esure: Working with HYD to launch a new digital insurance proposition

‍Challenge
Following an acquisition by Bain Capital, esure, one of the UK's largest and most established car insurance companies, was embarking on a multi-year digital transformation to overhaul their digital operations, react to incoming legislation limiting price-walking and ultimately reduce their costs to serve customers via a core digital platform that would support sales, customer service and claims.

Our role in laying the foundations
As contractors for HYD, The Product Bridge contributed expertise in user research, agile transformation, rapid prototyping and product definition to help shape and deliver the vision for transforming esure:

User Research and Rapid Prototyping: We undertook comprehensive user research, including qualitative interviews and usability testing, to understand customer expectations for modern insurance products. This research informed the esure Flex proposition, aimed at delivering a highly personalised, competitively priced insurance option. Rapid prototyping enabled us to refine the product based on real-time user feedback, ensuring the final offering resonated well with its audience.
Agile transformation: Working with the executive team, we supported esure's organisational transformation, as well as with new methodologies and frameworks to make it easier to deliver agile digital products. We also supported them with new hires of permanent staff into their digital teams.
Translation into Technology Requirements: Once the core product proposition was defined, we collaborated with esure’s internal teams and EY, their technology partner, to translate our insights into actionable technology requirements. These requirements underpinned the development of the new cloud-native platform esure was building to replace its legacy systems, ensuring that the work done by EY aligned closely with esure Flex’s customer-focused goals.

Outcomes‍

Building on these new digital ways of working, we supported the team in developing a new car insurance proposition designed to help esure comply with the legislation coming into force. Esure Flex was designed to meet the growing demand for affordable, customisable insurance options, relying on advanced technology to keep operational costs low. This initiative required the development of a scalable, cloud-native platform capable of supporting frequent, agile product launches.

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The launch of esure Flex has driven impressive growth, with over 330,000 new policies issued by 2023. The shift to a modern, cloud-native platform—developed in partnership with EY—has allowed esure to scale effectively while keeping operations lean. Esure Flex continues to attract cost-conscious customers with a budget-friendly option that doesn’t sacrifice on experience. Over 90% of all claims can now be initiated online.

The broader digital transformation has also positioned esure for continued success, with improvements in operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and pricing capabilities that are expected to support future growth. Through our research-driven approach and close collaboration with HYD and other partners, The Product Bridge played a pivotal role in shaping a product that aligns with both customer expectations and esure’s long-term digital ambitions.

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