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Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

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Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#31

Post by jasontraff »

anywherenotes wrote: post #27

Is there a place where I can compare car-insurance + house insurance + any other insurance among companies? Most companies give discounts on bundling few types of insurances, and so it would be great if entire price could be compared. I am under impression that not all insurance companies provide full coverage for what people need, so just because car insurance is lower, total price may increase if you split the need…

I don't think it's currently possible to do entirely online at the moment. Your best chance would be with an independent agent at the moment (though we're trying to change that).

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#32

Post by objclxt »

ismarc wrote: post #29

This has the exact same issue that nearly all insurance companies seem to have and is the reason I'm with my current insurance company. I have a 1978 Datsun/Nissan 280Z. Only one insurance company allowed an online/unattended quote for insuring that age car. Only one other company was able to give a quote after talking with them on the phone, all of the others didn't have the ability to do a quote, even for liability…

There are lots of UI problems involved with car insurance - some are (in my opinion) actually fairly interesting. In established comparison markets outside the US the big players invest a lot of money in getting the user experience right so that users complete the process (there is a large drop-off).

By far the easiest way to solve this is to do a registration plate lookup: however, I don't know if this is even possible in the US, and it would be on a state-by-state level so a bit of a nightmare. In countries like the UK, where there is a single source of plates that companies can buy access to, it's a lot easier.

Leaky could probably learn a far bit from how insurance quotation engines in the EU and other less complex markets handle this. Here in the UK there are many well established players doing what Leaky do, probably with more success (which is totally down to the fact the UK insurance market is much more centralised).

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#33

Post by Jach »

kpommerenke wrote: post #30
kamjam wrote: post #4

Welcome to doing something that has been done in Europe for many years now, and not just on auto-isnurance: http://www.confused.com/ http://www.comparethemarket.com/ http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/ to name a few... I understand that this was a legal issue due to the insurers (but even so, they only launched a year ago...) but what is it with American companies that they just don't seem to get the inter…

There are legal reasons why the U.S. doesn't have true comparison sites, unlike the UK. Screen-scraping is illegal here, but not in the UK, so you need the cooperation of the carrier to show their quotes. Most U.S. carriers don't cooperate with independent comparison sites, since they don't want to see their product commoditized.

It's not illegal, but it's not very strongly settled one way or another. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping#Legal_issues

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#34

Post by kamjam »

kpommerenke wrote: post #30
kamjam wrote: post #4

Welcome to doing something that has been done in Europe for many years now, and not just on auto-isnurance: http://www.confused.com/ http://www.comparethemarket.com/ http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/ to name a few... I understand that this was a legal issue due to the insurers (but even so, they only launched a year ago...) but what is it with American companies that they just don't seem to get the inter…

There are legal reasons why the U.S. doesn't have true comparison sites, unlike the UK. Screen-scraping is illegal here, but not in the UK, so you need the cooperation of the carrier to show their quotes. Most U.S. carriers don't cooperate with independent comparison sites, since they don't want to see their product commoditized.

There are legal reasons why the U.S. doesn't have true comparison sites

Yes, and I stated that in my original comment. My point is that these corporations need to get with the modern times. It's a global playing field these days, technology does not stand still in one part of the world whilst your (not personally) archaic thinking catches up. It's the same thinking model as the RIAA.

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#36

Post by ismarc »

objclxt wrote: post #32
ismarc wrote: post #29

This has the exact same issue that nearly all insurance companies seem to have and is the reason I'm with my current insurance company. I have a 1978 Datsun/Nissan 280Z. Only one insurance company allowed an online/unattended quote for insuring that age car. Only one other company was able to give a quote after talking with them on the phone, all of the others didn't have the ability to do a quote, even for liability…

There are lots of UI problems involved with car insurance - some are (in my opinion) actually fairly interesting. In established comparison markets outside the US the big players invest a lot of money in getting the user experience right so that users complete the process (there is a large drop-off). By far the easiest way to solve this is to do a registration plate lookup: however, I don't know if this is even possi…

Registration plate lookup would be a chicken/egg problem here in the States. You need proof of insurance in order to get your registration, so on a vehicle that has no plates, there's no number to give, so wouldn't be able to get insurance. VIN is really the way to handle it, and once you get through the "quote" stage to actually buying it, all the insurance companies can take any VIN (and your info, of course) and spit out how much it actually costs. On a state by state level, I don't imagine it would be difficult to build a system to accurately compare rates. The fact that each state has its own system of minimum requirements, as well as what can be covered, and insurance companies are isolated to a single state (the larger insurance providers are actually corporations with wholly owned subsidiaries in each state) increase this complexity when dealt with on a national level. It's extremely similar to the issues with comparing health insurance plans.

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#37

Post by K2h »

objclxt wrote: post #32
ismarc wrote: post #29

This has the exact same issue that nearly all insurance companies seem to have and is the reason I'm with my current insurance company. I have a 1978 Datsun/Nissan 280Z. Only one insurance company allowed an online/unattended quote for insuring that age car. Only one other company was able to give a quote after talking with them on the phone, all of the others didn't have the ability to do a quote, even for liability…

There are lots of UI problems involved with car insurance - some are (in my opinion) actually fairly interesting. In established comparison markets outside the US the big players invest a lot of money in getting the user experience right so that users complete the process (there is a large drop-off). By far the easiest way to solve this is to do a registration plate lookup: however, I don't know if this is even possi…

Agree - in the US, try and use the VIN and prompt the user to declare any addons outside of factory stock to be covered.

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#38

Post by kamjam »

shrikant wrote: post #26
kamjam wrote: post #4

Welcome to doing something that has been done in Europe for many years now, and not just on auto-isnurance: http://www.confused.com/ http://www.comparethemarket.com/ http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/ to name a few... I understand that this was a legal issue due to the insurers (but even so, they only launched a year ago...) but what is it with American companies that they just don't seem to get the inter…

I take it you're not a fan "Go compaaaaare!"? ( http://www.gocompare.com )

Only if you don't start singing the theme tune! :)

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#39

Post by schackbrian »

cloudwalking wrote: post #19

Instead of an insurance comparison service, these guys should start an actual auto insurance company. Nobody likes insurance companies, so there's certainly a market for an insurance company that people love. Be ambitious. Build something big. Comparison sites are not a big or ambitious idea. Comparison sites are a feature of bigger platforms. If you're building a platform, call it that. Otherwise, build something bi…

"Empirically, the way to do really big things seems to be to start with deceptively small things."

http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html

Re: Auto Insurance Comparison Startup Leaky Launches Nationally, Raises $670K

#40

Post by kamjam »

ismarc wrote: post #29

This has the exact same issue that nearly all insurance companies seem to have and is the reason I'm with my current insurance company. I have a 1978 Datsun/Nissan 280Z. Only one insurance company allowed an online/unattended quote for insuring that age car. Only one other company was able to give a quote after talking with them on the phone, all of the others didn't have the ability to do a quote, even for liability…

On a car that age, even with the insurance comparison websites in the UK, it is often better and cheaper to go to a specialized broker who specialize in vintage/classic cars. They are often much cheaper and since they are small companies tend not to have online quotations.

The UI really isn't a problem, it just comes down to the company having the coplete set of data, which really is down to them either creating this list themselves or paying someone for it. I'm not sure of the case in the US, but if an online part company like http://www.eurocarparts.com/ or http://www.gsfcarparts.com can do it them I don't see what the problem is.

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