Car insurance isn’t always about the cheapest price, and in 2021 as the FCA begins to work out ways of ensuring consumer loyalty is rewarded with cheaper premiums at renewal time, many drivers will look at cover in a different light. The approach taken by ThingCo on telematics is to make this not just a PAYG/mileage meter, but a rescue service, an FNOL manager and a driver coach. In short, it’s got the power to turn an insurance brand into one of the good guys – that adds value.
Here’s the latest on a major funding deal that has just been announced by ThingCo and guess what, it comes from a comparison website specialist. That tells us here at IE that the sector is changing direction completely. The future of pricing, claims and admin will all be driven by consumer data which means the brands that learn how to sell the benefits of data sharing will be in pole position.
In a deal that demonstrates the insurance market’s growing confidence in next generation telematics to meet the demand for flexible motor premiums, and to cut claims costs, ThingCo, the insurtech business created by telematics pioneer, Mike Brockman has secured £3m investment from BHL(UK) Holdings.
BHL(UK) Holdings is the majority owner of comparethemarket.com through BGL (Holdings) Group. Within its wider Group there are more than 15 million customers and significant business interests in South Africa and Australia.
The deal completed on New Year’s Eve 2020 and rounds off a pivotal year for ThingCo. The Insurtech 100 business rolled out Theo, its solar powered, AI and Voice enabled, self-fit telematics device, through a growing number of broker partnerships, expanded its distribution centre in Newcastle, grew its team by 20% and secured regulatory approval from the FCA to act as insurance intermediary.
Mike Brockman, CEO of ThingCo said: “The investment from BHL provides vindication for all we have achieved in the last three years and all we plan to accomplish in the next stage of ThingCo’s growth. This boost will enable us to manufacture and roll out more solar powered ‘Theo’ devices to meet the growing demand from the insurance market. It will also provide funds we need to launch our direct to consumer Theo branded proposition incorporating sensors and HD camera.”
Ian Leech of BHL (UK) Holdings adds “ThingCo has created a telematics solution leveraging leading edge technology and data processing power that offers significant risk reduction and customer engagement capabilities for insurance providers of any size in any global region. As a group focused on harnessing innovation to support our growing customer base, we can see the massive potential in ThingCo’s services for insurance brands globally. We look forward to being part of ThingCo’s success story.”
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