CEO Today UK Awards 2021

32 CEO TODAY UNITED KINGDOM AWARDS 2021 Insurance 2021 marks ten years since Policy Expert sold its first home insurance policy. Tell us how the business came about. “Insurance is an essential product in so many areas of everyday life, and a legal requirement in some. Yet most insurance companies make it really, really hard for people to like them. No business with long-term growth ambitions can rely on a model that penalises loyal customers, offers ‘helplines’ that are impossible to reach or quotes terms and conditions that may as well be written in another language. People deserve better and consumers’ experience of insurance should offer so much more. Policy Expert was born from the desire to create a high-quality home insurance proposition that was built on clear and transparent policies, fair treatment of customers and competitive pricing. It still amazes me to think you can put these ingredients together and be considered a ‘disruptive’ force, rather than this being the status quo. The truth back in 2010 – and it still rings true today – is consumers had been let down by established insurance brands for too long. My team and I spotted an opportunity to offer something different through Policy Expert. We were also inspired by our previous experience with Simply Business, which we grew to become one of UK insurtech’s earliest success stories in the SME and landlord insurance space. We knew we couldn’t tolerate any compromises on technology if we were to deliver the vision of a truly customer-focused home insurer. So we set out to build a 21st century technology firm equipped to insure people’s homes and made sure we had all the tools and data to run the business the right way.” What role does technology play for Policy Expert? “Very simply, we were born digital and have remained at the cutting edge of what’s possible for a general insurer by keeping complete control of the full end-to-end process, from pricing to claims. We had no patience for legacy systems or quick fixes that would break down as soon as we started to acquire customers at scale. From day one, we set out to build our own proprietary technology platform that would be the envy of businesses ten times our size, and use advanced data science alongside actuarial techniques to shape our thinking. If you scratch beneath the surface of any insurtech or fintech business worth its