Amazon has announced it will start to offer UK businesses insurance in the company’s latest move to diversify its business operations.
Small and medium businesses (SMEs) which are members of Amazon’s Business Prime programme will now be able to purchase cover from insurance firm Superscript.
The cover will include content, cyber and personal indemnity insurance.
A Superscript spokesperson said the tie-up would be underwritten by “major UK insurers”.
They will be offered a discount of 20 per cent to current rates as a way of enticing businesses over to them, the company said.
A recent survey from Capgemini found that over 50 per cent of consumers are prepared to purchase insurance from non-traditional lenders such as Big Tech or insurance technology firms.
“The (insurance) industry needs to bridge the divide between insurers and customers by providing a quick, smooth buying process that is customer-centric,” Superscript chief executive Cameron Shearer said in a statement.
The news follows insurance tech firm (insurtech) Next Insurance’s announcement that it was to offer cover to US small businesses via Amazon Business Prime.
Amazon’s manager for Amazon Business in the UK and Ireland added: “As businesses come out of the pandemic and gradually resume normalcy, we want customers to have the best-in-class tools to run their business.”
There is growing concern from financial institutions that tech firms will steal their business, relying on their stronger brand names and ease of access to products, according to Reuters.
However, industry sources say that insurers, banks and tech firms are more likely to partner up with each other than compete directly.
Reuters
