Powering the future: how UK insurtech is driving jobs, growth and innovation with Melissa Collett

Melissa Collett, CEO of Insurtech UK, joins Georgie to discuss how InsurTech is reshaping the UK economy, creating jobs, and driving innovation. From AI-enabled roles to global expansion strategies, Melissa shares the sector’s growth story and how policy, investment, and international collaboration are unlocking its full potential.

Creators and Guests

Host

Georgie Simister

Georgie is the Commercial Partnerships Lead at Artificial, a London-based insurance technology partner to global insurers and brokers.

What is Insurance Technology: Fact or Fiction??

Host Georgie Simister speaks with key insurance industry figures to separate fact from fiction in a world of insurance, debunk industry myths and explore the game-changing innovations shaping its future.

Get in touch to suggest our next guest: https://artificial.io/contact/

Georgie: 00:01

Government and innovation don't mix. But is that really true anymore? We've seen grants, partnerships and real collaboration driving results. With Insurtech UK leading the way, let's explore what's really happening behind the scenes and what it means for the future of Insurtech. Welcome to Fact or Fiction with Artificial hosted by me, Georgie Simister.

Georgie: 00:25

This is the podcast that separates fact from fiction in the world of insurance, debunks industry myths and explores game changing innovations shaping its future. Today, I'm joined by the fantastic Melissa Collett, CEO of Insurtech UK, leads the only trade association in The UK dedicated to Insurtechs, with the mission to establish The UK as the global leader in insurance innovation. Under her direction, Insurtech UK has grown to include over 200 members and partners serving as the definitive voice for Insurtechs in The UK. The organization has recently released its roadmap outlining 11 policies recommendations for fostering UK Insurtech growth. Melissa has over twenty five years of experience in The UK insurance sector and is perfectly positioned to explore today's topic.

Georgie: 01:15

Welcome to Fact or Fiction. I'm really excited to have you here today.

Melissa: 01:19

I'm excited too.

Georgie: 01:21

So today we're going to discuss about your role, a bit about the governance in the market. But what I would like to kick us off with, to start with, is can you explain to me what is Insurtech UK and who benefits from its services?

Melissa: 01:34

So Insurtech UK, we're the only trade association in The UK dedicated to Insurtechs. So we have around 150 members and around 50 partners and insurers. So who benefits? Lots of people benefit. Basically anyone who wants to work or is working in the InsurTech ecosystem.

Melissa: 01:58

So another way of looking at it is everyone listening to this will know who the ABI is, BIBA, the MGAA. We're like one of those trade associations, but we're for Insurtechs.

Georgie: 02:14

Okay, perfect. And I have had the pleasure of meeting you a couple of times and seeing you speak. And what normally come well, what comes across when you when I've heard you speak and what shines is your passion for insurance and innovation. Where do you get that passion from?

Melissa: 02:33

Yeah. So what drives

Georgie: 02:34

it? What drives your passion?

Melissa: 02:35

I I am passionate. Why am I passionate? Because I've worked in the insurance industry for twenty five years. So, I have seen all sides of it. I've been fortunate enough to work in roles that get me across the sector.

Melissa: 02:53

So whether it's working for the CII when I was a director, And so at the CII, working right across the insurance sector. When I was a financial ombudsman, again, I was working right across the retail sector in The UK, also small commercial sector. So really, I've seen it all. And I've seen what a lack of technology can do. And how technology can transform insurance and make it much more user friendly and much fairer for people as well.

Melissa: 03:32

And that's why I'm passionate about it.

Georgie: 03:34

Fantastic. Well, you then make the perfect guest for insurance technology, well suited to our podcast. You've recently bought out your Insurtech UK roadmap and there's some absolute fantastic policies, I think 11 to be precise. Shall we go into a deep dive and discuss them?

Melissa: 03:48

Absolutely.

Georgie: 03:50

Fab. So first, I would like to talk about the future of the UK Insurtech. And let's kick things off some with some big picture context. So according to the report created in conjunction with McKinsey, Insurtech support around 60,000 jobs and contribute £5,000,000,000 towards The UK economy, which is absolutely huge. Do you think job growth is keeping the pace with the level of impact?

