We’ve just launched our mobile app and it’s a sign of things to come

Almost twelve months ago we launched our first travel insurance product. At that point, we weren’t expecting to release a mobile app by this point. We knew it didn’t make sense to put up the barrier of an app download before even buying your travel cover. And we felt we had a strong solution in Facebook Messenger to manage your policy and to start claims. But, things have changed over the past several months. Fortunately at Pluto, we pride ourselves on our ability to keep up with (or even ahead of) the change. Because frankly if not, we’d be dead in the water. There were two factors that triggered the decision to release a mobile app. Firstly, our customers were asking for it. Secondly, we spent some more time defining and refining our longer-term strategy. Read on to find out more.

Your wish is our command

One of our core values at Pluto is to put people first. So that means when our customers ask for something, we do something about it (although we do have our boundaries).

More and more, we heard people asking for a mobile app. They wanted a simple and convenient way to access their policy on their phone to check what they’re covered for whilst they were on the move. With the inherently intangible nature of insurance, the simple solution of an ever-present icon on your phone represents a more tangible reminder that you’re covered. And if we can provide that peace of mind so you’re free to get on with enjoying your travels, then we’re achieving what we set out to do.

But of course, we weren’t going to stop at just providing access to your cover. We wanted to use the app to deliver more value in new ways. The first release of our mobile app will let customers:

• Easily access their policy and check what they’re covered for any time, no internet access required.
• Submit a claim in less than 10 mins and follow the progress of their claims, all through the app.
• Get round the clock support whenever they need help relating to their cover or a claim.

The app is now live and ready for customers to use. Find out more about it here.

The current app is only available on iOS devices. But we’ve started work on an Android app too. We’re also working on lots more features including:

• 24/7 access to a UK GP if you’re ill abroad through our partner, Babylon.
• Free lounge access or cash if your flight is delayed by more than two hours.
• A quick and easy way to make a change to your policy, renew your policy, or buy a new one.

And this is just the beginning. Which leads us on to the second reason for launching a mobile app…

Our longer-term strategy

When we started Pluto, we always had the ambition of building a travel brand. The team is made up of travel lovers and we got excited about putting our skills and experience to use in an area we were passionate about. We started with our travel insurance product because lots of things aligned which meant there was a huge opportunity in the space. And when we stepped back to consider our broader mission, it fitted in pretty well.

That mission is to help people make the most of their travels. And the way we plan to achieve that is by building amazing products. Great travel cover provides peace of mind, freeing you to get on with enjoying your trip. The travel insurance product we launched and nurtured has been receiving rave reviews from our customers, resulting in a five-star rating and the status of the best travel insurance provider on Trustpilot in the UK. And quite frankly, people are describing our insurance product with words we’d have never anticipated in our wildest imaginations. Words like fun and slick.

Now we will, of course, continue to refine and improve our insurance product. But, thanks to our recent Crowdfunding raise, we’re growing the team and ready to take on our next big product challenge. This challenge will be to release another amazing product that further progresses us towards our mission of helping people make the most of their travels.

Through our research so far, we’ve identified travel planning as the big opportunity to explore. From talking to our audience, we know they love to travel and want to make the most out of every last minute of their time away. But we also know they’re living a busy life, short on the time required to properly plan their trip. Or they’re relying on sub-optimal tools to organise their time away. With this in mind, our product vision is made up of three areas:

• Organise: Help people organise their existing travel bookings and prepare for upcoming trips.
• Plan and discover: Collaborate with friends to decide how to make the most of their time whilst they’re away.
• Protect: Provide the peace of mind that if something goes wrong, Pluto has their back.

Nothing is set in stone. But this vision acts as a compass to direct us towards achieving our mission, and our mobile app is the vehicle to get us there.

Over the coming months, we’ll begin experimenting with new features and services and releasing them into the app to get feedback from real people as quickly as possible. We’ll continue to work in a quick and iterative way to get to another product that our customers love. Have an idea? Want to get involved? We’d love to hear from you. Drop me an email with your thoughts and I’m always happy to set up some time to chat.

Find me at harry@pluto.travel