LIFE INSURANCE, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | April 18, 2023
YuLife, the tech-driven financial services provider on a mission to inspire life, today announced its launch in South Africa. Founded in London in 2016, YuLife achieved rapid traction in the UK insurance market through its flagship product, group life insurance. The company's expansion into South Africa marks a significant milestone as it seeks to redefine how people around the world derive value from financial products.
YuLife's Group Risk Protection (Life, Income Protection, Lump Sum Disability, and Funeral Cover) includes everything in a traditional group insurance policy – but also adds a globally award-winning wellbeing app and trusted support services. YuLife harnesses the latest trends in behavioral science and game mechanics to encourage employees to make proactive lifestyle changes, while also prioritising prevention by de-risking individuals through healthy activities.
Gamification ensures that YuLife attracts unrivaled levels of engagement which is valued and enjoyed by all employees. The YuLife app enables employees to complete everyday wellness activities, such as walking, meditation, and cycling, in order to earn YuCoin, YuLife's virtual well-being currency. Members can then use their YuCoin to buy vouchers for groceries, data, fuel, clothing and more from leading brands, or to improve the world through donating meals, planting trees, or cleaning the ocean. By incentivising healthy living, YuLife provides employers with a way to simultaneously boost retention rates, improve employees' standard of living, and safeguard their loved ones' financial future.
In addition to day-to-day wellbeing, YuLife provides critical wellbeing tools and services to further prevent illness, both mentally and physically. All employees with YuLife get access to a virtual GP service through Kena Health, counseling and advice through ICAS, alongside access to multiple wellbeing apps like Meditopia and Fiit.
"South Africa has the second highest insurance penetration globally, making it a perfect market for YuLife to expand into and showcase its innovative approach to insurance," said Jaco Oosthuizen, YuLife Co-founder and Managing Director of YuLife South Africa. "There has been a big shift toward health and wellbeing in the workplace, with more and more companies adding new initiatives and resources to their employee benefits packages. YuLife is launching in South Africa to offer companies an easy way to provide extra protection – we're looking forward to providing South African businesses and employees tangible value on an everyday basis in an accessible, engaging, and deliverable manner."
YuLife South Africa's policies are underwritten by Guardrisk Life, SA's largest life cell captive insurer and the market leader in tailored risk solutions. "We are excited to be working together with YuLife to bring cost-effective insurance solutions to customers in South Africa," said Herman Schoeman, CEO, Guardrisk Life. "As a company rooted in innovation, partnering with such a forward-thinking company like YuLife that shares our commitment to meeting customers' needs makes good business sense. We look forward to developing our relationship with YuLife and providing our solutions to its customers while also empowering them to have a more thorough and holistic relationship with their life insurance and protection provider."
YuLife has achieved rapid traction in an industry traditionally lacking in innovation. The company recently expanded into the US, and now covers >600k group policyholders across small to large businesses, with over $50bn of coverage in place. YuLife has seen more than 5x growth in premiums year-on-year, and in July 2022 raised a $120M Series C led by Dai-ichi Life with participation from T. Rowe Price, bringing the company's total funding to $206M.
About YuLife
YuLife is a tech-driven financial services provider on a mission to inspire life and turn financial products into a force for good. By harnessing the power of technology and the latest behavioural science, YuLife's insurance model focuses on risk prevention, not just claims compensation. The company is transforming the employee benefits market by rewarding employees for healthy living, supporting mental, physical and financial wellbeing and helping foster healthier, happier and more motivated teams. Founded in 2016, YuLife is headquartered in London and backed by global insurers and venture capital. https://www.YuLife.com/
About Guardrisk
Guardrisk is South Africa's largest cell captive insurer. We pioneered the cell captive concept in 1993 and provide tailor-made risk financing and insurance solutions for corporates, small enterprises and municipalities. The option of a third-party insurance offering lets clients sell insurance cover to their customers, boosting their business' earning potential and building their brand. Essentially, a cell captive facility gives clients all the benefits of owning their own insurance company without the inherent cost and administrative implications. Cell captives provide underwriting, reinsurance, claims management, investment, actuarial and accounting functions for clients (cell owners), which keeps costs down and gives clients access to a broad base of insurance skills. Guardrisk is a subsidiary of Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Limited, one of SA's largest insurance-based financial services groups. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa and on the Namibian Stock Exchange in Namibia.
Read More
CORE INSURANCE, RISK MANAGEMENT
PRnewswire | March 31, 2023
HawkSoft announces that CoverRight is now participating in its Solution Partner program. CoverRight.com is a digital-first concierge platform designed to empower retirees and their families to easily learn about and navigate Medicare health insurance online. The US-based insurtech collaborates with experienced Insurance, Banking, and Healthcare Provider partners nationwide to create new revenue opportunities through a digitally-driven and personalized Medicare navigation and enrollment experience for their clients. HawkSoft is a leading agency management system for independent insurance agencies that serve communities throughout the US.