Georgie: 04:16

Or is there a risk that the balance could start to slip with, I guess, the increase of AI?

Melissa: 04:21

Yes. So absolutely right to point out those stats. I mean, billion is what The UK InsurTech sector contributes currently. But according to McKinsey, who is our principal partner and who we have collaborated with on two reports so far, The UK InsurTech sector is worth actually potentially 20,000,000,000 to The UK economy. So it mean there is so much more growth there, growth potential.

Melissa: 04:58

And so what we're trying to do at Insurtech UK is unlock that potential. It contributes to, as you say, 60,000 jobs are attributable to the sector. And we think there are more jobs potentially that could be created if government and the rest of the industry could get behind InsurTech. So we don't think, I mean, AI is always sort of discussed in the context of job losses. But we don't think AI, our members are all working with AI.

Melissa: 05:31

And for us, it's about creating more interesting jobs in insurance using AI. That's what we predict. Some of the most boring admin type jobs will go.

Georgie: 05:44

Yeah.

Melissa: 05:44

And that's across the sector. But in terms of InsurTech, we think more jobs could be created if we can back it

Georgie: 05:52

and

Melissa: 05:53

make it as big as and as successful as fintech.

Georgie: 05:57

I think you see how many startups are coming in, how many people are, you say, looking for funding, coming up with these new ideas that are backed by AI. So it's going to be new founders, new insurtechs, whatever the sector will grow and that will in turn create jobs coming in.

Melissa: 06:12

That's the idea. And I was listening to one of your earlier podcasts with Freddie from Gallegory. And he had a great stat in there that in the first quarter of this year, 1,300,000,000.0 was invested into Insurtech. So that just gives you just a taster of how much this market is worth. And we also, as I mentioned, we've done two reports with McKinsey so far.

Melissa: 06:41

And in our first report, there were two eighty Insurtechs in The UK. Now there's over three sixty Insurtechs. So there's already growth within just a two year period in terms of the number of Insurtechs popping up and start ups. And a lot of them are becoming very successful.

Georgie: 07:03

Well, it's clear that insurtech funding then is booming and there's more entrants coming into the market. You recently attended ITC in Vegas. Were there any new exciting frontiers or kind of any innovation hotspots emerging in Vegas?

Melissa: 07:18

So Vegas is it's always a lot of fun. What happens there stays there to some extent. But to other extents, we wanna share all the exciting innovation coming out of Vegas. So lots to talk about. I'll pick a few things.

Melissa: 07:34

So we see the emergence of life and health in SureTech. This is a really exciting area. It impacts on us as people and our wellness. So there's a company called You Life. I always like mentioning them.

Melissa: 07:49

I mean, they're not a new company, but they're one of the companies that exemplify this sort of growing sector of life and health because they have gamified well-being.

Georgie: 08:01

We absolutely know about that at Artificial. We have everybody checks the leaderboard who is at the top of their step count. It is a reoccurring thing to look literally who does the most steps. And we have we did a step competition and we used the Ulife app to be able to kind of see who was contributing the most. So yeah, we know all about Ulife at Artificial.

Melissa: 08:20

Oh, that's perfect then. And you're obviously exemplifying it. All of the people I meet at Artificial are very healthy and very fit in great shape. So that's an example of a really exciting area. Another example from the life and health space is Juniper, who's recently been acquired by Ferdifa.

Melissa: 08:40

But Juniper was focused on reproductive tech. So that's again, very exciting for people. A lot of people who are wanting to conceive and there was really nothing, no product in the group health insurance market for them. And that's what they created. So it's just these kinds of things really excite me.

Melissa: 09:03

Another totally different area. So this morning, what was I doing? I was hosting a delegation of German business angels at the Lloyd's Lab. Fun, right? And I was inviting them to hear some pitches from Insurtechs.

Melissa: 09:22

And one of the Insurtechs that pitched was KITA. Again, they're creating a whole new product for the carbon credit market. So this is another example of cutting edge innovation going on in Insurtech. Other Insurtechs we could mention are focused on the gig economy. And our co chair is Louise Birateri.

