Insurance for Trade Me

Trade Me has partnered with Tower Insurance to launch Trade Me Insurance with an online suite of home, contents and motor-vehicle policies. Jon Macdonald, chief executive officer of Trade Me, says: “We’ve built a streamlined online insurance experience that’s as useful and intuitive as possible with a focus on the buyer. We’re making sure members of the Trade Me community get a good deal, so they’ll enjoy a 15 per cent discount on premiums from day one. “Trade Me Insurance has been built from scratch. It combines our knowledge of building online experiences with Tower’s financial strength and 140 years of insurance experience. Everything’s new – the products, website, pricing and customer service.” David Hancock, Tower’s CEO, adds: “The launch is a milestone for us. We’re focused on meeting changing customer expectations around insurance online and investing in the development of digital infrastructure.” Trade Me Insurance is led by Conor Sligo and Tim von Dadelszen, the general managers of Trade Me’s current LifeDirect insurance comparison website. Macdonald adds Trade Me Insurance is part of Trade Me’s forays into financial services. “This seemed like a natural extension into an area where we could do something to change things,” he explains. “We’ve made some investments in financial services already, having acquired LifeDirect in 2013 and buying a stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney in January.”