Advisers Archives - Page 7 of 7

Acre Simplifies Home Insurance with the Help of Uinsure

27/06/2022

Acre, the innovative end-to-end mortgage intermediaries platform, has announced a new partnership with Uinsure to drastically simplify building and contents insurance advice. This exciting move means that advisers using Acre will now be able to help protect client homes as part of the mortgage journey in a matter of seconds.

There has never been a more important time to ensure consumers have the right coverage for their home as they face pressure from the rise in the cost of living. Advisers using Acre’s platform will be able to access the most accurate and best value home protection quotes at a click of a button, thanks to Uinsure’s advanced quoting technology and Acre’s unique way of storing and reusing property and client data.

Previous implementations required extensive data entry to get accurate quotes that provided good customer value. Acre and Uinsure’s teams have worked closely together to maximise data re-use, pulling on Acre’s proprietary property dataset and its unique client-centric data model. This helps Acre in its aim to be the one-stop shop for brokers – from CRM, lead capture and sourcing to fact finding, recommendation and application – saving brokers time and money whilst promoting better compliance.

Justus Brown, CEO and founder of Acre said:

“Our aim is to allow brokers to spend more time focusing on their clients’ needs and deliver better outcomes with fewer delays. The way we approach data means we understand more about a property than any other tool available to brokers. Combining this deep, data-driven insight with Uinsure’s quoting and application capabilities means brokers can easily and quickly deliver the most accurate and best value policies – ensuring customers are well-covered should circumstances change in the current climate.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Uinsure to help brokers deliver the home coverage clients need without data leakage and tons of extra effort.”

Lauren Bagley, Uinsure’s Chief Distribution Officer, said:

“Our ongoing mission is to remove the complexities from the GI journey and our integration with Acre means advisers have industry-leading tech available at their fingertips to make the journey for both themselves and their clients as easy as possible – all while including the purchase of insurance as part of their service.

“The partnership with Acre is a natural one. Acre’s software, like ours, has been built with customer experience at the very heart of the development. We’ve both been able to massively streamline and simplify the way our products can be offered through new tech developments and smart data integrations that gives advisers tremendous opportunity for significant time savings when using the platform.”

Since coming to market last year, brokers using Acre have already helped over 10 000 homebuyers get their mortgage, and active brokers have been doubling every three months. To find out more about Acre or to sign up to a demonstration, please visit www.acresoftware.com

Smartr365 Expands Their Offering with Uinsure Partnership

27/06/2022

The industry’s leading end-to-end mortgage provider, Smartr365, has expanded its offering into home insurance through a partnership with Uinsure, it was announced today. The integration seeks to further streamline the homeownership journey through the addition of home insurance to the integrated services already offered via Smartr365 platform.

Clients will now be able to access quotes for home insurance within the platform in seconds, eliminating the need to consult external brokers. Instead, advisors utilising the Smartr365 platform can provide customers with a total-solution package across borrowing and insurance, with the aim of reducing paperwork and allowing more time for client engagement, in turn, helping to boost client retention.

Thanks to auto-fill technology, brokers that have initially keyed in client data through Smartr365 will be able to create, tailor and compare quotes in seconds without needing to re-type personal details entered elsewhere on the platform. Other benefits include coordination between both Smartr365 and Uinsure platforms to ensure updates made through Uinsure are automatically reflected on Smartr365, streamlining the process to save advisors up to one hour per application.

The integration forms part of Smartr365’s quest to digitalise the mortgage journey, enhancing the borrowing experience from broker to buyer.

Conor Murphy, CEO and Founder, Smartr365 said:

“There has been real appetite amongst mortgage advisors to expand their services and we have listened, bringing borrowing and insurance together to allow brokers to offer clients a one-stop shop to homeownership and a truly end-to-end mortgage experience. This partnership means that brokers can offer a more comprehensive service to their clients, without the need for time consuming training and accreditation, available via the Smartr365 platform.

“Smartr365 is committed to saving brokers time and preventing paperwork in a bid to simplify the mortgage journey, and this partnership with Uinsure is no exception. Our innovative digital technologies and auto-population features will allow brokers to concentrate their efforts on providing ever-crucial advice to clients amidst such challenging economic circumstances.”

Martin Schultheiss, Uinsure Group Managing Director, said:

“As a result of our integration advisers will benefit from industry-leading insurance technology that automatically extracts client data to build the relevant insurance policy, massively simplifying and streamlining the application process, all from within their existing client management platform – Smartr365.

“This technology was developed to help us achieve our mission of seeing GI offered alongside every mortgage application and as this can now be done in seconds from within adviser’s existing workspace, this will prove to be a significant hurdle in helping us achieve our goal.

