Many businesses want to offer their customers a seamless experience. Take car leasing, for example – a car leasing company can offer vehicles, but an important part of the overall package may be missing: insurance.
“This means, when consumers lease a vehicle, they need to purchase insurance through a different company, as a separate transaction. This, in turn, leads to extra admin for consumers, dealing with multiple companies, setting up multiple accounts, remembering multiple passwords and renewal details,” says Root platform CEO Charlotte Koep.
Root announced its technology partnership with Admiral Pioneer, the venture-building arm of international financial services group Admiral Group last year. This allowed Admiral Pioneer to launch Connect by Admiral, which helps companies embed insurance into their products.
Since then, the partnership has started to make embedded insurance available to providers like car leasing companies to include in their service portfolio. Consumers can purchase the whole package – car, any extras, plus insurance – at the point of sale. Connect by Admiral also works with marketplaces and proposes insurance to SMEs as they need it.
“Connect by Admiral brings the technical capability, via its partnership with Root, as well as the behavioural insight and access to motor, household, pet, and travel insurance,” Koep explains.
The customer journey has been made simple, with only one relationship needed directly with the car leasing company or service provider.
Simplifying the process for providers
“For service providers, the process is much simpler too. They have sight of the entire sales process, and can offer the customer enhanced service with no communication barriers between the provider and third party insurer,” Koep says.
She reports that the early signs are very positive. Both Root and Connect by Admiral have received good feedback since launch and have seen strong momentum converting initial interest from brands into implementation.
This is most notable through Connect by Admiral’s partnership with Wagonex, Koep says.
Wagonex is a leading car subscription platform provider in the UK. Having launched in 2016, Wagonex designs, builds, and manages a flexible, all-inclusive platform which enables vehicle suppliers to offer car subscription options directly to consumers. Wagonex provides a seamless, end-to-end customer journey, with an automated credit decision engine that creates flexible contracts that include road tax, insurance, breakdown cover, and servicing.
“By partnering with Connect, Wagonex makes it possible for consumers to select the car they want to drive and purchase Admiral motor insurance as part of the same transaction,” says Koep. “Both the subscription costs and the insurance premium are shown in an itemised checkout and the consumer receives a single monthly bill, simplifying the customer experience significantly.”
Customer-first approach
She points out that the collaboration between Root and Connect is laser-focused on the customer. “This type of solution offers businesses looking to support their customers with insurance the simplest and most powerful route to doing so,” she concludes.
