HSBC UK offers ‘switchable’ subscription-based insurance

HSBC UK has launched a new flexible insurance product that offers seven switchable covers in one subscription.

With Select and Cover, HSBC UK customers can choose between mobile phone, gadget, home emergency, life, excess protection, motor breakdown and travel, from £19.50 per month.

If their needs or circumstances change, they can add and remove one option during the year, as long as they maintain a minimum of three, and change all of their options once a year on the policy anniversary.

Combining covers can reduce the aggregated cost, thereby saving customers money when compared to purchasing individual policies, according to HSBC UK.

Select and Cover is a pay monthly service and customers can cancel at any time without penalty. Each policy covers the holder, their spouse, domestic or civil partner and their children.

HSBC UK has priced three insurance coverage options at £19.50 per month, four at £26.00, five at £32.50, six at £39.00 and seven at £45.50.

The service is available online to the six million HSBC UK customers who are registered for online banking.

Mark Hussein, chief executive officer of HSBC Insurance UK, said: “Select and Cover will redefine the way our customers buy insurance. Its subscription-based model reflects our aspiration to provide customers with innovative ways to both buy and use our products.”

“Select and Cover complements our existing products by broadening our range, enhancing the speed and convenience of the application process making insurance more appealing and accessible to customers. Its rationale is very much in keeping with our business strategy to improve access to insurance and enhance our digital capabilities, enabling us to evolve and grow within the changing insurance landscape.”

Market research conducted by HSBC UK showed convenience and flexibility were the two main drivers for insurance customers and identified a strong desire for subscription-type services instead of fixed contracts.

Commenting on this, Tom Cheesewright, a futurist and author of High Frequency Change, said: “Our lives are full of choices now, so we naturally want to explore all our options. But we’re restricted by the friction that builds up around our lives: long term agreements for housing, transport, connectivity, and insurance.”

“Making insurance cover more flexible reduces this friction and allows us to make the choices we want to make, and respond to the opportunities life sends our way.”