“Both ourselves at Uinsure and the team at Smartr365 have delivered tech solutions that are built solely with the end customer in mind and given how we’re closely aligned in our drive to continually progress, we’re very much looking forward to how our partnership will evolve.”

Uinsure Celebrates Silver at the UK Business & Innovation Awards

21/02/2022

Uinsure collected the Silver Award at the 2022 UK Business and Innovation Awards in recognition for its Adviser Platform.

The award is further recognition for a platform that collected the Technology Innovation of the Year at the recent Tech & Innovation Awards.

The new Adviser Platform itself was launched in early 2021 as a result of an in-depth research and development phase with the goal to remove the complexities associated with general insurance.

Getting a home insurance quote was typically a drawn out, complex process that asked home owners upwards of 50 questions, many of which are difficult or impossible to answer correctly, meaning the end customer would always carry a risk of their policy being invalidated.

As a result, Uinsure developed its own technology platform, a revolutionary experience that allows general insurance to be quoted in just three questions, taking less than 20 seconds, helping to negate the risk of invalid policies but also to add speed, simplicity and transparency to the home insurance process.

Advisers are now able to receive an insurance quote across home, buy to let and non-standard by inputting just their client’s name, date of birth and postcode.

This hugely simplified journey impressed judges and has helped to recognise the insurtech industry as one of the most progressive in amongst some highly impressive fields.

Martin Schultheiss, Uinsure’s Group Managing Director, said:

“The recognition we’re receiving for the new Adviser Platform is testament to the creativity and innovation our team has shown in bringing our technology successfully to market.

“We do not ever view any of our technologies as finished articles and instead will always be working both behind the scenes and closely with our expanding network of partners to continually develop and improve further.”

Uinsure Awarded Defaqto Five Star Rating

03/02/2022

Uinsure has been awarded the highest possible 5* Defaqto rating for the ninth consecutive year.

Throughout our existence, we have always placed massive emphasis on the quality of our customers’ experiences along with making sure they have the most comprehensive cover available.

Our Home Insurance product has been given Defaqto’s highest possible rating since 2014, while our BTL / Landlord Insurance product has also been awarded 5 stars since 2015.

The Defaqto 5* rating is an integral measure in order for us to make sure advisers and their clients both have the confidence of knowing, should the unfortunate happen and a claim is needed, they will be properly covered by a comprehensive policy.

The rating is judged by Defaqto, an independent body, which considers all of the key features and benefits on offer, as well as any optional add-ons or extras, before giving an overall rating.

The aim of the service is to ultimately give consumers an impartial and easy-to-understand assessment of an insurance product to help them weigh up benefits before purchasing.

How Advisers Can Reclaim Market Share in 2022

21/01/2022

The year of opportunity

2022 will be a big year in the advisory sector for numerous reasons. It will be one of the biggest years for remortgages ever recorded, with almost £40bn worth expiring in January alone, and new FCA regulations on GI pricing practices come into force meaning price walking will be banned.

Such a large volume of expiring mortgages presents opportunity for obvious reason, and when you consider many of these remortgaging customers will be paying over the odds for their current home insurance policy, in the likely situation they have been subject to price walking, it’s easy to see why 2022 could be the year for advisers to truly reclaim their market share once lost to price comparison sites.

The advisory sector itself will become much more competitively positioned on price as a direct result of the new regulations. Not only that, but Advisers are now also able to offer a quicker, easier and more streamlined insurance application than price comparison websites as well being able to more effectively advise on products that add value and those that don’t.

This means there is not only great opportunity in the short term for the scores of customers remortgaging, but advancements in technology in the intermediary space can be used to help secure the long-term futures of advisory firms, too.

Customer adoption of PCWs

PCWs took huge chunks of market share from Advisers very quickly following their inception in the late 1990s and they now dominate the market.

They became symbols of efficiency, and an example of how technology can be used to find the “best” price for insurance. It was simply unheard of that you could get numerous quotes from different businesses by filling out one form. But what was innovative and more efficient then, is now viewed as long and laborious.

In order to meet the underwriting requirements of all of the dozens of insurers who are providing a quote, the questionnaire home owners need to answer involves anything upwards of 50 questions in a longwinded exam for the consumer.

Innovation in the intermediary sector

Innovation has been prevalent in the intermediary space and, as a result, Advisers have the advantage when it comes to being able to get the best price quickly and conveniently from a range of providers.

