This week, insurance marketplace Polly announced a collaboration with Cox Automotive’s VinSolutions to create what the companies called a “powerful” set of solutions that can help marketing, sales, service and operations workflows stay in sync.
This new collaboration will provide benefits for dealer customers of both Polly and VinSolutions, according to a news release.
The companies explained the integration also offers dealers a more efficient way to connect potential customers with Polly for insurance options, by pulling customer information from the dealership’s CRM to help prefill leads automatically within Polly for Dealers.
Polly added that automotive retailers will save time and increase performance without additional data entry or processes.
“We pride ourselves on saving customers time and money by bundling the car and insurance shopping process and making it frictionless,” said Wayne Pastore, president and COO of distribution at Polly.
“With VinSolutions, we’ll do the same for our dealer partners — saving time and increasing the opportunity for improved customer experience without any additional frustrating processes,” Pastore went on to say.
For more information about Polly visit www.polly.co.
Tara Kasica is the senior vice president of sales at Polly, an insurance marketplace for auto retail.
She joins the Auto Remarketing Podcast and discusses the growth of embedded insurance in the car-buying process, how changes in car ownership models impacts insurance and much more.
To listen to the conversation, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
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When purchasing a new car, many people conduct research and consider the up-front expense.
But what about ongoing costs such as fuel, maintenance, insurance and vehicle depreciation? Those can vary greatly from one model to the next, according to Kelley Blue Book.
With that in mind, Kelley Blue Book’s experts named the 2021 model-year brand and category winners of the 10th annual 5-Year Cost to Own Awards.
The awards recognize new vehicles with the lowest projected ownership costs over the initial five-year ownership period, and the top 5-Year Cost to Own Brand for 2021 is Toyota.
Lexus, Toyota's luxury sibling, won the award for top 5-Year Cost to Own Luxury Brand. Several Lexus models led in many vehicle ownership cost categories.
“Toyota wins the top 5-Year Cost to Own Brand for 2021, hot on the heels of its award for 2021 Best Resale Value Brand,” Kelley Blue Book director of residual values, Eric Ibara said in a news release.
Ibara also said, “Toyota’s high residual values were the primary contributor toward the brand’s low ownership costs, given that high residual values directly correlate to lower vehicle depreciation.”
The 5-Year Cost to Own information is available for new models on Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com. It considers depreciation, expected fuel costs, finance and insurance fees, maintenance and repair costs, and state fees. Kelley Blue Book said the data can help new-car shoppers see the big picture of what a new vehicle will cost them over time.
That can help them save money by choosing a vehicle that best meets their needs and their long-term budget, Kelley Blue Book said.
Kelley Blue Book developed the 5-Year Cost to Own information using Kelley Blue Book Residual Values to calculate depreciation costs. Kelley Blue Book calculates total ownership costs for new vehicles by applying a valuation methodology along with financial data from third-party providers.
Cost to own awards, by vehicle category
| COMPACT CAR: Hyundai Elantra |
MID-SIZE SUV – 3-ROW: Subaru Ascent |
| MID-SIZE CAR: Volkswagen Passat |
FULL-SIZE SUV: Nissan Armada |
| FULL-SIZE CAR: Dodge Charger |
LUXURY SUBCOMPACT SUV: Lexus UX |
| ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CAR: Acura ILX |
LUXURY COMPACT SUV: Lexus NX |
| LUXURY CAR: Volvo S90 |
LUXURY MID-SIZE SUV – 2-ROW: Lexus RX |
| SPORTS CAR: Mazda MX-5 Miata |
LUXURY MID-SIZE SUV – 3-ROW: Volvo XC90 |
| HYBRID/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CAR: Toyota Corolla Hybrid |
|
LUXURY FULL-SIZE SUV: Infiniti QX80
|
|
| ELECTRIC VEHICLE: Nissan LEAF |
|
OFF-ROAD SUV: Jeep Wrangler
|
|
| SUBCOMPACT SUV: Hyundai Venue |
MID-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Ford Ranger |
| COMPACT SUV: Subaru Forester |
FULL-SIZE PICKUP TRUCK: Ford F-150 |
| MID-SIZE SUV – 2-ROW: Subaru Outback |
|
MINIVAN: Chrysler Voyager
|
|
Chart source: Kelley Blue Book
The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies is growing its overall automotive footprint by delving into the insurance world.
In partnership with Leavitt Group, the company on Tuesday announced the launch of Larry H. Miller Insurance Services, an independent insurance agency that will offer LHM customers auto, home, life and business insurance.
Company leaders highlighted in a news release that this new venture expands the LHM Group’s portfolio of automotive businesses, which includes Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Total Care Auto Powered by Landcar and Prestige Financial.
“Adding an insurance agency to our automotive-related offerings allows us to provide a more seamless and full-service experience for our customers, particularly during their car buying journey,” said Dean Fitzpatrick, president of Larry H. Miller Dealerships. “Combining expertise with the Leavitt Group, who bring nearly 70 years of experience in the insurance industry made this partnership a great fit.”
