Hippo Diversifies Partners In Expansion Efforts

Hippo, an insurance aggregator, came onto the scene about nine years ago. Many South Africans celebrated the arrival of a tool to get the best cover for their needs. Little did they know that the company only offered quotes from companies affiliated with Telesure. The law caught up with Hippo, and now Hippo diversifies its offerings.

Admittedly, users were slow to come alive to this fact. But they eventually developed a perception of Hippo as a marketer for the Telesure group. However, in 2009 Hippo diversifies by offering quotes from other insurers.

Changing Perceptions

But the company’s CEO Derek Wilson admits that changing that perception is difficult. That’s even after including other non-Telesure firms in its advertising.

The company has gone on to enlist many short-term insurers. And it has embarked on a campaign to show potential customers that Hippo has no bias. But the public does not believe it yet. Regulatory authorities also have problems believing that Hippo has been acting in the best interests of its clients.

Two years back the Financial Services Board slapped the aggregator with a one and a half million Rand fine. This was for not giving clients a complete list of quotations and instead referring them immediately to the cheapest available option. FSB felt Hippo, in doing so, was only looking at generating a higher business volume for itself instead of meeting the needs of their clients.

Hippo Diversifies by Widening Options

Now Hippo diversifies by trying to improve its public perception, offering South Africans more options by adding more providers besides First for Women, Dial Direct, Auto & General and other Telesure brands. Now Hippo diversifies by providing potential policyholders the choice of quotes from short-term insurers such as Regent and Hollard, Ace, Oakhurst and Standard Bank. Hippo was on a quest to be fully representative of the South African insurance market. Hippo even approached iWYZE, OUTsurance and MiWay but these refused to sign up. Besides short-term insurance quotes you can get life and medical insurance quotes from Hippo as well. At least 12 of the country’s major health insurance schemes are represented on the service.

Be Careful of Hippo Quotations

When you get a quote from Hippo, it’s important to note that it may not be entirely accurate. Once the insurer themselves obtain more information from you the price will either go higher or lower depending on how they assess your level of risk. You can get a quote based on your budget using the ITC method which runs a credit check before selecting quotes. This and other services are what Hippo makes available to up to 110,000 visitors every month. This figure represents about a 40% increase in traffic to the Hippo site from last year. Of the South Africans who use Hippo’s services, close to 70% are men aged between 25 and 35%.

Hippo Diversifies to Lower Costs

The company is intent on increasing its reach and lowering the cost of insurance, an aim it hopes to achieve by increasing the number of insurance partners it has besides Telesure group companies. Hippo diversifies further: the aggregator also hopes to expand its portfolio and begin offering price comparison between banking products. This will also give it an edge over competitors such as InsuranceHound.co.za.

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All info was correct at time of publishing