Weekly Wrapup: Munich Re partner Trov comes to America

The Weekly Wrapup is an analysis of the week's insurance tech news from the editors of Digital Insurance.

As insurtech startups go, Trov is one of the earliest of the current group of disruptors focused on using next-generation digital tools to create a better customer experience for policyholders. Founded in 2012 by Scott Walchek, the company started out offering a "digital locker" service to carriers as a value-add for high-net-worth clients. The idea then was that consumers could keep their carriers abreast of their their "trove" of precious items in case of a claim.

But as insurtech matured, so did the company's ambitions. Walchek began to see the potential for "on-demand" insurance, that could be turned on and off at the swipe of a screen. The company's early ideas for implementing that were to partner with many insurers to provide various coverages, but in time, that changed to having only one partner underwriting Trov insurance in different geographies. The latest of these areas is the U.S. state of Arizona -- Trov's first entry into its home country.

The move has been a long time in the making. In 2016, the company began making announcements of its launches: A partnership to sell with Suncorp in Australia, then AXA in the UK , gave the company some momentum, That same year, it was announced that Munich Re would be the U.S. partner and the first coverage would go live in 2017.

Still, the fact that Trov only this week announced its entry into the U.S. market, shouldn't be viewed as a disappointment in that context, however. It's better to get these things as close to right as possible -- which is a huge challenge with the speed of transformation in the industry. In the U.S. specifically, the state-based regulatory system means there's a lot of moving parts for new entrants to a venerable industry -- especially those taking on the traditional length of the insurance policy.

But Trov kept at it during the extended wait. While the U.S. launch of its core product was delayed, Trov was able to get into the Arizona market with another product: Passenger injury coverage for Waymo's self-driving fleet. That is, Trov joined with a company that didn't even exist at the time it began exploring the idea of using consumers' new possessions as a potential selling point for insurance. "We've learned a lot in the U.K. and Australia, and we're excited to come home so our friends here can enjoy Trov's benefits," Walchek said in announcing the launch. His company's road home may have been winding, but it illustrates how good partnerships and savvy strategy can take a small idea to a different level.