Sam White reveals objectives for new MGA Stella Insurance

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The business is designed by women for women, and it aims to add value by delivering products that are customer centric

Sam White has officially revealed the details of her new insurtech Stella Insurance which will be launching in Australia.

Stella’s motor insurance product is targeted at female drivers in Australia and is underwritten by QBE.

It has been launched on digital operating platform Aventus, which allows the insurtech to use the Salesforce Financial Services Cloud to tap market solutions and adopt a new customer-centric approach.

White told Insurance Times: “I wanted to build an insurance business for women by women, so many products are built without women in mind. I am hoping that Stella becomes synonymous in delivering products that women want, and adds value that is more than just fiscal.”

She believes that engaging with customers is the key to an inclusive insurance business.

Although men can buy the insurance product too, the product has been designed with women in mind and the benefits therefore are specific such as contents cover including expensive handbags, for example.

“We have upped the contents cover as women have more personal belonging than men, we have extra cover for baby items,” she said.

White also intends to ‘pay it forward’ by using some of the premiums to launch more entrepreneurs.

What’s in a name?

When asked why she decided to call the insurtech ‘Stella’ she said: “We liked ‘Stella’ as we could use that in terms of the play on words [such as] ‘you’re stellar’. One of the messages that we want to get out there is that you are stellar just the way you are.”

White has a collaborative partnership with Bauer Media and used their network to test different names.

Edge

When asked how the product is different from others in the market, White said that most insurers will exclude damage done to your vehicle if it’s by a partner, which means that if women are a victim of domestic violence, it is not covered.

“We have taken that exclusion out of the policy as it was unfair and unnecessary,” she said.

White said: “Yes we are price competitive. But we try to make the on-boarding of the policy easier; we also try to engage with customers in a much deeper way.

”So, it is the communication isn’t just once a year because you have taken out an insurance policy, we are asking our customers to recommend female entrepreneurs.

“With the collaboration with Bauer we are looking to get more coverage for those individuals as well and to highlight their businesses and their journey. As well as making the process of buying an insurance policy more rewarding.

“We are looking to give value back. One of the big things that came out of the research for the female demographic is that they don’t like the rate of current ’give back’ from the insurers.

”They feel like they are not rewarded for loyalty and that the product is not engaging. So, we have been working hard to on that and will continue to add to those product benefits.”

Down under

Speaking about restrictions in the UK, she added: “In Australia, they do not have the gender directive around motor insurance, so I got very excited about launching a brand for women.

”One of my bug bears is that a lot of the products we consume have been designed by men for men. It is just the world that we live in.

“The fact that in Australia I wouldn’t have the same restrictions so I could underwrite them accordingly and give them the appropriate discount.

White has ambitions to launch Stella in the UK in the future, “If it is successful and all the partners that we have are happy to do so then I would love to look at bring that over,” she said.

In five years’ time, White hopes to launch in other lines and get up to 80m GWP annually.

Customer centric

White said that she worked with Aventus founder and chief executive Peter Goodman to launch Stella on the Aventus platform, the customer can answer five questions and get an indicative quote.

Goodman said: “Stella is a shining example of what being customer-centric means.

”How many insurance companies’ quote and bind websites are connected to their CRM and Policy Administration systems within their call centres? Virtually none of them, which is why you have to wait so long whilst they rekey your information.

“With Aventus, Stella keeps the customer at the very centre throughout the process, from the API data-driven quick quote through to the Insurance CRM.

”The phone number is instantly recognised, for example, pulling through the customer record, saving time, and enabling the insurance agents to answer queries. It means seamless service that raises customer satisfaction with every interaction.”

White added: “I’m really passionate about improving the customer experience in motor, and with Stella, we feel like we have really started with a blank sheet to use all of our collective learning to get this right.

”Aventus gives Stella flexibility and agility not available with legacy solutions. We bought not just into a platform but the ecosystem approach.

“Modern insurance experiences are more than just a pretty website; they have to seamlessly follow the customer journey from start to finish. The Aventus Operating System delivers this approach perfectly.”