(Image source: Next Insurance homepage.)

Next Insurance, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based distributor of insurance for small businesses, has announced the launch of an online portal to provide small businesses with increased visibility and control over their insurance policies at any time. The new online portal offers several insurance services, some which the company claims have never before offered online for small businesses, including the option to cancel a policy instantly with no penalty fees, add additional insured with the click of a button, and more.

Next Insurance couches the announcement in the context of a digitally underserved small business insurance market is, largely operating through offline agents, with policies usually taking days to weeks to process. “With no full-service solution to buy and maintain insurance online, customers are left waiting days and often weeks for even the simplest policy updates or requests to be processed, often accompanied by exorbitant service fees,” a Next Insurance statement says. “Next Insurance digitizes the process with no extra costs, changing the dynamics of insurance by making small business insurance a fast, user-friendly, and reliable service.”

Next Insurance says the new free online portal gives customers enhanced access and control over their policies, with the aim of speeding up and simplifying the most common updates and requests made by customers. The company describes the portals newly available features as follows.

Additional Insured: Customers can add “Additional Insured” in one click, with immediate issue. Attaching a new Additional Insured to a policy is one of the most common policyholder requests—and as it is often a prerequisite to the ability to attract projects or orders, time is of the essence. This feature ensures that Next Insurance customers can have Additional Insurance documentation on hand within minutes, which gives them an edge over competitors vying for the same business opportunities.

Proof of Insurance: Customers can receive proof of insurance instantly, without the need for numerous phone calls to agents and long wait times for delivery.

One-click Cancellation: Customers can instantly cancel policies, solving the problem of restrictions on the ability to cancel, cancellation fees, and long wait times between requesting and receiving confirmation.

Policy Information: Customers can view policy information with ease, to guarantee full transparency at all times.

Payment Information: Customers can easily update and maintain payment information at any time, enabling smooth transitions when necessary.

Addressing a Lag in Insurance Services for Small Business

“In a society where almost every service is available online and instantly, insurance is lagging behind,” comments Guy Goldstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Next. “It’s unfortunate how many hoops businesses need to jump through in order to change or cancel their policy. We’re on a mission to do away with all the legacy hurdles that the insurance industry forces customers to jump over, and launching this online portal gets us one step closer towards that reality.”

“The ease and transparency of the portal will enable small businesses to have increased control over their insurance without having to pay additional fees or wait any longer than necessary,” Goldstein adds. “Small businesses already face so many challenges in their day-to-day operations; we are convinced that insurance need not be one of them.”

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