A new app-based insurance product has been launched by Ageas, designed to revolutionise the way Millennials protect their possessions and travel experiences.

Back Me Up, powered by insurance giant Ageas, offers all-in-one place cover, managed and customised via an app. Users can upload photos and categorise items they wish to protect, then switch them in and out via the app as often as they want.

With no annual contract, users can turn cover on and off without any penalty fees or charges to pay. Designed and built in partnership with a panel of Millennials, Back Me Up specifically targets young, independently minded people who find insurance a ‘reluctant purchase’ and ‘overpriced’.

Paul Lynes, Managing Director at Back Me Up, commented:

There’s a huge gap in the UK market for an entirely new type of insurance that is entirely app-based. Until now, Millennials have had to engage with the insurance industry on its terms – but all that is now set to change. Back Me Up provides flexible, relevant cover that’s designed by the very people who will use it. It’s an ‘all-in-one’ lifestyle product that puts people in control by letting them decide to insure what’s important to them, not the other way around.

For a flat fee of £15 per month, Back Me Up’s Core Cover protects:

Three items or ‘Stuff’ – switchable at any time by uploading a photo, against accidental and malicious damage, loss and theft, with a claims limit of up to £3,000 in total each month;

Annual mobile phone screen repair, regardless of whether the phone is one of the three items or not;

Worldwide and UK travel cover for lost items, cancellations and medical emergencies;

Up to £1,500 for replacement car or house keys and locks, if keys are lost or users are locked out.

Users can also build their own cover, adding modular style Bolt Ons from £3 a month, which include Adventure and Breakdown cover options. Back Me Up insures a range of items – from laptops and phones, to jewellery, tennis rackets and designer handbags – and is supported by an online Community.

Currently five million (35 per cent) 18 – 34s have no home contents cover and 2.3 million (18 per cent of those travelling overseas) go abroad without travel insurance, highlighting the massive market potential for flexible, affordable and relevant cover.

The latest insight from Back Me Up reveals that mobile phones are the most valued possession by young people, yet almost half (48 per cent) admit their phone isn’t insured. With an average replacement cost of £445, this equates to a combined cost of £3.1 billion. And with over one quarter (28 per cent) of 18 – 34s who have phone insurance confirming they have claimed in the last 12 months, the protection Back Me Up gives is invaluable.

Laptops and computers are the second most valued belonging but, again, roughly half (48 per cent) are uninsured. A specific item of clothing completes the top three, 20 per cent of which are uninsured.

Analysis by MoneyComms compared the price of Back Me Up insurance to other products on the market. Whilst there is no directly comparable competitor product in the UK market at the moment, a similar corresponding level of cover from the nearest similar competitors available would cost over £24 per month.

Most valued possessions and ownership amongst 18 – 34s:

Most valued possession % of 18-34s who are uninsured

Phone 48% Laptop/Computer 44% Item of Clothing 63% Piece of jewellery 43% Wallet 58% TV 42% Tablet 37% Watch 45% Camera 42% Bike 30%



Source: Back Me Up, 2016