Online insurance sales flop

An online insurance broker aimed at accountants and lawyers has flopped, but has brought an unexpected bonus for one of its creators.

Weinsure, which hoped to sell discounted insurance products to the clients of lawyers and accountants, says little use has been made of its website since it was launched in June 2002.

Co-founder Simon Beaton says 24 accounting firms signed up for the service but few policies had being sold.

Weinsure had addressed issues raised by the accountants about the site last year, but still nothing had happened.

"When we approached the accountants again in February the message came back that, while they supported the concept, realistically they were unlikely to ever use it.

"They didn’t have the time, knowledge or expertise, and there were some liability issues about them giving advice in an area they weren’t really familiar with."

Undeterred, Weinsure went back with a third proposal. Accountants could either use its discounted web-based service, or the broker would come in and audit clients’ insurance needs and recommend new products – but with no discounts.

"Interestingly, they preferred the latter." Beaton says.

The extra business this could potentially generate means that while the website has run at a loss, his own insurance brokerage is set to benefit financially. Beaton also thinks there’s an opening for Weinsure to start marketing websites to other brokers.

When the site was launched Weinsure was targeting 70 to 80 partner firms, though Beaton says it stopped signing them up when it became clear the site wasn’t being used.

The original target was to complete 80 proposals a week through the site, though it could break even at 10. In practice the proposal level was so low the site wasn’t breaking even.

Weinsure believed that by tapping into the client bases of lawyers and accountants, it could cut costs and offer discounted products. It planned to share commissions with the lawyers and accountants.

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