LifeDirect by Trade Me Partners with Accuro Health Insurance for New Option - Instant Health Cover
18 April 2018, Wellington
A leading Kiwi marketplace for life and health cover, LifeDirect, is now able to go one step further than quotes and
applications, by offering instant health cover.
LifeDirect already partners with Kiwi health insurance specialists Accuro as one of their panel of health insurance
providers and now they can tap into Accuro’s unique HUGO online engine to deliver instant online cover to its customers.
Jaime Monaghan, Head of Insurance at Trade Me said the Accuro and LifeDirect move was good for insurance buyers.
"LifeDirect is focused on giving people an easier, simpler way to compare insurance, and removing confusion around this
important buying decision. We're rapt to be able to offer an instant outcome for insurance applications via Accuro's new
auto-underwriting engine."
“With this new HUGO system, anyone can go onto LifeDirect.co.nz, fill out a simple guided questionnaire and in many
cases will get an instant, fully underwritten, personalised offer and cover,” says Geoff Annals, CEO of Accuro. “That
saves a lot of time and hassle.”
A significant proportion of applicants will be able to access an instant offer and cover for their healthcare insurance.
Applications identified by the intelligent underwriting system as possibly requiring extra attention will be sent to a
human, an experienced underwriter.
The key to the service is a new intelligent underwriting engine, a world first launched recently by Kiwi not-for-profit
Accuro. This guides users through a series of simple questions, but ‘under the hood’ is a complex system that only asks
the questions needed, saving on pages of form filling, while going into detail where necessary.
“We’re excited to see our auto-underwriting engine for health insurance becoming more widely available to New
Zealanders. Last year the system was launched through Accuro’s website and the response has been very positive,” says Ed
Saul, Director at Intelligent Life, technical partner with Accuro on the HUGO system. “Technology is finally catching up
with what people want; instant, trouble free health cover. That’s something insurers couldn’t do in the past.”
“The HUGO system also allows us to respond faster and with more care even to complex applications and existing
conditions. That’s what our underwriters focus on full-time, while the automated system instantly handles
straightforward applications,” adds Geoff Annals.
The new system extends the service offered by Trade Me and Accuro’s 7 year partnership in health insurance.
www.lifedirect.co.nz/
ENDS