Through our platform, for example, you can get a quote from a wide-ranging panel of the UK’s leading insurers by answering just three questions (name, date of birth and postcode), with a full application taking less than a minute. A far cry from lengthy exams that consumers are faced with should they opt for PCWs.

The ace cards of convenience and speed are therefore right back with the Adviser and the opportunities that both mortgage cessation and new regulation bring means the intermediary sector has all the tools it needs to be able to reclaim market share as we head into 2022.

Using technology to help future proof your business

In addition to the huge short-term opportunities, we’re presented with, there is also the chance to capitalise on the innovation we have made as a sector to help change the way future generations purchase insurance.

The next generation of first-time buyers are the most tech-savvy of the lot and are very happy to spend their money with disruptors who offer easy-to-use platforms.

To protect against future losses in market share, just as the opportunity to reclaim from PCWs has hit us, intermediary firms must adopt the technology available to them. That means not only offering tech solutions to a more digitally savvy, Gen-Z and late-millennial audience, but tech solutions that deliver greater value.

Now is the time to integrate technology

Advisers already have a huge head start on PCWs on being able to do this as they know how their client is progressing in their mortgage journey. Holding data such as, ‘mortgage offer received’ or ‘exchange date’ indicates the exact timing of when home insurance is needed. This data is gold dust, yet today we estimate that c.675,000 advised mortgage clients still go outside of the intermediary industry to buy their insurance.

The problem with neglecting general insurance and allowing so many potential customers to end up on price comparison websites means advisory firms are essentially feeding other businesses with a lead flow that have an intention to cross sell into more core product areas, such as mortgages and protection, which is a major reason why market share has been lost across the wider space.

Fortunately, when speaking to Principals and seeing how our partners are operating, we know that the tide is turning on this issue.

In 2022, we’ll see more and more firms using integrated technology that help Advisers properly take advantage of the ‘gold dust’ knowledge they own and with it, insurance will seamlessly integrate into mortgage journeys, so the product is offered at exactly the right time.

And so, looking to next year, now is the time to make the forward-thinking choices on the digital tools you’re going to use to truly seize the opportunity that lies ahead. From an insurance perspective, it is no longer time consuming and stressful and can instead exceed the expectations of existing and prospective clients, helping to reclaim market share.

How The Pros Do It

17/08/2021

General insurance used to be a complex beast. Applications were confusing, the process was long-winded and forms were full of questions that were virtually impossible to answer correctly.

Fortunately, times have changed.

With the increasing digitization of our industry and advances of our own technology, home insurance can be quoted in just three questions with an application typically taking around 60 seconds.

And, with home insurance being a legal requirement with any mortgage, it’s our collective responsibility to ensure the UK’s homes are properly protected should something go wrong.

As a result, the team here at Uinsure have launched a series of ‘How The Pros Do It’ workshops that aim to give advisers the knowledge and confidence to offer general insurance to every client.

Working alongside advisers and general insurance experts, we have built a workshop specifically for those who have little knowledge of writing general insurance but want to add this skillset to their offering so they can offer their clients the full package.

The one-hour workshops give practical guidance and useable advice and, as part of the workshops, those in attendance get top tips and information from experts who offer general insurance on a daily basis with thousands of applications to their names.

Check our intro video with Home Insurance Specialist, Dawood Patel, to get a taster for what’s included.

Perfect Season to Advise on Home Policies

17/08/2021

If there was ever a time to discuss home insurance, it’s certainly a good time now.

This is especially given so many of your remortgaging clients will likely have held their existing insurance policies for multiple years and could be paying more than they should be.

More than £183bn of residential mortgages will expire by the end of 2021. As we head into autumn the remortgage and product transfer opportunity is expected to be strong, with the focus switching from an extremely busy purchase market in the first half of the year.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) well-documented general insurance pricing practices market study found the home and motor insurance markets are not working well for all consumers. Customers are often penalised for their loyalty and may well need your help and guidance in ensuring they are not caught in the loyalty trap.

Wise up on price walking

The FCA’s study led to new regulations which are due to come in from January 2022. These will ban insurers from artificially discounting new business premiums with the intent to hike prices in subsequent renewals.

The regulator has estimated that the insurance industry gained £1.2bn from six million policy holders through price walking in 2018. It predicts that the ban will save customers £4.2bn during the first 10 years following its introduction.

The role of an adviser to inform and educate about insurance has never been more important and, as this wave of remortgaging clients start to re-engage, there’s a golden opportunity to demonstrate the value of advice, ensure fair value and potentially save your clients money on their existing insurance.

So, what do you need to consider when reviewing you remortgaging customers insurance?

