Pikl reveals MGA under its new partnership

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It will provide the insurtech with flexible underwriting capacity

Sharing economy insurance specialist Pikl has revealed a new MGA under its partnership with First Underwriting, Accredited Insurance, and the Claims Consortium Group.

This partnership provides Pikl with flexible underwriting capacity for property and vehicle products.

It will allow the insurtech to operate more nimbly, potentially bringing products to market in a few weeks.

The news follows Pikl announcing that it was refocusing its business last month due to the pandemic seeing Airbnb and short-term rental bookingS plummet by 90%.

Capacity

The capacity will be provided by Accredited Insurance (Europe) limited, risk carrier and subsidiary of Quilter and Holdings (R&Q).The firm operates in the US, Malta and London and has been A-rated by A.M Best.

Capacity will be accessed through Accredited Insurance’s relationship with First Underwriting.

Pikl will also work closely with specialised underwriting business First Underwriting to develop and fine tune a range of new and existing solutions for the sharing economy, as well as leveraging the expertise of its respective teams.

Louise Birritteri, chief executive and founder of Pikl, said: “Both the teams at Pikl and First Underwriting have a great deal of insurance expertise and our collective skill sets will provide a powerful combination as we continue to scale.

“As we enter the next stage of our journey it was incredibly important for us to find the right partners who could work flexibly and at pace.”

This partnership complements the existing partnership Pikl announced in November 2019 with Hiscox.

Last year, Pikl raised £2.5m in funding from Direct Line founder and chairman of esure Group and GoCo Group, Sir Peter Wood.

Ambition

“Our ambition is to be the market leader for Sharing Economy insurance products in both the property and vehicle lines,” Birritteri said. ”Our learnings from working in the property sharing market over the past three years has prepared us well to enter the vehicle sharing sector later this year. Thanks to the teams in both companies, this partnership will give us the complete flexibility we need to continue to be first to market with bespoke propositions for emerging markets.”

Meanwhile Mark Bacon, managing director at First Underwriting, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Pikl who are developing innovative insurance products to cater for the growing and specialist needs of the sharing economy.

“It’s certainly a very exciting part of the insurance market that presents new and interesting challenges for insurers. Working with Pikl means that we have a partner that genuinely understands its chosen markets and will be well positioned to make the most of the opportunities it will present.”

Future of claims

Claims will be managed by the UK property claims handling and buildings repair network, Claims Consortium Group who deal with flexible and bespoke claims software solutions and these products will launch with the group’s custom ENOL solution.

Jeremy Hyams, chief executive and founder of Claims Consortium, said: “We are pleased to be working with Pikl and First Underwriting through our TPA offering, combining our collective expertise to deliver bespoke and specialist products to the market and the customer.

“We believe the future of claims is using innovative technologies to offer flexible solutions that suit the lifestyle of the modern customer and partnerships like this facilitate that.”