Creativity: The fundamental element to launching VIU by HUB

In an industry not known for its swift innovation, VIU by HUB was launched in an impressive 8-month time frame. How did we do it? Creativity.

It’s a word not typically used within the insurance industry, but as technology has drastically transformed the insurance landscape, creativity has become essential. Technology gives us endless doors to open and routes to take to create solutions that are distinctive to the time, place and people from which they originated.

Securing personal insurance can often be an intimidating and difficult process. HUB International, a leading global insurance brokerage, saw an opportunity to bring their expertise into the personal lines space and improve the experience. With that, a digital insurance brokerage platform was born.

As our teams dove into the research, two central events shaped our future.

1. Purchasing a call center. Along with other books of business, this provided a foundation for a direct-to-consumer play for HUB International.
2. Forming a visionary team led by Bryan Davis, now EVP and head of VIU by HUB. Given his background on the carrier side, Davis led with his critical understanding that the evolution of insurance requires simplification, digitization and customization – features only technology can deliver.

Throughout the development process, creativity remained at the core. Davis pulled business and technology together, with each side bringing their unique, innovative ideas to the table. The collaboration between both teams was crucial in achieving our purpose and mission.

Moreover, Davis established a force that had the mentality of a start-up, fit with its own profit and loss center and agile approach. Through this unique methodology, VIU by HUB became a brokerage powered by insurtech. From a technological standpoint, this granted the creative authority to develop solutions outside historical insurance processes while preserving the benefits a brokerage offers to a customer – transparency, choice and neutrality.

It was through this approach that VIU by HUB’s unique value proposition came to life. Not only are consumers empowered to shop, purchase and renew insurance digitally alongside the guidance of an experienced agent, but partnered businesses can take advantage of the benefits only a digital insurance brokerage platform can provide.

VIU by HUB can be embedded within the channels of strategic partners, such as:

• Real estate firms
• Mortgage lenders
• Employee benefits
• Nonprofit organizations
• And more

Customers or members of partner organizations are given the possibility to obtain insurance in an efficient experience that offers transparency, choice and neutrality that isn’t biased to any carrier relationship. Plus, thanks to our parent company, VIU by HUB has access to more than 25+ carriers, while many insurtechs are limited to fewer than a dozen.

So, what’s next?

VIU by HUB may be more than a year and a half old now, but we’re growing just as quickly as when we were created. Our teams are constantly developing new strategies for enhancing the customer experience, speeding up processes and permitting us to deliver on ideas we only dreamed about in the beginning. Insurance policies for home, auto, life and more are currently available via our website and mobile app, and we continue to envision a future where all personal insurance needs can be supplied in one spot. As a digital insurance brokerage platform, we want only what’s best for our customers. We will continue to introduce new insurance and financial solutions explicitly alongside industry expertise. The exciting part is figuring out which creative path will help us get there.