Melissa: 09:45

She's co founder of Pickle, which is focused on serving the Airbnb landlord market. Again, it was a sector which didn't have anyone was covering it properly. And Pickled has stepped in and is now really seeing a massive growth. And so there's just so many different areas that are just the insurtechs are just getting into these exciting spaces. And yeah, I love talking about that.

Georgie: 10:13

When people are like insurance is boring, I'm like you have no idea what we actually do if you think that. Like my friends always said to me, you're like they used to say I'm the only one that enjoys a Monday. Like yeah, do. Like I'm sorry if I'm a nerd, but I absolutely love my job. Like I love insurance.

Georgie: 10:29

I don't think you get this in other sectors. So yeah, it's great to work here. And then from your perspective, how does The UK insurtech scene stack up globally? Are we still kind of leading the charge? Are other regions kind of catching up?

Melissa: 10:42

We brought out a report in 2023 with McKinsey, which had some of the great stats about The UK InsurTech sector. So did you know that The UK was number one worldwide in terms of the number of InsurTechs per capita. It has the most. So that's an incredible figure. And I love that one.

Melissa: 11:04

I think that's my favorite one. And in terms of the number of unicorns, and it has more unicorns than anywhere in Europe combined. And it's second only to The US. So another great stat. In terms of size of the market, it's second only to The US, which is clearly a much bigger market sort of overall.

Melissa: 11:29

So I think that was the position in 2023. But we wanted to see what's the position two years on from now. And so we did another report with McKinsey, which came out in September. And you were very kindly at the launch event. And yeah, some more really great stats.

Melissa: 11:50

So I think The UK scene is still stacking up. I'll just share some of those figures. So in terms of funding, The UK Insurtech sector has increased funding by 8% year on year. So again, growing. It's second only to The US in terms of the amount that's invested in insurtech.

Melissa: 12:11

And we talked about the increase in the number of insurtech firms. 60% of our insurtechs are expanding overseas. So you can't expand if you don't have some level of success in The UK first before expanding. And 70% are already using Gen AI in pilot projects. So again, just massive use of cutting edge tech.

Melissa: 12:36

And this is all happening within The UK.

Georgie: 12:39

Fantastic stats. So if we were to look at a few of those, so we are second, but okay, how can we become number one? And how can the government look to help create the right environment to help insurtechs thrive?

Melissa: 12:52

So that's a big, big question and one that we've tried to answer in our roadmap, which is 11 policy recommendations for insurtech growth. We brought out the roadmap in 2024, and we relaunched it just before the Labour Conference this year. So we are focused on sort of three areas where the government and regulators can make a difference. One is having a regulatory regime that enables more new entrants. The second is having an investment environment that facilitates funding.

Melissa: 13:36

And third is action to unlock scaling, particularly access to international markets and overseas investors. So those are the three main areas regulation, investment, international that we would like to see some change, some movement in those areas. And I'm pleased to say we have had, since we came up with the roadmap, we've been extensively meeting with decision makers, talking to the Treasury, the UK Department for Business and Trade, the City of London, which is very involved with overseas trade, and both the FCA and the PRA. And I'm very pleased to say that we've had some wins, policy wins. And I can tell you more about that.

Melissa: 14:24

I'll just mention one thing. Recently, the chancellor and the treasury brought out there, gave the Mansion House speech. And that speech and all the reports and the papers, the strategies behind it, the industrial strategy, are very heavily behind, getting behind the financial and professional services sector, in the insurance sector, the tech sector. So we're part of all of that. So we have got the attention of the key decision makers.

Melissa: 14:57

They do wanna back us. They are talking really positively about growth. And one of the things that's just been set up on the back of that industrial strategy mansion house speech is the office for investment. So the office for investment, I've had a meeting with them already and they are looking to attract new companies into The UK. So that's fantastic.

Melissa: 15:21

And we're really hoping to work more with them.

Georgie: 15:25

When you're talking to the decision makers, what challenges do they put to you? What do they need to know more about or kind of what tell me more, basically.

Melissa: 15:35

No, I mean, you know, quite right. I mean, they're finding their feet because they've just been set up, they're talking to everyone. And it's sort of, how did that meeting get arranged? Anyway, it got arranged. They heard about us, we heard about them.

