This post is about car insurance. You might still want to read it.
We’re building a car insurance company, and most people think we’re crazy. They don’t believe it’s possible. They say, “The insurance giants have billion dollar ad budgets. They’ve been around hundreds of years. Everyone trusts them, and nobody knows you. How can you possibly expect people to buy insurance from Clearcover?”
They have a point. Big Insurance companies spend more than $6 billion on advertising every year. Geico and State Farm alone spend almost $2.5 billion. They all focus lots of time, money and energy on things that make them seem trustworthy. And they have been around a really long time. The top 10 insurance companies in the US are, on average, 98 years old.
But here’s the thing. These “strengths” of big insurance companies — the things that might make us a little crazy for starting our own — are exactly why we think you need Clearcover.
We believe most people want three things from their insurance company: the right coverage, in the times it matters, for the lowest cost possible. Unfortunately, most insurers screw this up. They offer something more like: whatever coverage they can sell, all of the time, for the the highest price you’ll actually pay. And none of those are good.
So how did things go wrong? We think Big Insurance companies have forgotten something important… what you care about matters more than what they care about. And this means all their money, and all that experience, can work against you, not for you.
The problems start with a simple misunderstanding. You want great insurance, but you probably don’t want to think about it all the time. Big Insurance companies just don’t get this, which is why they spend billions on marketing, advertising, agents, and systems designed to make insurance a bigger part of your life. Don’t believe me? Watch any primetime sporting event and count the number of insurance commercials. Bring something to write with.
Now, the bigger the attention-seeking machine gets, the more tools and systems are needed to keep it running. This is pretty expensive no matter what, but when you’re 100 years old, keeping all these processes working is really, really expensive. It costs the biggest insurance companies tens of billions of dollars every year.
At this point, between the advertising, sales and IT expenses, Big Insurance companies need to cover a lot of costs. And you can probably guess how they pay for them… with your money. All those costs get passed onto you, so your prices go up. But because you need insurance, and you trust your insurance company, they can keep selling overpriced coverage. And the longer this goes on, the further your real interests get left behind.
If this all sounds a little frustrating, we agree. That’s why we’re working hard to fix it. At Clearcover, we put your interests first by focusing on three things:
The right coverage.
Our insurance is built from the ground up for today’s drivers. You can buy our insurance online in few minutes or less. Our claims process offers modern, app-based tools if you want to take care of things yourself, and real people if you need someone to talk with. We use the latest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to make sure you can choose the coverage that fits best. And finally, we have partners that back your policy with billions of dollars to ensure your money is safe.
In the times it matters.
We built new technology that makes coverage easy to find when it matters, and avoids places it doesn’t. No gimmicks, no games. So when you’re dealing with your car, shopping for insurance, or trying save a little extra cash, look for us. We’ll be there with the car insurance you know and trust, delivered smartly so you can move on with your life. This focus on efficiency and relevance not only respects your time, but also translates into major savings.
For the lowest cost possible.
Insurance rates are based on lots of factors and it’s hard to be lowest all of the time. But we do save a lot of people a lot of money. Because while Clearcover uses many of the same risk factors as the big insurers (as does every company, even the new ones), we spend a lot less of your money on other stuff. So, on average, we can charge a lot less than other companies. That’s how we offer the same coverage as the big insurers for prices up to 50% lower.
At Clearcover, we’re committed to offering you a smarter car insurance choice, so we redesigned insurance using tech, and more importantly, common sense. And call us crazy, but we intend to get ahead by doing what we’re best at — putting you first and promoting transparency. Even if the truth isn’t pretty. Because that’s what you deserve, and that’s Clearcover.
We’re launching soon. See you out there.
P.S. If you really want to get in the weeds, check out our FAQ.
*Update: The original version of this post included a graphic that was particularly critical of agents. It was not my intent to personally offend anyone, but I did. I apologize for this. We respect the people in the profession but also believe that the current cost of providing a local/dedicated agent in our line of business is no longer commensurate with the value a typical customer receives from it. We’re believers in the idea of agency, but believe it can take a different form at Clearcover. More on that to come.
