(Image source: Sensa homepage.)
Sensa, an Austin, Texas-based InsurTech distributor billing itself as the first proactive insurance company, has launched its auto insurance offering in the U.S., including real-time help with every policy. Sensa—the name itself a play on “sensor”—uses its parent company MDgo’s (Haifa, Israel) smart sensor technology to detect an accident. The technology estimates damages and injuries in order to ensure that the right assistance is dispatched quickly to the scene. The launch comes at a time when U.S. car fatalities are on the rise. Sensa asserts that the lack real-time assistance contributes to 44 percent of avoidable deaths.
Sensa has debuted its auto insurance offering in Illinois, to be followed with Texas, Indiana and Ohio in the following weeks, according to a company statement. Sensa says it will introduce additional proactive insurance offerings, with home insurance scheduled to launch later this year.
Itay Bengad, CEO and Co-Founder, Sensa.
Itay Bengad, MD, Sensa CEO and Cofounder, applies the medical ‘Point of Care’ doctrine to insurance, bringing “bedside” care to “roadside” (or “carside”) assistance and treatment. “Every minute counts and every diagnostic detail makes a difference at the scene of a crash,” he says. “After even a minor accident, people are at their most vulnerable and should never feel alone. Launching Sensa in the U.S. ensures our policyholders are professionally supported in their time of greatest need.”
Sensa describes its sensor-driven proposition as shifting the “moment of truth” for insurance companies from the first notice of loss to the loss event itself. The company asserts that personalized, professional help at the moment of truth provides an added value to policyholders and real-time situational awareness empowers Sensa to mitigate damages and injuries at the scene of an accident. The Sensa sensor, activated only when the force of impact indicates a collision, is designed to guarantee the privacy of all policyholders through the avoidance of ongoing data collection or monitoring. The company says that, combined with frictionless installation in seconds and 24/7 support, the sensor’s adoption rate far surpasses industry averages, standing at over 90 percent.
“True disruption of the insurance industry requires an insurance offering that goes the extra mile for policyholders and addresses the pain points of insurers,” adds Sensa’s Bengad. “The scene of an accident is the only time when the interests of both policyholders and insurance companies are completely aligned. The policyholder wants to resolve the situation with the least amount of hassle, and the insurer wants the situation resolved according to its preferred distributors. With the knowledge and power to make a difference, insurers can provide policyholders with medical and logistical help—and reduce claim severity.”
Sensa reports that its technology was successfully beta tested in Europe and reached over 35,000 satisfied policyholders in the last year alone. Throughout this period, 94 percent of loss events were proactively managed within the first few minutes of a loss event, the company says. MDgo’s technology and Sensa’s InsurTech offering are backed by funding from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Target Global, Volvo, Hyundai Motors, and Nationwide.
Distributed exclusively through agents, Sensa says it also ensures that policyholders receive a personal touch from the first contact with the insurer.