Melissa: 15:50

So we got together. And one of the things they asked us is, well, what, who are the biggest Insurtechs in the world that are not in The UK? Can we attract them to The UK? So that's something that we can definitely help them with because we have knowledge of the sector. They're looking obviously cross sector.

Melissa: 16:08

So we'd like them to help them to build the Insurtech sector in The UK and part of that is attracting more companies in. Although we're called Insurtech UK, we actually welcome companies who want to come and do business here to join us. So we're very open to obviously, London is a mecca for insurance wherever you are in the world. It's the insurance capital of the world. And that's why this morning I just mentioned to you that I was hosting a group of German business angels in London because they want to see what investment opportunities are there.

Melissa: 16:47

So we have loads of people, I get contacted almost every day, Georgi, saying, Oh, I know this amazing Insurtech, they've just come to London, they want us to find out more about the London market or The UK Insurtech sector. Can you meet with them? So I got asked to do that today with an Indian Insurtech. So I'm meeting them on Thursday. We have loads of Australian Insurtechs coming into The UK because, well, one of the reasons is we set up an Insurtech pathway between The UK and Australia.

Melissa: 17:20

So that's a way of helping companies who want to do business in those markets, to help them enter those markets and meet people and get connections and get introductions. So we're doing that in both directions.

Georgie: 17:34

You've set up another corridor, haven't you?

Melissa: 17:36

Yes, we have. We have a corridor with the state of Connecticut in The US. Now people might say, well, okay, what's that all about? Connecticut isn't that a very small state? Which it is.

Melissa: 17:49

But did you know, fun fact, that there are more than 50 insurance companies headquartered in Connecticut? And this is all based around the capital of Connecticut, state capital which is called Hartford. So you may have heard of a company called The Hartford, So we have that in London but they're actually from Hartford, Connecticut. You have companies like Travelers. You have Nassau Re.

Melissa: 18:15

I mean, there's loads and loads. There's 50 of them. So I can't remember all off the top of my head. But it's a great place to go as a sort of first port of call if you're coming from The UK or overseas into The US and you want to dip your toe into The US market. We have a great relationship with our sort of counterpart in Connecticut.

Melissa: 18:37

And if you're interested, contact us, go to our website, look at the corridor page and get involved because we can introduce you. And then if you go to Connecticut, they can help you get going there.

Georgie: 18:50

I've heard some really great success stories off the back of that. Somebody who I used to do business with at my previous company used Your Corridor and they said that moving out there that they've had so much success. They actually, I think they landed their largest through that. So yeah, I know it's very successful.

Melissa: 19:04

Oh, well thank you. Keep talking Georgie. Anyone listening out there hopefully will join us. But I agree with you. We know that over 20 companies have used the Corridor so far since it was established.

Melissa: 19:16

So that's from The UK. So that's 20 UK success stories there. Yes, we

Georgie: 19:24

Does happen the other way back? Does it work that way or is it just right now focus from UK to US through that route or how does it work on the future?

Melissa: 19:31

In theory it could work the other way, but clearly The US is a much bigger market. So if you were looking to expand, I think a lot of Insurtechs in The US look at other states in The US before they look at going to The UK. But if you've got a base, if you're a UK company and you have a base in Connecticut, it's a great place from which to expand further through into The US. And we have a fantastic relationship with the UK Department for Business and Trade, who actually is a supporter of both the corridor and the pathway to Australia, who again is trying to do everything they can to help our UK companies to enter these new markets.

Georgie: 20:15

So if you had a magic wand

Melissa: 20:17

A magic wand?

Georgie: 20:18

Yeah. And you could design the ideal UK ecosystem for Insurtech innovation, in terms of policy, investment and collaboration, what would that look like?

Melissa: 20:27

So again, I go back to the roadmap. We want a world where the regulator is helping Insurtechs to establish making authorization quicker and easier. We want an environment where investment is coming in freely from all over the world. And there's also a really easy access to global markets. So those are the things that we're campaigning on and advocating for.