Given the uncertain economic landscape, many independent agencies are seeking options to capture missed revenue opportunities and protect retention rates in 2023. Adding CoverRight as a Solution Partner will provide Property & Casualty (P&C) focused agencies an option to generate new revenue at no additional cost.
America's workforce continues to age with over 10,000 Americans retiring each day, affecting more personal lines clients than insurance agencies may realize. In fact, 1 in 5 Americans is a silent caregiver and may have to make complex Medicare decisions on behalf of an aging parent. Instinctively, clients turn to trusted channels such as personal insurance, banking, or healthcare providers for advice when transitioning to Medicare but require the additional expert help that CoverRight provides. CoverRight's digital-first concierge-style platform has helped over 14,000 Americans learn about Medicare and offers its partners clients a dedicated licensed Medicare advisor end-to-end – 100% free.
"HawkSoft is built by industry veterans who are exceptionally positioned to understand and help deliver what agencies will require to thrive on an evolving basis," said Karan Narang, Head of Partnerships at CoverRight. "As a Solutions Partner, CoverRight uniquely offers HawkSoft agencies the ability to cultivate a new revenue stream from their existing client portfolios while driving value back to their business. We're excited to grow our alliance with HawkSoft and help enable P&C focused agencies to capture missed opportunities with Medicare."
"Our customers often describe their jobs as 'protecting their community,' which is not limited to just covering their insureds' P&C risks," says Rushang Shah, VP of Marketing at HawkSoft. "They are resources in their communities, offering advice and guidance through some of the hardest situations a person will encounter. CoverRight feels like a natural fit for our efforts to support that pillar position agents find themselves in."
About HawkSoft
Since 1995, HawkSoft is a leader in management systems for independent insurance agencies that want effective workflows and a delightful experience for staff and policyholders. Created by independent agents, HawkSoft continues to evolve as a cutting-edge system that powers thousands of agencies. HawkSoft offers the following promise to insurance agents: your investment in HawkSoft will pay for itself in the first year. Learn more about HawkSoft's story at www.hawksoft.com/story.
About CoverRight
CoverRight.com is the first digital concierge platform designed to empower retirees and their families to easily learn about and navigate Medicare online. The company collaborates with experienced Insurance, Banking, and Healthcare Provider partners nationwide to create a digitally-driven and personalized Medicare enrollment experience for eligible clients. The CoverRight platform pairs technology with human support to simplify a traditionally confusing and complex decision by delivering a concierge-style experience that provides consumers with a delightful and comprehensive Medicare plan selection and enrollment experience. The company's vision is to become the go-to retirement concierge platform to help retirees manage and navigate health and finance in retirement.
Read More
RISK MANAGEMENT, COMPLIANCE
PRnewswire | April 03, 2023
Shift Technology, a provider of artificial intelligence-based decision automation and optimization solutions for the insurance industry, and Direct Assurance, the French leader in direct insurance, which offers auto, motorcycle, home and health insurance, and is a 100% subsidiary of the AXA group, today announced their renewed collaboration. Initiated in 2018 to fight auto insurance claims fraud using Shift Claims Fraud Detection, the relationship now extends its scope to cover home insurance claims.
Property and casualty insurance fraud costs the European economy €14 billion annually, and €2.5 billion in France alone. As such, insurers are looking for modern solutions which can more effectively identify and analyze suspicious claims. Working with Shift, Direct Assurance has opted for an innovative approach to this issue. Five years of successful collaboration analyzing motor claims prompted the French leader in direct insurance to extend the use of Shift's solutions to the challenge of mitigating fraud in home insurance claims.
"Fighting against fraud is one of the most effective ways to maintain the competitiveness of our rates and defend the purchasing power of the immense proportion of our bona fide customers," explained Donatien Levesque, director of claims, Direct Assurance.
"In order to identify suspicious claims, we chose to combine artificial intelligence with the know-how of our experts. The enormous amount of information to be processed makes verification and comparison operations extremely difficult," continued Nicolas Vilhelmsen, head of claims business intelligence, Direct Assurance. "That's why we used Shift. Since 2018, this collaboration has allowed us to gain ground on fraudsters in a considerable way. We are very excited to apply this solution to our home claims, which are an increasingly important part of our business."
"From the beginning, Shift's goal has been to put technology at the service of insurance players to help them best serve their customers," concludes Jeremy Jawish, CEO and co-founder, Shift Technology. "We are proud to have contributed for several years to Direct Assurance's strategic initiative to minimize the impact of fraud on its business, and to benefit its legitimate customers."
About Shift Technology
Shift Technology delivers AI decisioning solutions to benefit the global insurance industry and its customers. Our products enable insurers to automate and optimize decisions from underwriting to claims, resulting in superior customer experiences, increased operational efficiency, and reduced costs. The future of insurance starts with Decisions Made Better. Learn more at www.shift-technology.com.
About Direct Assurance
Direct Assurance is the French leader in direct car insurance and also offers motorcycle, home and health insurance products. Today, more than a million customers trust the company. A pioneer since 1992, Direct Assurance is a part of the AXA group.
Read More