Insurtech Bunker Creates Live Proof of Insurance for Gig Economy

Bunker, the San Francisco based insurtech startup, has created real-time proof of insurance that fits the dynamic nature of the on-demand workforce.

Source: The Insurer | Published on January 23, 2019

Until now, Certificates of Insurance have largely come in the form of PDF documents, which are difficult to track, easy to fabricate, and the data is static. Bunker's Live COI instantly reflects changes to an active insurance policy, notifying the certificate holder when a contractor's policy is changed, canceled, or expired. Members can also build insurance requirements in the Bunker platform, share them in one click with contractors, and easily track at scale whether or not those requirements have been met from their Compliance Dashboard.

As the economy shifts to fluid, contract based relationships, it's important that both parties are protected if anything should go wrong. However, because the insurance industry hasn't kept up with the pace of change, up to 40% of independent contractors are non-compliant at any given time. In many cases, this leaves the enterprise and contractors exposed to damages, even if they have a seemingly compliant COI on file. The Bunker Live COI makes it possible for the future of work to be agile and innovative without sacrificing protection.

"We really appreciate that Bunker have taken a fresh approach to solving a significant challenge, ensuring protection for independent talent is vital for a compliant and protected workforce," said Marcus Sawyerr, CEO of YOSS, a Freelance Talent Marketplace powered by the Adecco Group. "At YOSS we believe instant insurance and the Live COI are truly a game-changer for the collaboration with the enterprise. This initiative will ultimately create compliant economic opportunity across the entire ecosystem."

The platform also makes it easy for independent contractors and small businesses to update their Live COI and share instantly with unlimited certificate holders. This process can be slow and full of friction with traditional insurance providers, sometimes resulting in errors or even fraud. A common type of insurance fraud is failing to add an Additional Insured, a problem which can likely be solved by making it free and easy to do correctly. Bringing speed and transparency to both sides of the contract allows business relationships to start off on the right foot, and stay protected throughout.

"One of our team members coined the phrase, the future of work is tomorrow at 8am, and it's true," noted Chad Nitschke, CEO and Co-Founder of Bunker. "The future of work is here, but the insurance industry is still operating on centuries old processes. Bunker has helped thousands of freelancers, gig workers, contractors and small businesses with insurance that's compatible with the new way of work, and we're continuing to invest in technology that makes it as frictionless as possible. The Bunker Live COI is another key step in accomplishing this, and transforming the centuries old insurance industry."

About Bunker

Bunker Technologies, Inc. (www.buildbunker.com), with offices in San Francisco and Madison, WI, developed the first usage-based business insurance products for the gig economy & future of work. Their technology platform allows independent workers and small businesses to obtain insurance in minutes, and save money by purchasing policies in shorter increments and/or at a project level. The experience can be embedded seamlessly in the onboarding process of an on-demand platform or enterprise. After launching out of beta in 2017, they've helped thousands of independent workers stay protected, in addition to automating the compliance tracking process of the platform or enterprise. They've raised over $10M in venture capital funding, and for more details on how they performed in 2018 - click here.