1. Educate your clients to think beyond price

As the name suggests, price comparison sites are largely useful for comparing on price. Although, understandably, price is the dominant factor of any conversation, it’s also vital to weigh up whether a policy is offering good value.

This, in turn, lets you explain how certain policies do or do not meet the client’s needs and steer the conversation away from base price to best value.

2. Introduce general insurance early on

Ask for a copy of your clients existing home insurance schedule as an addition to any other documents you require as part of your remortgage advice process.

3. Explain what price walking means

Show clients how they could be paying more than they should be. The ban on price walking will come into force from January 2022. So, ahead of the rules being implemented, it’s a really important time to discuss with clients who have held insurance policies for multiple years to review their needs.

In-House Specialist Insurance Team Launches

20/10/2021

Uinsure has launched its new insurance division, Uinsure Specialist, to handle non-standard and commercial referrals.

Uinsure is working with wide panel of insurers which include, Ageas, Covea, NIG, Zurich, RSA, Pen Underwriting, Q Underwriting, Midas, Prestige, AXA and Commercial Express to ensure clients with more specialist or complex insurance needs can access comprehensive and competitive products across a wide underwriting footprint.

Martin Schultheiss, Group Managing Director, said:

“We’ve been piloting Uinsure Specialist since December 2020 with a number of our key partners’ clients. Uinsure Specialist moves us further forward in our mission to remove insurance complexity and deliver fair value in a digital age. It’s a great example of how technology can help to deliver much better experiences across a wider spectrum of insurance needs.”

A key focus for the new division will be to make sure that insurance risks which fall outside of Uinsure’s standard product range can be insured with the most efficient and frictionless experience possible. For example, properties undergoing building works, long term unoccupancies and a wide variety of non-standard construction types can now be referred by advisers through the Uinsure Adviser Platform.

In addition, commercial referrals for property portfolios, blocks of flats, commercial properties, liability cover for self-employed people, shops, offices and the vast majority of SMEs can all now be serviced by the new team.

Schultheiss added:

“Advising on complex insurance needs can, in its very nature, be a difficult process. Using our technology, we’re able to streamline this once complex process so even advisers who have clients with unusual or traditionally difficult insurance needs will benefit, because of the service Sean and his team can now offer.”

Sean Thompson, Specialist Insurance Director, heads up the new division that will handle all Non-Standard Home and Commercial insurance referrals submitted through the Uinsure Adviser Platform.

Sean, commented:

“By launching the new service, we’re able to harness Uinsure’s industry-leading technology to simplify the referral process and the client experience, while ensuring we develop strong panels and products that match the mix of referrals we receive. The ten-month pilot has allowed us prove strong quote and conversion and we’re now very much looking forward to supporting advisers in a wider capacity.”

Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter

09/11/2021

The mental health and wellbeing of professionals in our industry is of vital importance and, as a result, at Uinsure we’ve joined the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter (MIMHC), which provides guidance, tips and a framework for businesses like ours to follow to help make sure our team are fully supported.

By joining the Charter, Uinsure has signified its commitment to develop mental health awareness among its employees but good mental health and support goes above giving people a platform to air their concerns. A healthy work life balance and good working conditions are fundamental in helping people truly enjoy their time at work and opportunities for personal development are key in encouraging people to grow.

The Charter also encourages open conversations about mental health so we thought we’d kick things off with some top tips on how to manage your own wellbeing from two of our own experts; HR Manager, Paul Fletcher, who is also our representative for Mental Health, and Katie Warren, one of our Business Development Managers who looks after South West and West Midlands.

Be available to both talk and listen

Conversations can change lives and a simple ‘are you OK?’ can encourage people to open up if they’re struggling. Spend time with people you feel comfortable talking to about your feelings, too.

Encourage communication

From checking in with your team-mates and keeping things collaborative. Appreciations and gratitude for jobs well done is great for motivation and boosting your own and others self esteem.

Take breaks

Breaks can improve productivity and overall work performance. Reclaim that lunch break to help you de-stress and re-charge. This could be an afternoon walk or lunch with your teammates.

Keep active and do something for yourself

Find time for your favourite hobbies. Exercise naturally releases endorphins – a walk may be better for you than having a nap in boosting your energy levels and fighting fatigue. Learning when to take a time out for some ‘me time’ so you can relax a touch is equally important.

Be in the present

Take time to be aware of yourself in the moment to gain a better perspective.

Get good sleep

It makes a massive difference to how we feel mentally and physically. The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep per day and if you’re not getting enough you may feel drowsy, irritable, less productive and it can even affect your skin.

Want to learn more? Head to the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter website by clicking here.

Category: Advisers