Cuvva: Disrupting the Market for Car Insurance

The case describes how 30-year old Freddy Macnamara (CEO) launched Cuvva, a start-up in the UK car insurance industry in 2014, which pioneered mobile-only car insurance via a pay-as-you-ride application. Initially targeted at drivers who wanted to drive someone else’s car (Cuvva for Sharers), it then developed mobile-only insurance for owners willing to buy insurance only for the rare occasions that they used their cars (Cuvva for Owners). As the Cuvva model gains traction with customers, its impact is tracked by incumbents such as Admiral, that begin developing rival products. The case chronicles Cuvva’s origins, milestones, and competitors in the UK car insurance industry up to early 2017, as well as explaining the economics of car insurance.

The case was developed for an MBA course on FinTech and the Disruption of Financial Services but has also been used with executive audiences. Cuvva, an example of “InsurTech”, is disrupting the insurance industry with a digital business model. While Cuvva for Sharers only extends the insurance market, the Cuvva for Owners product is a genuine disrupter (as defined by Clay Christensen). The case allows discussion of the economics of the (UK) car insurance industry, key success factors that create a value-creating insurer, the viability of new business models that challenge these factors, and how a specific disrupter can develop a viable, value-creating competitive position.