ILC ARTICLE

Ticker beating strongly

7th November 2023

CEO of Ticker, Richard King, explained how in just four years his company has established itself as a key disrupter of the motor insurance industry with its telematics-based business model.

Speaking to Chris Ashworth, Founder of ILC, at the Exclusive Motor Claims Conference 2023 at Landing Forty-Two, London, Richard said that the success of Ticker is based on three key elements: technology, a sharp focus on the customer, and good people.

He explained, “We’ve combined technology with a deep understanding of insurance and that combination gives us a winning formula.

“Everything we do is about telematics. The entire business is built on data science and machine learning tools. We’re a connected insurer and our aim is to bring connected motor insurance to the masses. We do that by segmenting the market, with a proposition for novice drivers, van drivers, low-mileage drivers, and drivers new to the UK. We’re also planning to launch a product for older drivers.

“We want to understand our customer and deliver products that are suited to them, so rather than a one-product-fits-all proposition, our approach is a very focused on segments.”

Growth

Since its launch, the business has grown rapidly. This year it will write £100m and the target next year is to double that to £200m. Part of this success is its laser-focus on loss ratio. It set itself an aggressive goal to get below 56% loss ratio in its first four years, which is unmatched in the industry, and also keeps complete control of its own pricing.

Richard said, “Our business is growing rapidly, and it’s the right type of growth.”

Of course, business success is founded on the people within it and Richard acknowledged the invaluable role of the experience and talent within Ticker.

He said, “At Ticker, it was about getting the right people into the right roles and my job now is as the conductor of a very talented orchestra.”

Challenges

Ticker is operating in a very competitive and challenging sector. Parts supply is still disrupted, energy costs have gone up, and recruitment and retention remain an issue every business is faced with. On top of that, customer expectations have risen sharply, with people now expecting immediate access and delivery.

While this puts claims under stress, Ticker tackles this through a combination of partnerships and technology.

Outsourced

All fault and non-fault claims are outsourced to Carpenters Group – “Their scale, size and leadership make them a very easy choice for someone like us,” Richard said – while the use of telematics provides the company with an unrivalled level of insight.

Richard said, “For us, the key role of telematics is that is provides us with a forensic level of data at a key time in really expensive claims, particularly those involving personal injury. It also plays a key role in defending insurers on the third-party claims side.

“Telematics is also helping us fight fraud. As an industry, we’re seeing a high level of fraud and misrepresentation, but in a lot of cases the data and our machine learning tools are detecting them. This is helping us keep control of loss ratio, too.”

Future

Going forward, Richard believes that, as important as it is to focus on processes and people, the priority must always be the customer.

He concluded, “We understand the pressure the market is under. The last few years have been very difficult for the industry, but customers are shopping around a lot more these days, so my final point would be to manage customer expectations.”

The Exclusive Motor Claims Conference was created in partnership with ILC’s Motor Corporate Partners: Activate Group, AkzoNobel, Autoglass, CAPS, Carpenters Group, Copart, DAC Beachcroft, e2e, Entegral, Enterprise, Gemini ARC, GT Motive, Innovation Group, Kennedys, S&G Response, Solera Audatex, Synetiq and Thingco, and sponsored by headline partner Enterprise along with sponsors BHR Assist, Clearspeed, EDAM Group, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Wiser Academy.