Insurtech firm Zego has made its first move into the commercial fleet space through a partnership with WeFlex, a company that leases vehicles to drivers working for Uber and other rideshare services
London-based insurtech Zego has partnered with ride-share vehicle leasing company WeFlex to offer the first usage-based fleet insurance policy to its 700 commercial vehicles.
Zego has been an active player in the usage-based insurance market, providing policies to the gig economy since 2016.
But the new partnership with WeFlex – which provides flexible vehicle finance, vehicle leases and short-term vehicle rental to Uber and delivery drivers – signals a move into the business-to-business (B2B) fleet market.
Zego chief executive Sten Saar said: “In the last few years, we’ve seen a flood of innovation across the transport and delivery sectors and so far the insurance industry has failed to keep pace.
“This is particularly so when it comes to insuring fleets of cars, with traditional insurers often adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, which fails to take account of actual exposure to risk on a real-time basis.
“With our fleet policy, we’re using technology to analyse billions of data points and provide a tailor-made product which allows fleet owners to see the big picture.
“We see this deal as a huge step in our move towards the B2B market.”
Fleet insurance policy adds value
Nicko Williamson, CEO of WeFlex, believes the partnership with Zego will boost his firm’s value to the ride-sharing sector.
He said: “We have chosen to partner with Zego as they are an innovative player in the insurance market, allowing WeFlex to have a much more data driven, flexible approach to insurance.
“WeFlex plans to become the largest vehicle leasing business in the ride sharing space and working with Zego will help us improve our product offering.
“This in turn will help our customers and enable us to scale our business.”
Zego’s insurance will cover the 700-strong fleet of vehicles it leases to the ride-sharing market, allowing WeFlex to cover each based on its individual usage, determined by telematics data.
Unique fleet insurance policy
Mr Saar believes his firm’s fleet insurance product is unique to the commercial fleet market.
He told Compelo: “Generally, the way commercial fleet insurance is priced is on an annual price-per-vehicle basis, and regardless of how much each vehicle is used, fleet owners are charged the same price every month.
“What we’ve done is adopted a base rate that’s significantly lower than the industry average, and the rest of the monthly charge is calculated based on the mileage of each individual vehicle.
“This has not been done in the commercial fleet world before.”
Ride-sharing market just the beginning
The partnership with WeFlex is Zego’s first move into the commercial fleet insurance market, but the firm expects to grow quickly into other sectors.
Already an established insurtech for self-employed drivers working in the gig economy, Zego now plans to penetrate any market with a commercial fleet to insure.
“Ride-hailing is not our only target, we’ve started here but we’re already doing other deals in different areas of the market which are poorly served from an insurance point of view, despite it being a key part of their operations,” said Mr Saar.
“We’re looking at all other areas where commercial vehicles are used, this is just the beginning for us.”
Zego’s fleet insurance is currently available to the UK and Spain.