Insurance brokerage Willis has announced another round of expansion of its GB Affinity technology ecosystem, this time through a strategic partnership with Qover, a European player known for tailoring embedded insurance for businesses and insurers across the continent through a flexible, API-first platform.
The partnership will address the increasing demand for contextual insurance experiences at the point of sale (PoS), thereby providing a product-agnostic solution to enable businesses to launch and scale bespoke insurance programmes at short notice, while keeping pace with sustainability, innovation, and evolving client needs.
Unlike conventional models of insurance sector tie-ups, the Willis-Qover partnership will focus on the embedded and affinity space, allowing United Kingdom-based businesses, irrespective of their industry verticals, to directly incorporate insurance products into customer journeys.
With disruptive methods like APIs, real-time dashboards, and AI-enhanced claims, Qover has redefined the practice of embedded insurance orchestration (a modular, technology-driven framework allowing businesses to seamlessly integrate tailored insurance products directly into their customer journeys), while Willis is known for providing market access, insurance design capabilities, and local execution through its advanced tools.
Anthony Borgman, Head of Affinity, GB at Willis, told the media, “Strengthening our ecosystem is a core part of how we continue to meet the evolving needs of our GB Affinity clients and deliver agile distribution capability. Partnering with Qover enhances the connected infrastructure behind our propositions – giving us greater flexibility, improved speed to market, and more ways to support clients’ brands operating in a wide range of industry verticals. It’s an important step in our journey, and there’s more to come on this in the year ahead.”
“Insurance experiences must be seamless, contextual and simple. We are excited to support Willis’ GB Affinity ambitions as they continue to build the next generation of partner solutions,” Quentin Colmant, CEO and Co-Founder at Qover, remarked during the occasion.
However, the partnership will meet an immediate test, in the form of both British and European regulators scrutinising the tie-up for add‑on and bundled products, placing more emphasis on product governance, fair value and clear communication of coverage and exclusions. Both Willis and Qover may have to explain how their products are sold, how customers use them and whether they receive appropriate outcomes over time.