Neos, the UK’s first smart home insurance provider, launches nationwide today, bringing homeowners a totally new and unique combination of home protection and insurance.
Neos wants to revolutionise the way consumers protect and insure their homes, by combining smart connected home technology, 24/7 monitoring and assistance plus the back up of comprehensive home insurance, all managed through an app. This creates a policy that’s “always-on” and allows homeowners to actively protect their home from their phone, from anywhere in the world. The technology can detect and help prevent fire, intruders, and water leaks, with real time updates provided to your smartphone, including the real-time view inside your home from connected cameras.
Currently, insurers pay out £8.1m every day in the UK to repair homes and replace contents. Yet, while this repairs the financial loss suffered by consumers, nearly one in four UK consumers say they’ve lost an irreplaceable item to burglary, water damage or fire in the home.
With home insurance premiums now rising at their fastest rate in three years, more than double the rate of inflation, Neos also promises customers a three-year price freeze. That has to be tempting to many consumers fed up with annual insurance premium rises.
Following the testing phase in 2016, this is the first time Neos has launched nationwide to consumers. Co-founder Matt Poll started the company in 2016 by combining his expertise in insurance, as former director of MoreThan, with the home automation knowledge of his co-founder, Krystian Zajac.
Matt Poll, co-founder of Neos, said: “I started Neos because I was frustrated with the limitations of traditional home insurance products. You only claim on your insurance policy if the worst happens, but not enough was being done to help people prevent bad things from happening in the first place.
“That’s why we’ve built a completely new type of product with prevention at its core. Never before has an insurance company provided homeowners with the ability to actively protect their homes from the threats of water, fire and theft – all from their smartphone. This is something that can benefit everyone, but is particularly powerful for those are often away from their home, or who live too remotely to monitor the properties of elderly relatives – it gives them the peace of mind that they can spot and rectify issues before they become major problems.
“We are pioneering this new way to protect your home and expect many insurers to follow our lead to focus on prevention instead of payout. With this approach, we want our customers to never make a claim again and, with fewer claims being made, pay less to protect their homes.”
Neos will be available to consumers as one of three simple packages: ‘Good’, ‘Better’ and ‘Best’. Each quote is unique, with prices varying from approximately £15 to £50 per month, which includes both the smart technology package, 24/7 monitoring and assistance along with comprehensive insurance cover.
It will initially be aimed at homeowners, offering both contents and buildings cover. In another innovation aimed at making life easier for consumers, Neos has also launched a new feature which generates an initial home insurance quote in under 60 seconds, cutting out lots of time-consuming questions about customers and their property. Neos uses over 260 available data sources integrated into its technology to generate an almost instant quote.
Patrick, from London, is a Neos customer who has already experienced the benefits of the system first-hand. “Just days after moving into our new home, the Neos app alerted us to a leak from the boiler in our first floor airing cupboard. We immediately put a bucket under the drip to prevent further damage and identified the source of the problem – a sticky pressure valve. The early notification prevented more water leaking and coming through our downstairs ceiling, which meant there was no damage to the possessions my partner and I care about most. What’s more, the technology saved us a lot of hassle, an insurance claim and major upheaval in our new home.”
Ben Luckett, Managing Director for Aviva Ventures added: “Investments are all about talent, future, and disrupting the status quo. Our involvement in Neos reflects all of these three elements, surrounded by great technology delivering a great purpose. I am very excited about the opportunities that this investment presents and how we can move focus to making a real impact in people’s lives, from fixing to preventing the bad things happening.”
Neos is backed with £5m Series A investment led by Aviva Ventures and BBC sporting personality, Gary Lineker. The company is also supported by strategic partnerships with industry heavyweights Munich Re and Zoopla.
In 2017, Neos was ranked no. 11 in the world’s 100 most disruptive brands, as well as winning awards for Best Insurer in IoT and Internet of Things Breakthrough.
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