Melissa: 20:56

And I'm pleased to say, we've had some we talked earlier about some what are the policy wins since you've been starting talking about that, what's happened? Well, I'm pleased to say that the PRA, which actually provides authorisation for new insurance companies, our members have been saying in the past that it's a very slow process to get authorised. They have now made it much quicker. So that's the first good news story. We wanted a clearer strategy about how to help companies access overseas markets.

Melissa: 21:31

Well, I mentioned just now that we have a great relationship with the UK Department for Business and Trade, and they are actively helping us with this and making possible the things like the Australia pathway that was just launched last year. Or actually earlier this year, time is flying.

Georgie: 21:49

So

Melissa: 21:50

again, we are making progress with having an international strategy backed up by the government. And it's been confirmed in the industrial strategy that the leading provider, the agency that provides R and D grants, it's called Innovate UK, that they are going to continue to provide those valuable grants for UK Insurtechs, which they have in the past, but we didn't know what the future held with the new Labour government, but that's now been confirmed. And again, that's one of the policies that we've been campaigning for. So all of these things is really helping our sector, helping our members and helping the whole Insurtech ecosystem.

Georgie: 22:36

You don't need a magic wand. You're just doing it. We are the magic wand. Exactly. It's just happening.

Melissa: 22:46

We're trying our best. I mean, I have lots more asks, believe you may. But I think that, as I said, if the government got behind the messages that they're putting out on growth, if they really got behind Insurtech like they get behind Fintech, it could really be game changing.

Georgie: 23:03

Yeah, Fab, well it sounds like you are driving that one forward and we will no longer be seen as the financial sector's kind of ugly sister or, you know I don't know people refer to the insurance sector as. We will be we will be number one.

Melissa: 23:16

Well, you had mentioned Magic Wand. It made me think about Cinderella, right, and the stepsisters. So fintech is we gotta get fintech out the way and get Insurtech is the Cinderella, right?

Georgie: 23:28

Looking ahead at 2026 and beyond, what do you think will shape the next phase of growth or challenge to The UK Insurtech market?

Melissa: 23:37

So crystal ball gazing. I need to actually do this because we're coming to the end of the year.

Georgie: 23:43

Give us a first sneak peek.

Melissa: 23:45

Give us a first one, but there's more to do because those Christmas round ups that you do and looking ahead. So I think in terms of technology, the hot technology at the moment is AgenTik AI. And I'm pleased to say we're on top of riding the wave of that trend because we have a group, a working group called our product and tech group that's actually looking at Agentic AI. We've been meeting and having sessions since July and we're going to be bringing out a white paper round about January.

Georgie: 24:22

Fab.

Melissa: 24:22

So that's kind of something that is sort of top of mind. And I think that again, looking into 2026, I think that investment is going to be really important. So with this new office for investment, we're really hoping to work with, you know, all the key players there to encourage that investment into our UK market. So we're going to give some heavy focus on that in 2026.

Georgie: 24:52

And then if we were to fast forward five years from now, what would you want people to be saying about The UK insurtech sector?

Melissa: 25:00

I want them to say that it's the best in the world for innovation. I think it is already. But I think that there's some messaging to do to get the message out globally. And that's why I've been traveling a lot. I'm stacking up the air miles because I'm trying to get the message out on behalf of members.

Melissa: 25:22

And sometimes I travel with members. So there's been a lot of trade delegation to all parts of the world. So to get the message out that The UK is the place if you want to not just have a startup at Insurtech, but also to scale it up as well.

Georgie: 25:38

So what's your call to action then for Insurtechs, the insurance market, new, old, what do you want to say?

Melissa: 25:45

Well, obviously join Insurtech UK. We'd love to have you part of our community if you have any interest in Insurtech. So please check out our website. We want to help grow your business and we want to make The UK the global hub for insurance innovation.

Georgie: 26:04

Well, hopefully next time I have you on, we will be. We could pencil it in from one year from now.

Melissa: 26:09

Schedule that in now, Thank

Georgie: 26:13

you so much for joining me. I've really, really enjoyed our conversation. Thank you for everything that you are doing for InsureTechs in The UK, the corridor, bringing people to The UK like you do so much. So, yeah, thank you on behalf of InsureTechs.

Melissa: 26:25

Thank you, Georgie. Pleasure to be here.