We were recently thrilled to scoop not one, but two prizes at the prestigious Insurance Times Awards: ‘Best Use of Technology for Customer Experience - Claims’ and ‘Technology Innovation of the Year’. 

In short, this is a BIG moment for us. It is a great sign that the industry is recognising our mission to protect flexible workers with insurance, wellness and rewards. Our business has been around for less than two years and is already coming out on top against excellent, well-established competitors in the space such as Allianz, CFC, DLG, FloodFlash and Humn.ai. 

At Collective Benefits, we’ve been reinventing an outdated model for the new flexible world of work - and to have this recognised by one of the industry’s leading voices shows that we’re doing it right. 

Most importantly, it’s exciting for the gig economy workers that all of us depend on. It shows that times are changing, and in these new times it pays to put the wants and needs of workers first. 

So, how exactly did we win these awards? 

Reinventing the claims process - for customers

An age-old claims process...

Until now, there’s been a major disconnect between what independent workers need and what traditional insurance products offer. 

With pages of forms to fill out and multiple points of evidence required, submitting a traditional insurance claim is a long and painstaking process - and that’s for a white-collar, well-educated workforce who know how insurance works and how to make a claim. 

Gig workers are an even more complex demographic; they might not be communicating in their first language and might be unfamiliar with the process. These are even more barriers to successfully submitting a claim. 

Of course, starting a claim is only half the battle. Typical insurance claims can take weeks, or even months, to be paid out. This lack of urgency comes down to who traditional insurance models are built for: white-collar workers who are still guaranteed to receive their salary at the end of the month. 

For a gig economy worker traditional insurance does not provide the same safety net. They only get paid when they work - meaning that unexpected time off can quickly lead to a precarious financial situation, with bills quickly piling up. 

...remodelled for good 

With a real need for transparency and speed in the industry, it was clear to us that something had to change. And that’s what we set out to do. 

We’ve whittled the claims process down to just three steps, all of which can be done from a mobile phone. If they have any questions a member of our team is on hand to help over live chat in real time.

The status of a claim can be viewed directly in our app. We also have a dedicated team acting as an advocate for the worker; chasing the claim and making sure the outcome is as fast and as accurate as possible. Once confirmed our claims are also paid out in just five days or less, providing a financial safety net to workers when they need it most. 

The result? A streamlined, easy-to-navigate claims process built specifically for the busy life of a gig economy worker. If that’s not award-worthy, we don’t know what is. 

New technology for a new working world 

As well as building our award-winning claims process, we’ve drilled down into insurance products and recreated them for how platforms work today. 

Products that make sense 

Alongside the foundations of income replacement and disability cover, we’ve built products specifically for the gig economy sector. Compassionate leave, mental health and wellbeing support, robbery recovery and helmet replacement after an accident are all built to support workers in their day-to-day lives. 

Our business model also allows us to customise the product and user experience for each business - an innovative solution that allows coverage to truly match up to the requirements of platforms within different industries.  

Affordable prices for all 

Our pricing is also as flexible as the gig sector itself. Traditional insurance products are more rigid as they’re annually priced on employee numbers or turnover. This is unsuited to the gig economy, where workforce numbers can fluctuate by the week. 

Instead, we offer a pay-as-you-go solution: businesses can pay per member, per month, per hour worked, per mile ridden or per number of jobs done. This adaptable pricing model means that doing the right thing is as affordable as possible for all. 

Maximising engagement and awareness

A major problem with insurance for the gig economy is a lack of knowledge and understanding about what protections the platforms have invested in for their workers. With this in mind, we undertake extensive research to understand what independent workers value. By taking an approach of listening to the humans that use the platform, we can deliver a product to companies such as Indeed Flex, TaskRabbit and Wolt, so they can deliver an experience that makes a meaningful change to their flexible workers’ lives. 

Gig platforms are working within a fiercely competitive space, and have to be highly focussed on their technology and UX to get ahead. Communicating about insurance is an additional drain on resources, and it’s also difficult to do. After all, no one likes to talk about things going wrong, and it’s hard to gauge how and when to discuss such a technical topic.

The result of this is that many independent workers don’t even know if they have coverage, let alone how to use it. 

The way to change this? Getting serious about engagement with the protections. We want as many independent workers as possible to be aware of the protections available to them, to understand the cover and how it works and to feel safer because they know we have their back if it all goes wrong. Our tech allows us regular communications, through email and push notifications, quizzes, rewards and fun videos to grab their attention.

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The best thing about winning these awards? When it comes to reinventing the insurance game, we feel like we’re only just getting started. From expanding our partnerships globally to launching new solutions, we’ve got a big 2022 ahead of us. Watch this space and follow Collective Benefits on LinkedIn to stay in the know.