Policy Powerhouse, a new digital broker, has today launched the fastest quote platform in the UK for holiday let insurance. Designed and built for busy holiday let business owners, it offers them the ability to get a quote for, and purchase, holiday let buildings and contents insurance in under 5 minutes.
The ability to insure one or many properties on a single policy with a single policy fee and discounts for multiple properties is also unique for a fully online service.
Add to that a highly competitive price point, and minimal need for manual data input, and Policy Powerhouse successfully simplifies the lives of holiday let business owners.
CEO of Policy Powerhouse, John Bibby says, “We’re really excited to launch what we consider to be the most intuitive insurance platform on the market, which will transform the frankly, rather tedious holiday let insurance buying process, making it much faster and easier to obtain competitive pricing and a choice of coverage level to suit holiday let owners”
He goes on to explain, “Having been in the insurance market for most of our lives, we saw a gap in 4 critical areas of insurance: cost, speed of purchase, the ability to insure multiple properties on a single policy and range of products, particularly where requirements don’t quite fit the typical mould. This is where Policy Powerhouse comes in.”
The UK based digital broker, founded in 2021, aspires to bring non-standard insurance products within easy, fast, and cost-effective reach of buyers to save them time and money. Taking the hassle out of the insurance-buying process and delivering straightforward claims processes, with enhanced underwriting data and performance is core to their business model.
“Typically for non-standard insurance products like holiday let properties, owners need to hunt around for providers that offer the right protection, then undergo lengthy phone calls / processes to obtain a quote –which can ultimately end up in rejection. It can be very frustrating when you know what you want in an insurance product, but you aren’t able to purchase it easily,” explains Bibby.
Because holiday let properties can be left unoccupied for longer than 30 days and have multiple short-term tenancies, they are seen as a higher risk than standard home insurance. This means that standard home insurance policies typically do not provide adequate cover, which is where Policy Powerhouse’s ‘Holiday Lets’ insurance fits.
A simple 5 step process for obtaining a policy has been developed by Policy Powerhouse, minimising manual data input beyond any other platform to date through partnering with leading property data supplier WhenFresh.
The buyer only needs to enter the address and all necessary property and risk related questions are instantly “pre-answered” within the Policy Powerhouse platform, by pulling in data via the WhenFresh API. This removes the need for buyers to complete lengthy, complex forms, making the process of obtaining a quote much faster and simpler.
Step 1: A maximum of 10 fields to fill in, 4 of which are drop-down options, gathers basic contact details for the property owners.
Step 2: A quick postcode search to find the property address/es that you want to insure, allowing you to select your property, plus the policy start date, is all that’s required.
Step 3: You’ll be presented with a range of products and prices, with the ability to select additional cover options to customise your quote.
Step 4: Review your policy details and confirm.
Step 5: Pay for your policy, using either a credit or debit card or monthly instalments.
You’ll get immediate access to a Policy Powerhouse portal containing saved quotes, policy details and all your documentation.
Policy Powerhouse is committed to making a difference to the insurance buying process, but they also want to make a difference to people’s lives. By giving £1 of every policy purchased or renewed to the Make-A-Wish charity, they’ve set an initial target of raising £100,000 to help provide children living with critical conditions with the opportunity to make a wish that’s unique to them.
Holiday Lets launches on the 16th of June 2022 and is the second product brought to market by Policy Powerhouse. Their first insurance product, Cancel Cover, offers holiday let owners protection against the risk of guests cancelling their bookings, allowing them to refund guests up to 95% of costs incurred and reclaim that refund via Cancel Cover. Holiday let owners can therefore compete with Online Travel Agents and protect their financial position.
COO of Policy Powerhouse, Steve Dixon, has worked on the idea behind the platform. “We envisaged a central platform where customers can manage all their insurance policies with ease, and also log their holiday booking for Cancel Cover protection. Insurance doesn’t stop when a customer has purchased, it is also about making the claims process as fast and easy as possible to reduce admin time.”
Dixon goes on the explain, “Efficient use of API’s mean that the customer experience is fast and frictionless, and our insurer partners gain enhanced insight into the risks that they accept. Our Holiday Lets product is supported by A+ rated insurance capacity. Whilst we have focused upon making the platform as intuitive as possible, we recognise that some customers will need additional support, so all lines of communication are open at Policy Powerhouse, including via live chat, instant messaging, email, and phone. We are always there to support our customers and prospective customers”
WhenFresh CEO Mark Cunningham adds: “It’s great to see Policy Powerhouse innovating in the Holiday Let insurance space. It’s a market that’s been poorly served in the past and this is a great example of how smart technology and WhenFresh property data can be brought together to massively simplify and speed-up what has, before now, been a complex and painful experience for buyers.”
With customer service being an important element to Policy Powerhouse, the ‘new kid off the block’ is certainly looking to disrupt the insurance market.
