Insurtechs are finding more value in partnering with each other to provide a new level of transformative service to the insurance industry. MassMutual- owned
Marketed as fast and hassle-free for busy parents seeking coverage, Haven Simple is offered via a 28-question application. It takes an average of 10 minutes to complete the process and provides up to $500,000 in coverage for five-, 10- or 15-year terms.
From the start Haven Life developed Haven Simple, and its underlying data-driven accelerated underwriting platform, as a partnership-centric play. The platform can be integrated with external infrastructures in multiple ways, including a co-branded landing page, a quote widget, a quote API, a partner-hosted application API and, in Waffle’s case, a pre-fill API.
“With the pre-fill API, Waffle hosts the initial application questions,” explains Jason Krasula, head of distribution and strategy for Haven Life. “When an applicant proceeds to finalize, they’re pulled onto the Haven Life platform where they receive their quote and can click to purchase.”
A broadly horizontal approach
For its part, Waffle has soft-launched as a highly curated insurance brokerage endeavoring to supply a one-stop, streamlined, app-based experience. The company’s business model focuses on providing a single “best of breed” coverage option for each business line it brokers.
“We have no desire to be an aggregator,” says Quentin Coolen, Waffle co-founder and CEO. “Presenting consumers with multiple carriers for the same vertical product negates simplicity. For insurers, the value of our platform is automated, non-competitive cross-selling, which includes prompting users for other coverage needs and pre-populating information an applicant or policyholder has already supplied.”
In addition to Haven Simple, Waffle has announced ASPCA Pet Health Insurance with renters, homeowners, auto, travel and cyber coverages on deck. Waffle’s hard launch is scheduled for March, based on expected compliance approvals. Regular product expansions will follow.
Trade show plays a serendipitous role
To fully understand Haven Life and Waffle’s journey requires stepping back about six months before Haven Simple’s initial launch in May 2020. At a trade show in late 2019 Waffle’s founders met MassMutual representatives, who put them in touch with Haven Life. A mutual enthusiasm quickly developed.
“Although we took it as a good sign that we had such an immediate partnership opportunity for Haven Simple, we hadn’t originally envisioned this specific type of relationship,” Krasula says. “This required developing an API to fit Waffle’s business and technology model.”
In the end, building the needed API wasn’t the greatest challenge. “As both of our organizations develop and iterate quickly, each of our teams were confident the technology could be in place within a couple of weeks,” Coolen says.
“Plus, Haven Life brought a true partnership mindset, clearly valuing our feedback,” he adds. “The only real frustration has been compliance processes with other Waffle carrier partners that’s taken so many months to navigate.”
Regardless, early customer feedback on the Waffle site has been positive and the two companies have established a collaborative operating framework. A Haven Life business manager is dedicated to communicating weekly with development teams on both sides. Executive-level discussions occur at least quarterly. “And, once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, we can resume our personal visits as both companies are only couple of blocks walk away,” Krasula says.
Despite nixing in-person interactions, overall the pandemic has been a business enabler. “Haven Life was founded on the long view that people would eventually prefer to purchase life insurance online,” says Krasula. “If anything, the pandemic has accelerated this preference, which made it all the more important for us to build partnerships, like we have with Waffle, to ensure we're meeting customers during their financial journeys.”
