Peer-to-peer insurer for SA

A trio of South Africans are said to have built the world’s first fully-functioning decentralised insurer: Pineapple Insurance.

The model means policyholders get similar benefits and coverage as those offered by traditional insurers, without a middleman or insurance company.

Pineapple will launch short-term offerings in beta next month and to the market in October. Based on a peer-to-peer insurance concept, it’ll provide consumers with a platform to interact with each other and form pools of funds, from which claims will be paid out. Policies will be underwritten by specialist insurer Compass. Pineapple earns a fixed fee. It’ll be regulated by the Financial Services Board. Pineapple’s fees will compare favourably with the FSB disclosed industry fee structure, as it removes the middleman and has automated 80% of its claims administration structure. The remaining 20% will be administrated by Brolink.

Pineapple said insurance companies only provide R36 in value for every R100 paid in premiums, with shareholder profits, inefficient legacy systems and fraud detracting from consumer value. Marnus Van Heerden and fellow co-founders Matthew Elan Smith and Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube say Pineapple will revolutionalise the industry by returning unused premiums. Pineapple wants to reintroduce affinity into insurance by allowing consumers to connect with trusted acquaintances in a bid to stop policyholders from paying for “fraudsters and bad risks”.