Swipe right to protect: Trov launches world-first on demand insurance
Trōv, a company that is reinventing insurance for the mobile generation, and leading insurer Suncorp Group, today announced the limited launch of on-demand insurance in Australia, beginning with coverage for common electronics.
For the first time ever, people can now turn insurance on – or off – for individual items entirely from their mobile device. The claims process is facilitated by an automated bot and live chat, which means making a claim is as simple as sending a few texts. Trōv Protection is only available via the Trōv app and is a first for the Australian market.
“Trōv was built to empower the mobile generation to protect the items that are important to them,” said Trōv Founder and CEO Scott Walchek.
“Millennials are the most underinsured generation ever. It is the generation for whom almost everything of importance is channelled through the smartphone. Social networking, food delivery, dating – you name it. The team has built a beautiful user experience that is designed to make protecting your stuff as simple as swiping right.”
Gary Dransfield, CEO Customer Platforms, Suncorp Group said San Francisco-based Trōv chose to launch in Australia first, due in part to Suncorp Group’s emphasis on innovation.
“Trōv Protection will help transform the way people interact with insurance. Suncorp is focused on providing our customers with a flexible platform that empowers them to protect what matters most. In years to come, this will be viewed as a landmark event in the insurance industry,” he said.
A recent World Insurance Report revealed only 36 per cent of millennials, compared to 52 per cent of others, reported a positive experience with their insurer through a traditional channel in 2015. Trōv is looking to change that, giving this generation an entirely new way to interact with insurance that fits with their on-the-go lifestyle.
“The mobile generation adopts technology at a rapid rate and is consequently spearheading a dramatic shift in purchasing behaviour. Everything is on-demand – and business has to adapt accordingly. It’s no different for insurance,” Mr Walchek said.
Mr Dransfield said millennial customers and renters are renowned for being underinsured, which means their belongings are at risk.
“When we think of valuables in the home, it’s often furniture and major appliances. We tend to forget about electronics and even smaller items that are worth a significant amount of cash,” he said.
Mr Walchek praised Suncorp for its forward thinking and passion for bringing the world-first technology to Australia.
“Suncorp Group has proven to be an exceptionally innovative partner that has helped enable the swift entry of a new age of mobile-centric insurance. We see the Australian market as being a significant contributor to Trōv’s long-term success,” he said.
The Trōv app also helps people easily create a digital inventory of the things they own that is backed up in the cloud and accessible on their mobile device when needed. When a user wants to protect an individual item in their Trōv, they simply swipe right to initiate protection, swipe right again to claim and swipe left to turn protection off. Prior to the launch of on-demand insurance, Trōv already helped people around the world back up and organise nearly one million items valued at over US$8.5 billion.
Item availability for on-demand insurance will remain limited to common electronics in its early stages, but other categories will be added later in the year. The Trōv app can be downloaded for free from the App Store or Google Play, with on-demand insurance currently available on iOS only (Android support coming soon). Trōv Protection is issued by AAI Limited, a Suncorp Group company. Trōv will launch in the UK later this year and the US and other territories in 2017.
