Home-sharing insurance coverage expanding

Clients in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada who rent out their homes like hotels will soon get coverage options through an insurtech partnership involving Slice Labs.

The Co-operators Group Ltd. announced Tuesday that Duuo is expanding to more provinces.

Duuo is the “initial product” in Slice Labs’ partnership with Guelph, Ont.-based Co-operators, Slice Labs chief growth officers Philippe Lafreniere said Nov. 14 at the InsurTechTO event in Toronto.

Initially launched in Ontario sept. 18, Duuo is intended for homeowners who rent their properties using websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO. The insurance covers risks associated with overnight rentals that are not normally covered in a homeowner policy.

Duuo was expanded in October to British Columbia and Alberta and is scheduled for launch in Quebec in early 2019. In addition to Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Duuo is now available in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island, The Co-operators said Tuesday.

The Co-operators started working with Slice Labs this year on Duuo, said Peter Primdahl, vice president of emerging business models for The Co-operators, at InsurTechTO.

Duuo is based on Slice’s Insurance Cloud Services (ICS), which uses artificial intelligence for claims processing and lets clients sign up online by entering their name, email address and property address.

Duuo uses the minimum viable product (MVP) model. The insurer plans to “iteratively improve” the product through experimentation, Primdahl said at InsurTechTO.

With Duuo, homeowners can get coverage for the full replacement cost of a home and its contents, as well as vandalism, infestation, liquor liability and loss of income.

“Despite the fact that the product is underwritten through The Co-operators General Insurance Company, we setup a couple of trade names to allow us to present this value proposition to Canadians a little bit differently than the traditional insurance play,” Primdahl said of Duuo at InsurTechTO.