Zurich, CoverWallet expand SME insurance platform in Europe following "exceptional results"

Zurich Insurance Group and insurtech start-up CoverWallet have expanded their insurance platform for small and medium-enterprise (SMEs) to Switzerland — the second European country after Spain to implement the innovative model.

Following the launch in Spain, Zurich deepened its relationship with CoverWallet in May 2018 and invested in the company, acquiring a minority stake.

Zurich said the launch follows "exceptional results" of the platform in Spain.

The platform aims to provide SMEs end-to-end insurance solutions, streamlining the entire process and providing easy access to requests for proposals, price comparisons and policy management. Zurich claims that the process, from real-time quotation through to the final sale, will be conducted online and can be completed within one minute.

Juan Beer, CEO Zurich Insurance in Switzerland, said: “Thanks to the partnership with CoverWallet, we offer small businesses a new type of easy-to-deal with online insurance coverage. Our target group are micro-enterprises and startups, which usually lack the time and resources to deal with the topic of insurance protection.”

Inaki Berenguer, CEO and co-founder of CoverWallet, added: "Zurich is one of the most renowned insurance companies in the world, and our partnership underscores the value they see in making small business insurance available online. The partnership in Spain exceeded our goals, and we are excited to expand into additional countries to make insurance easier for businesses around the world."

Meanwhile, as CoverWallet continues to grow, the company has appointed Courtney Leimkuhler to its board of directors. Leimkuhler was an executive at Marsh & McLennan Companies from 2013 to 2017, serving as the CFO and interim COO of Marsh as well as the CFO of the Risk and Insurance Services segment.

Leimkuhler said: "There are tremendous opportunities in the insurance industry today driven by the application of new data science and technology. CoverWallet is seizing this opportunity and dramatically modernizing how small business insurance gets done. I'm looking forward to working with the team as they continue to scale their technology platform, grow CoverWallet for Agents, and expand internationally."

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