German-headquartered supermarket giant ALDI has announced its expansion into the insurance sector in Australia with the launch of ALDI Insurance. The new revenue stream is backed by Honey Insurance’s white-label technology platform and underwritten by RACQ Insurance.
Through the partnership, the businesses will offer home and contents insurance, comprehensive motor, and landlord’s insurance to the 5 million households that shop at ALDI annually.
ALDI said in its announcements that the solutions aim to make “insurance straightforward for all Australians by providing the best value and experience at consistently competitive prices.”
As part of its technology-first approach, Honey—a managing general agent (MGA)—adopts smart sensors that monitor risks such as fire, water damage, and theft. ALDI’s Home and Contents Insurance policyholders who opt-in for the free smart sensors will receive savings of up to 8% on their premiums each year.
Honey’s Founder and CEO, Richard Joffe, commented, “Partnering with ALDI was a natural fit given our shared desire to bring a more trustworthy and straightforward insurance product to Australian customers.”
Rodney Balech, Group Director of ALDI Australia, added, “We know that Australians have been calling for a trusted insurance provider that not only provides a reliable and accessible service but also doesn’t break the bank.
We have stripped the complexity out of Comprehensive Car, Home and Contents Insurance and Landlord’s Insurance to deliver a straightforward product with exceptional value.”
The Aldi insurance product aligns with Honey’s philosophy of offering a streamlined experience, allowing customers to obtain a quote in three minutes.
Balech emphasised, “Just like our grocery offering, we won’t be engaging in one-off rewards or conditional discounts, we want to bring to the insurance market what we have successfully delivered in our grocery operations – a trusted, high quality product, with Aussie insurance partners that delivers every day competitive prices for customers.”
Richard Joffe
Foiunder and CEO at HoneyHoney Insurance, launched in June 2021, has rapidly grown and now holds 1% of Australia’s home insurance market, driven by its technology-first approach. The business uses dozens of data sources to help cut insurance applications to three minutes.
In an interview with (Re)in Asia earlier this month, Richard Joffe, Honey Insurance’s Founder and CEO, said that, thanks to its tech backbone, the process of providing these white-labelled solutions could be completed in “a couple of hours,” compared to the two to three months it typically takes incumbents (see story below).
“We have the advantage of being able to plug in some of the best digital partners around the world into that platform and move very quickly,” Joffe said.
Joffe also told (Re)in Asia that Honey aims to capture AU$1bn (Approx US$666bn) of Australia’s AU$15bn home insurance market premiums. Partnerships like the one with ALDI and the recent bancassurance agreement with Bank Australia will play a pivotal part in extending the insurtech’s reach in order to achieve this goal.
