Investment - Articles - Hippo and Metromile combined insurance will be popular in US

 Both start-ups have unicorn status (valued at in excess of $1bn) and are leaders within the insurtech trend. Metromile is a pay-per-mile motor insurer, while Hippo is a digital household insurer. GlobalData’s 2020 Insurance Consumer Survey shows that even the top UK insurtechs only have name recognition of around 10% (Marmalade was top with 13%), so it is not an easy market to penetrate.

 However, GlobalData’s survey also shows that UK consumers are already extremely accustomed to purchasing insurance online. A total of 66.6% of consumers bought combined household insurance policies through a PC, laptop or smartphone app in 2020. This was lower but still above half the respondents (54.1%) for motor insurance.

 Ben Carey-Evans, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Joined-up insurance is becoming a key trend, as it offers customers convenience and value. Two digitally-savvy start-ups, such as these two, can offer customized products to fit a customer’s needs for home and motor, which is likely to prove extremely popular. The two start-ups believe they will be able to deliver a 15% savings to customers in this package. Value is likely to be key in the coming years, as household budgets are likely to have been squeezed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “Furthermore, the pandemic has also forced people of all generations to become more comfortable purchasing and managing products online. Previously, a policy like this may have been primarily aimed at younger generations, but the pandemic is likely to have increased the size of a potential market for a digital product such as this.”