Pluto excited for smart, instant flight delay support delivered in partnership with Blink
London, UK (Aug. 8, 2019) – UK InsurTech Pluto, the travel insurance startup backed by the recent winner of the ‘British Airways – Future of Flying’ award, Zurich, has teamed up with Blink to provide flight delay cover to its customers, instantly helping them get access to an airport lounge or a cash payout when they need it most.
Pluto allows customers to build and manage their own policies and even claim from their mobile device. With its headline ‘Travel cover for the travel lover’, Pluto aims to reduce the number of millennials who put themselves under unnecessary risk when travelling without cover, which applies to around 40% of this audience.
Blink, acquired by CPPGroup Plc in 2017, is quickly becoming one of the most innovative and successful providers of flight disruption solutions to insurers across the globe. It offers customers a proactive real-time insurance service that meets the speed and convenience that modern customers demand through notifying travellers instantly if a flight is delayed. Real-time event notification allows for real-time problem resolution. Blink can offer clients options such as a cash payment or access to an airport lounge, all within seconds of the disruption occurring.
Alex Rainey, Co-Founder and CEO of Pluto, said: “Insurance is such an exciting space because there’s so much room for improvement. A lot of this can be achieved by using the latest technology combined with thoughtful design. We’re constantly looking for new ways to bring experiences and services to our customer that they wouldn’t expect from a travel insurer. Being able to help them instantly in a time of frustration, like a flight delay, can be such a surprising experience for a customer. When we found Blink, we instantly knew we wanted to partner with them. They’ve proven themselves all over the world as a leading parametric travel insurance tech provider. Our customers are super excited to start using this new service.”
Alex describes the innovation as a “gamechanger, not only for the travel insurance industry but for all of those who travel, whether for work or for leisure, millennial or not. Blink enables us to provide that magic moment to customers, surprising and delighting them when they least expect it. Our community just love to travel, but things go wrong sometimes, being able to be there to help is what we’re all about.”
Paul Prendergast, CEO of Blink, added: “The discussions we’ve had with Pluto, a dynamic company changing the insurance market with truly novel products, has been a delight. The partnership is a natural fit for both companies and one we are excited about growing. Partnering with Pluto to design smart parametric travel insurance that appeals to a millennial demographic, which represents almost 18%[1] of the UK population alone, is just the type of work we thrive on.”
Alex concludes: “As we prepare for our crowdfunding campaign in September this year, partnerships with leading technology providers like Blink is key. They allow us to deliver on our vision of helping people get the most out of their travels. Instant help with flights delays are an incredible way to start bringing that vision to life.”
About Blink
Paul Prendergast (CEO) and Peter Bermingham (CTO) founded Blink in 2016, to build data driven travel disruption insurance solutions and was one of the first InsurTech start-ups to focus on travel insurance. Since then Blink has formed a number of distribution partnerships in large markets across North America, Asia and Europe.
It was also the first Insurtech in the FCA (UK) Sandbox programme, and was one of the early partnerships of Munich Re Digital Partners, the Digital Innovation arm of global ReInsurer Munich Re.
Based in Cork, Ireland, the company was acquired by CPP Group PLC (AIM CPP) in March 2017, one of the early InsurTech acquisitions globally. Since then Blink has continued its journey of building innovative solutions for its travel insurance partners globally and has partnered with global travel insurance companies in North America, Europe and Asia and launching transformative parametric insurance solutions covering climate, energy, utilities and travel risk each with a focus on delivering superior service experience for clients.
For further information, visit https://blinkblink.io
About Pluto
Pluto, a London-based travel startup, is challenging the travel insurance market by offering “hassle-free travel insurance through your smartphone” to decrease the number of millennials who put themselves under unnecessary risk when travelling without cover, with over 40% of this audience choosing to travel without insurance.
Backed by Zurich, who provide underwriting expertise and claims management capacity, the new mobile-focused offering gives millennials an insurance quote in around 60 seconds or around three minutes when a customer builds their own policy. After buying travel cover from Pluto, customers can manage their policy, making changes, getting human support and even making claims all from their phone.
Research suggests that 85% of people have trouble understanding their insurance policies. This led Pluto to design a solution that makes insurance easy to understand, without jargon and hassle-free – the solution is optimised for mobile and tailored to each customer and their trip.
Pluto raised investment from industry professionals, and are supported by the FCA’s Innovation Sandbox, set up to fast-track highly innovative companies that are aimed at improving people’s lives.
For further information, visit https://pluto.travel.
About CPP Group
CPP Group Plc is a global financial assistance product provider that works with business partners across a range of sectors in 12 markets within Asia, Europe and Latin America to provide product, marketing, distribution expertise, delivering tangible commercial benefits and meaningful solutions to over 9 million customers. CPP’s insurance and assistance products provide peace of mind by reducing the stresses of everyday life, ranging from protection for mobile phones, payment cards, household belongings to keeping travel plans moving and the monitoring of compromised personal data. For further information visit https://uk.cppgroup.com
Source: Blink Innovation
Tags: Blink Innovation, CPP Group, InsurTech, Pluto