Like the LHM Group, Leavitt Group is a privately held, Utah company. Leaders of both organizations describe their partnership as a natural one since they share the same values of integrity, hard work and service.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Larry H. Miller Group in launching Larry H. Miller Insurance Services,” said Eric Leavitt, chairman and chief executive of Leavitt Group.
“We are unified in our desire to serve LHM customers well in their insurance buying journey and to provide an additional element of value beyond what they have come to expect from Larry H. Miller Group companies,” Leavitt continued.
LHM Insurance Services will be available at Larry H. Miller Dealerships locations, by phone and online at lhminsure.com.
The company acknowledged vehicles are often the second largest purchase that consumers make, next to buying a home. LHM Insurance Services will guide customers to properly insure their investment from both damages and liability in the case of an accident.
In addition, the company said insurance professionals can advise customers on auto coverage, and at the same time, explore bundling insurance policies — such as homeowner’s insurance — in an effort to maximize coverage and savings.
“We want to take care of our customers, and that means providing them options from the top-rated insurance providers they know and trust,” said Kimberlee Reese, president of Larry H. Miller Insurance Services.
“Not only can we now take care of that before they leave our dealerships, but we can also make sure we help them get the best value and coverage for their needs,” Reese added.
A new exclusive agreement between IAA and NASCAR Enterprises LLC allows IAA to use NASCAR facilities for total loss vehicle storage after a catastrophe.
IAA said the agreement further increases its catastrophe capacity footprint and expands an already long-term relationship between the two organizations.
In addition to the company’s other catastrophe acreage, the 14 NASCAR properties included in the agreement are part of IAA’s total U.S. catastrophe capacity of more than 4,000 acres.
IAA says that is the most expansive catastrophe footprint in the industry.
The company notes that a rapid increase in insurance vehicle claim volume occurs during catastrophic weather events.
The proximity of storage yards to the event and how safely accessible they are to insurance professionals is extremely important, IAA said, adding that it has invested a great deal of research and resources in developing its catastrophe response strategy over the past 10-plus years.
IAA uses a Flexible Capacity Model in alignment with nearly all emergency response models and because of how weather-related catastrophes show extremely unpredictable behavior.
With the model, IAA can quickly increase capacity wherever, and whenever, vehicle claims surge.
“Our historical success in managing catastrophes and our capacity to support them is unmatched in our industry,” IAA chief executive officer and president John Kett said in a news release.
Kett continued, “A fixed capacity model may not shift and adjust to meet the dynamic nature of weather-related catastrophes. The IAA Flexible Capacity Model gives us the real-time agility to meet this need, and our exclusive agreement with NASCAR further underscores our continued focus on providing additional vehicle storage for our customers where it is needed — not where it is owned.”
Cover Genius announced a major injection of funds on Thursday.
The global insurtech firm whose insurance distribution platform provides protection for the customers of some of the world’s largest online companies has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round.
Cover Genius said the funds will support the company’s investment in talent and its continued global growth across the U.S., the U.K. and into Asia.
The round was led by King River Capital, the Sydney and California-based venture capital firm and includes participation by the New York-based Belfer Family, London-based Jasper Tans, the Australian-based pre-IPO fund, Regal Funds Management and Marinya Capital.
Executives recapped that the company’s insurance distribution technology provides regulated insurance policies that can integrate into online point of sale and signup paths in more than 60 countries and 50 U.S. states. Cover Genius can pay approved claims via its instant payments platform in more than 90 currencies.
Since 2014, the company founded by Angus McDonald and Chris Bayley has enabled millions of customers worldwide to purchase insurance from their favorite online brands.
Speaking on the announcement, McDonald said in a news release, “The insurance industry has been held back by legacy systems and a lack of global coordination and customer-centricity for decades. We sought to change that and create simple, yet useful, policies, streamline the claims process and enable the world’s largest online companies to protect their global customers.”
“Customer needs have evolved and today they want protection for a variety of items like sports equipment, pets, electronics, contracting work, jewelry, flight tickets and cars. We are evolving the insurance experience to cover all of the things they care about and purchase online,” he continued.
Chris Barter, Partner at King River Capital, said that Cover Genius had tapped into the growing need for more customer-centric insurance solutions on a global scale.
“Their extraordinary growth over the past few years is no surprise when you look at the many friction points for customers that they have resolved and the opportunities they provide for partners to offer protection to all their worldwide customers and increase customer loyalty,” Barter said.
“We are pleased to support their ongoing growth and continued international expansion,” Barter added.
This latest funding round follows small Seed and Series A funding rounds. The business has largely been bootstrapped and profitable since its founding in 2014.
“Early on we bootstrapped the company and since then have built a highly profitable global insurtech business in just over five years,” McDonald said.
“This latest round of funding will help us build out our bi-coastal U.S. presence, European and Asian operations and expand in half a dozen new countries in line with the needs of our global partners and customers,” he went on to say.
