By Miles, the UK’s first real-time pay-by-mile car insurance provider, has successfully raised £15m in a Series B funding round led by CommerzVentures. Existing investors Octopus Ventures, Insurtech Gateway and JamJar investments also continued their support committing further investment.
The insurtech company is on a mission to make car insurance fairer for the UK’s 19 million lower mileage drivers - those who drive less than 7,000 miles a year - by offering a more flexible way to pay for car insurance cover that ensures you only pay for the miles you drive.
With UK drivers in lockdown looking to save money while using their cars less, By Miles saw their strongest sales week ever in April.
With a By Miles policy, your car’s always covered by fully comprehensive insurance, but it’s sold in a more flexible way. You simply pay a fixed upfront cost to cover the car while it’s parked, then you get your own unique per-mile rate to cover your driving. This offers many lower mileage drivers the opportunity to substantially cut their bills if they mostly use their car at weekends or for regular short trips. And it allows for reduced monthly bills if your driving habits suddenly change.
This flexible approach has already seen nearly 20,000 policies sold, insured nearly 39m miles and won multiple awards since launch in July 2018, including being voted the UK’s Best Car Insurance Provider at the Insurance Choice Awards 2019.
James Blackham, co-founder and CEO of By Miles, said: “This crisis has shown UK drivers what we’ve known for a while: the way car insurance works now isn’t working for everyone. They’re rightly questioning why they should pay for insurance they’re not able to use, and asking why traditional car insurers can’t provide a flexible alternative to meet their needs.
“Our pay-by-mile car insurance provides lower mileage drivers with a flexible, lower cost policy that drivers can track in real-time. We’ve already proved this is something UK drivers want, hitting nearly 39 million miles insured. And we only expect to see demand growing as driving habits shift while we work our way back to a new normal post lockdown.
“We’re thrilled that CommerzVentures are joining us to bring our fairer kind of car insurance to even more drivers. They bring considerable experience of scaling new insurance businesses, and we look forward to working with them as demand for pay-by-mile grows.”
By Miles launched the world’s first connected car insurance policy designed to help Tesla drivers save hundreds of pounds in December 2019, and in February 2020 launched a new feature to alert policyholders if they drive through London’s ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) zone to help them avoid unnecessary penalties. The company's CEO, James Blackham, also recently campaigned for fairness across the UK insurance industry during the Covid-19 lockdown while motorists are using their cars less.
Paul Morgenthaler, Partner at CommerzVentures, said: “Car insurance needs a shake-up if it’s going to remain relevant in a world of semi-autonomous, connected and electric cars.
And in the current climate, insurers can’t ignore that - drivers want more flexibility and fairer pricing. By Miles is offering just that: a simple and transparent pay-by-mile model, exceptional customer service and significant savings via an easy-to-use app.
“Our job is to support the growth of companies with the potential to redefine and modernise insurance. I believe in By Miles we’ve found exactly that, and we’re excited to be joining them on the journey to transform car insurance as we know it, forever.”