The Latest Launches From Bunker, BHSI, AXA and USAA

January 23, 2019

Bunker is now offering a real-time proof of insurance process for on-demand workers. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance is expanding its North American Transactional Liability Insurance business into the U.K. and Europe. AXA Partners is launching end-to-end travel insurance services for WeChat users, as part of its first WeChat Mini Program, with an eye on Chinese travelers. USAA has joined the Geospatial Intelligence Center (GIC), an insurance industry consortium spearheaded by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

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Bunker, a San Francisco-based InsurTech startup, has rolled out real-time proof of insurance designed to fit the dynamic nature of the on-demand workforce.

Until now, Certificates of Insurance have largely come in the form of PDF documents, which are difficult to track, easy to fabricate, and the data is static. Bunker’s Live COI instantly reflect changes to an active insurance policy, notifying the certificate holder when a contractor’s policy is changed, canceled or expired. Members can also build insurance requirements in the Bunker platform, share them in one click with contractors, and easily track at scale whether or not those requirements have been met from their Compliance Dashboard.

The platform is also designed to make it easy for independent contractors and small businesses to update their Live COI and share instantly with unlimited certificate holders.

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance said it is expanding its North American Transactional Liability Insurance business into the U.K. and Europe.

BHSI said it will provide Warranty and Indemnity, Tax, and Contingent Liability Insurance in the U.K. and throughout Europe. Additionally, the company also provides Representations & Warranties, Contingent Liability, and Class Action Settlement Insurance in the U.S. and Canada.

To run the new business, BHSI appointed Ed Martin as head of Transactional Liability, U.K. and Europe. He was previously an executive at Enstar Group Ltd., where he was the lead in-house M&A lawyer working alongside Enstar’s dedicated M&A team.

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AXA Partners is launching end-to-end travel insurance services for WeChat users as part of its first WeChat Mini Program. The target market: Chinese travelers.

The Mini Program, known as “AXA Go” and managed by AXA TianPing, AXA’s P/C company in China, is fully integrated into the WeChat Go ecosystem and offers travel insurance and one-stop-shop extended services to Chinese travelers.

The AXA SA logo sits outside the company’s headquarters in Paris, France. Photographer: Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg

WeChat Go is an open collaboration model initiated by WeChat, the largest social communications platform in China, to facilitate global partners in addressing the specific needs of outbound Chinese travelers via the WeChat ecosystem.

The resulting WeChat products and services in hospitality, telecommunication, airlines, safety, insurance, attractions, city guides and similar fields are designed to create immense value for Chinese travelers.

Services will include access to AXA customer service in WeChat regarding safety and security information about a travel destination, paperless online claims after travel and follow-up service such as a “welcome back” gift.

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USAA, a property/casualty insurer serving active and former military members and their families, has joined the Geospatial Intelligence Center (GIC), an insurance industry consortium spearheaded by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

By joining the GIC, USAA will have access to the most advanced imaging and data available today to better serve its members with enhanced underwriting tools for policies and with fast response to their members impacted by a disaster. The GIC combines the technical expertise of advanced digital aerial and terrestrial imaging company Vexcel Imaging and geospatial mapping tech leader Esri’s geographic information systems to provide the tools and analytics to help insurers make fast, accurate and cost-efficient decisions when writing a policy and when dealing with claims following a disaster.

The GIC, founded in 2017, provides the highest-resolution aerial images available both before and after catastrophic events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, hailstorms and wildfires. Founded in 2017, it is committed to mapping the entire United States each year with high-resolution images and providing ultra-high-resolution images for the 100 largest metropolitan areas. This includes 45-degree oblique images that can be processed to allow a rotatable 3-D image of any property.

In the hours and days after a disaster, the GIC fleet of aircraft will fly over the impacted areas to capture and assess damage to provide members with unprecedented images and data on impacted properties.

Sources: Bunker, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, AXA, USAA