Signing up for insurance is far from exciting, but a new startup called Jetty wants to spruce up the experience to meet the needs of “modern, urban consumers.”
There’s no app yet, but the company is launching its mobile-optimized website that lets you sign up for a wide range of insurance types. This can include property coverage, liability, loss of use, and medical payments.
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There are also “Power-Ups,” which can be additions to the standard insurance plan to help protect specific items. Some of these Power-Ups provide coverage for jewelry, handbags, shoes, personal electronics, wine collections, bicycles, and more. If you rent your apartment out with Airbnb, there’s even insurance to protect your home. What’s neat is that bed bug insurance is embedded into the service for everyone who signs up with Jetty. The company said it’s partnering with Munich Re, a reinsurance company, to power its services.
The key selling point about using Jetty for insurance is that it’s dead simple to sign up — it’s all online, and once you decide what insurance you want, you start paying a monthly fee.
It’s not just about insurance, though, as there’s also a service called Jetty Passport. If you’re looking for a new apartment, and can’t afford a security deposit or don’t have a rich relative to ask to sign as a guarantor, Jetty Passport can act as a replacement. Passport Deposit acts as the security deposit, except you would pay Jetty 18 percent of the deposit amount.
Passport Lease is for when you can’t find a guarantor — you can use Jetty, but you’ll have to pay about 5 to 10 percent extra per year. These services aren’t exactly new, as there are companies that provide guarantor and security deposit replacement services, such as Insurent.
Both Passport Lease and Passport Deposit are three-way agreements between Jetty, the landlord, and the tenant, and this requires the “buy-in” of landlords.
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“We have put together a number of deals to date, however, when you apply for one of the Passport products, one of the questions we ask for is the building which you’re renting,” Luke Cohler, co-founder, president and chairman at Jetty, told Digital Trends. “We have a team of people that are ready to go out and help broker that on your behalf, so that we can actually get you in to the unit as quickly as possible.”
To entice you to stick with your insurance and use Jetty Passport, the company offers membership benefits with discounts and promotions on various services from other popular startups. Launch partners include Thrive Market, Laurel & Wolf, Winc, and more.
Jetty’s insurance plans are currently available in Illinois, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and Jetty Passport is live in the same states as well as New Jersey and Florida. The company is looking to expand throughout the year.
