Zurich Backs Travel Startup Pluto
Pluto, a London-based travel startup, is challenging the travel insurance market by offering “travel insurance for people who don’t like insurance” to decrease the number of millennials who put themselves under unnecessary risk when travelling without cover, with up to 60% of this audience choosing to travel without insurance.
Backed by Zurich, who provide underwriting expertise and claims management capacity, the new mobile-focused offering gives millennials an insurance quote in around 60 seconds or around three minutes when a customer builds their own policy. After buying travel cover from Pluto, customers can manage their policy via Facebook Messenger. This gives customers instant responses when they need to make a claim, search their policy and, in the future, edit their policy.
Research suggests that 85% of people have trouble understanding their insurance policies. This led Pluto to design a solution that makes insurance easy to understand, without jargon and hassle-free – the solution is optimised for mobile and tailored to each customer and their trip.
Pluto raised investment from industry professionals, and are supported by the FCA’s Innovation Sandbox, set up to fast-track highly innovative companies that are aimed at improving people’s lives.
Since launching in mid-December 2018, Pluto has also initiated a first of its kind, a share giveaway to the first 200 customers who buy annual cover with them.
“Travel insurance is often far too complex and the result is that people don’t know what they’re buying and therefore don’t buy. This means young people are taking on huge unnecessary risk and is exactly why we started Pluto – to make it easier to understand.”
“Good travel insurance doesn’t have to be expensive either. But you need to make sure you understand what it covers and what it doesn’t. Don’t just compare on price!”
“Customers we’ve already spoken to absolutely love building their own policy and understanding it more, they find it hugely empowering.” – Pluto Cofounder & CEO, Alex Rainey.
“How our customers want to buy insurance is constantly changing, precipitated by the increased reliance on technology and, specifically, smart devices. Millennials are a particularly interesting demographic as they grew up keeping up with the latest technological advances and its only right that we keep up with them, too.”
“Zurich’s partnership with Pluto is extremely exciting and hugely promising as it’s the passion and genuine commitment to challenging the status quo makes this offering stand out. We look forward to working with Pluto to see how we can develop this solution as our customer’s needs continue to evolve.” – Mark Budd, Head of Innovation at Zurich.
