Open & Direct switches on Direct Quote & Buy for non-standard home insurance

Open & Direct has activated its new Direct Quote & Buy engine for non-standard home insurance, giving customers a friction-free way to arrange cover online. 

The new engine gives customers access to a quote and buy facility to use at a time that suits them, as well as the option to return to the quote at a later time to conclude the purchase. 

Meeting growth in demand

Open & Direct’s move is aimed to help a sizeable and growing number of people requiring specialist cover. 

When you consider online quote success rates, and that up to 20% of all home-insurance enquiries in the UK are declined online because they can easily fall outside standard underwriting footprints, there is a very tangible need for a digital solution that focuses on specialist cover to meet customer expectations.

Open & Direct’s ambition is to be the premier partner to insurance providers who are perhaps unable to cater for certain customers with unique circumstances and specialist requirements.

Open & Direct has developed a solution and a brand that enables prospective customers facing this challenge to be signposted seamlessly to a firm with access to a suite of specialist products, instead of simply being turned away.

Growing partnerships

Tesco Insurance is one of the primary partnerships for Open & Direct. There are certain scenarios where Tesco Insurance is unable to offer the specialist cover required by members owing to the non-standard profile of the risk.  The partnership allows these customers to continue their insurance journey with the Open & Direct team, whether that be digitally or direct with the sales & underwriting operatives.

Similarly, the customers of our banking partners who face the same issue, are passed onto Open & Direct via the bank’s home-insurance pages, ensuring an uninterrupted referral path for clients who need specialist cover. 

Behind every policy sits Prestige Underwriting’s suite of specialist products including Coverall, the foundation of non-standard Home insurance, all backed by A-rated capacity.

Open & Direct has two further partnerships ready for lift-off and they will be announced shortly.

What the new journey means for users

Prospective customers answer a streamlined set of questions and achieve cover in minutes.

If they pause their application for any reason, the “Retrieve a Quote” button brings them straight back to their saved application.

Why it matters

Digitally, self-served non-standard home insurance has long lagged behind mainstream risks. Open & Direct’s launch closes that gap and gives distribution partners a Consumer-Duty-compliant sign-posting service.  By simplifying access to cover for non-standard customers, Open & Direct positions itself at the forefront of an important but often overlooked segment.