PeppercornAI addresses rising costs in motor industry with SaaS offering

PeppercornAI has launched a new software as a service (SaaS) product to help support the industry address rising costs within the motor sector.

A statement released yesterday (19 October 2023) said the new offering would see the insurtech offer its digital assistant Pipr as a SaaS proposition to managing general agents (MGAs), insurance providers and brokers.

This will provide their customers with a platform that uses natural language understanding to guide them through the motor insurance purchase process, removing the need for filling out forms.

And PeppercornAI claims its technology can help deliver lower prices and improve customer experience at the same time.

Nigel Lombard, chief executive and founder of the firm, said: “We’re on a mission to help the entire industry accelerate its digital transformation, whether it’s an insurtech startup with ambitious growth targets or a legacy provider looking for solutions to drive greater efficiencies.”

’Win-win’

It came after figures published by Confused.com and WTW last week (13 October 2023) showed UK motorists were now paying £924 on average for premiums, some £338 more than 12 months ago.

This meant car insurance premiums reached their highest ever recorded levels since the two firms launched their Car Insurance Price Index in 2006.

The rise was largely in part due to insurers battling with sustained cost pressures, such as claims costs.

For example, the ABI noted earlier this year (11 August 2023) that insurers paid out £2.4bn in all motor insurance claims – including theft, vehicle repairs and personal injury – in the first quarter of this year, up 14% from Q1 2022.

PeppercornAI said it had seen interest in its platform ”due to its ability to lower operational costs and mitigate risk by offering an end-to-end digital experience”.

And since launching its own MGA – Peppercorn Insurance – in January 2023, the insurtech said it had exceeded initial expectations, encouraging the acceleration of its SaaS product launch.

“Our team of insurance experts have transformed the customer experience to a wholly digital conversation, by building and training the world’s first conversational AI platform that’s purposefully built for insurance,” Lombard said.

”Not only is this conversational-first approach providing a better customer experience which we’re seeing with consistently great reviews, but it’s also proven to lower expenses and helps to mitigate risk too. It’s a win-win-win – for customers, businesses and the industry.”