Wefox adds motor and bike insurance products in Italy
European digital insurance company Wefox has launched a new third-party liability insurance proposition for motor and bike owners in Italy.
The new products, which Wefox say will “shake up the motor insurance industry” and “redefine existing standards”, include a new set of pay-as-you-drive policies that utilise AI.
Matteo Bevilacqua, CEO of Wefox Italy, explains: "These exciting new products will be available of course from our insurance intermediaries and through our digital platform. Our customers buying these products will enjoy new standards and service thanks to our sophisticated data analysis. Wefox is focused on moving away from the traditional insurance model which is based on 'repair and replace', to a new model that is fit for purpose for the way we live today. Our model is focussed on ‘predicting and preventing'. We use the latest AI technology and implement algorithms to create pay as you drive policies.”
Wefox announces three key partnerships
Wefox has also announced three key partnerships within the automotive sector, which it says will enable it to better serve its customers.
The first is a partnership with IMA Italia Assistance to provide a new car assistance guarantee that combines various insurance services, including roadside assistance and car replacement. It is provided through automated digital management for quick and effective customer support.
The second collaboration, with Swiss Re, involves a shared risk profile assessment model that aims to increase road safety based on the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) set-up.
And finally Wefox has partnered with DAS, an Italian company that specialises in legal protection, to better manage claims and protect the rights of policyholders on behalf of Wefox Italy.
A time of growth throughout Europe for Wefox
The launch of the new insurance offerings in Italy comes at a time of growth for Berlin-based Wefox. Europe’s largest insurtech, it has already rolled out its services into 5 European countries and employs more than 1,200 people across the continent.
The company was founded in 2015 when co-founders Fabian Wesemann and Julian Teicke set out to make the complicated world of insurance more simple, more transparent and more customer-centric. Today, Wefox says that it wants to be ten times better than other insurers and stop loss from happening with its ‘predict and prevent’ model. When loss does occur, the insurance innovator says it can process claims quicker and more easily, while its 100% digital approach leads to fewer costs being passed onto the customer.
Wefox is so well-supported that, last summer, it announced the completion of a US$650mn Series C funding round led by Target Global, valuing the insurtech at over US$3bn. Its CEO, Julian Teicke, admitted that the investment was “more than we wanted to raise initially” because the funding round was oversubscribed by a factor of four. The company then rewarded all of its employees by making every one of them a shareholder, saying that the Series C round success wouldn’t have been possible without them.
“Why wouldn’t we make everyone a shareholder,” pondered CFO Wesemann.
Wefox 'a familiar name' for football fans
The firm will already be a familiar name for consumers in Italy, thanks to a sponsorship arrangement with football club AC Milan. Wefox’s logo has appeared on the back of the Rossoneri’s shirts since February as the team’s official insurance partner. It is the first time that AC Milan has had a back-of-shirt sponsor.
It follows a similar arrangement with Wefox’s hometown club, Union Berlin, where they have been a sleeve sponsor for all three kits during the 2021/22 Bundesliga season. The company has agreed to become the club’s main shirt sponsor for the next three campaigns, meaning that the Wefox logo will take pride of place on Union’s home and away kits.
"We love this city, this community, this club," Tiecke said when the shirt sponsorship was announced earlier this year. "We are proud to support a club whose passion and fan love causes goosebumps in and outside the [stadium]."
