorty, which launched last November, focuses on temporary motor insurance – the word ‘go’ aims to represent the speed and immediate availability of the insurtech’s service, while ’shorty’ alludes to the short-term nature of its policies, which cover time frames from one hour to 28 days, explains Jackson, who is a chartered insurance broker.
He tells Insurance Times: “We plan to dominate the short-term sector in both direct to consumer and B2B.
“We are fascinated by the short-term vehicle insurance sector and its evolution - we are committed to being at the forefront of shaping its development and penetration.
”We are already disrupting the established market and active sector brokers with a fresh, tech-driven approach and our aim is to provide the quickest, most dynamic customer journey in the sector.
“Prior to GoShorty, no other broker had been able to launch into the short-term [motor] insurance sector without first developing [its] own proprietary software and back office platform. We have avoided this barrier by partnering and collaborating with Cheshire Data Systems Limited (CDL), the specialist insurance software provider.”
Meeting customer demand
For Jackson, the short-term motor cover niche presents a huge opportunity - GoShorty has estimated that the UK short-term or temporary vehicle insurance sector has a value of up to £150m gross written premium (GWP) per annum.
Jackson says: “We are seeing a consistent year-on-year increase in [the] demand for short-term vehicle insurance, largely due to the changing way that UK residents own and insure vehicles. Despite [motor insurance] being an established market, the short-term insurance sector is growing rapidly.
“Many people no longer want to own and insure vehicles in the traditional way and vehicle owners are now actively encouraging shared vehicle usage with family, friends, colleagues and employees. The accelerating growth of the gig economy will see this trend continue.”
Plus, the UK workforce continues to demonstrate a reluctance to use public transport following the Covid-19 pandemic, Jackson notes - he believes this has caused a sharp increase in car sharing and car borrowing among drivers and commuters.
”Market conditions and the rise in demand for people wanting temporary insurance reinforced our determination to be at the heart of this sector,” Jackson adds.
The uptick in this market segment is a key driver behind GoShorty’s ambitious 2022 plans.
“Our team is growing and we plan to further increase headcount with the very best appointments to complement our existing team and work towards record policy numbers of sales in the sector,” Jackson says. ”We have a five-year plan which is ambitious but, as we are already ahead of target, we believe this is achievable.”
As part of this strategy, the insurtech will be launching a short-term vehicle insurance proposition for brokers within the coming weeks.
Jackson continues: “Our broker offering will be further refined and we will be targeting all types of potential introducers, including regulated brokers and non-regulated introducers and affiliates.”
Cohesion and simplicity
So far, GoShorty’s panel of insurer partners includes LV=, Mulsanne, KGM and First Underwriting, which were all chosen because of their high quality claims experience and underwriting expertise, Jackson says.
In December 2021, Ageas became the latest insurer to join GoShorty’s panel, alongside the insurtech implementing CDL’s sales and administration platform, Strata.
Jackson continues: “We have built our business and proposition from [the] bottom up using the latest technology.
”We are focused on simplifying the insurance products we sell – we simplify the transactions for both the insurer and customer and meet the evolving needs of the tech-driven consumer. Cohesion and simplicity are paramount to our proposition.”
With this in mind, Jackson aims for GoShorty to be “a one-stop-shop for direct to consumer users and brokers alike” - he thinks this approach is what will give the insurtech an edge in the market.
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