Kiwi World First Recognised as Finalist in Insurance Awards

A Kiwi developed world first from Accuro, instant online health insurance, has just been announced as a finalist in this year’s New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards. Accuro Health Insurance’s online underwriting service, HUGO, is a finalist in the Innovation category and the only specialist health insurance finalist.

Launched a year ago, HUGO is a service provided by specialist Accuro Health Insurance, a New Zealand owned not for profit insurer. It is the only service that allows a member of the public to fill out a guided online questionnaire and, in the majority of cases, receive an instant offer of fully underwritten health insurance including exclusions where necessary.

“We’re ecstatic to see HUGO recognised as a genuine game changer,” says Geoff Annals, CEO of Accuro. “It has been very well received, public response has been well above expectations. It’s delivering what people actually want; simple, quick, hassle free, underwritten health insurance that allows people to arrange things easily and get on with their busy lives.”

“This new automated analysis and underwriting system was considered too difficult for fully underwritten health insurance by the industry, but we worked with Accuro to deliver just that,” says Ed Saul, Director at Intelligent Life, the New Zealand company specialising in developing innovative solutions for the life and health insurance industry. “With many thousands of possible combinations, it is far more complex than life or car insurance, for example. There’s a lot of business intelligence behind delivering such a simple to use system.”

“As the donkey work is done by the automated system, our specialist underwriters are freed up to spend more time on the more complex applications that HUGO refers onto them,” adds Geoff Annals. “It makes our office work easier, so it’s a win-win for customers and us, something that the ANZIIF recognised in choosing HUGO as an Innovation finalist.”

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