My Big Idea: digital insurtech blip

Hi! What's your elevator pitch?

We’re blip, the digital insurance provider built for small businesses, sole traders, and side‑hustlers. We strip out brokers and price‑comparison sites to deliver quotes in a few clicks and policies that start from around a tenner a month. Our triple‑lock promise means our cover is on average a third cheaper than elsewhere, we’ll match any lower price you find for the same cover as ours, and at the end of the year we return up to 10 per cent of your premium as part of our profit share. We also bundle extras that help you run a business, for example including new customers receiving a six‑month trial of Xero, and access to our tool kits and community. Think of us as insurance with a conscience: simple, affordable and community‑powered.

What does the market need it?

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, yet most insurers treat them as an afterthought. Policies are built for corporates, packed with jargon and priced to cover hefty commissions. Meanwhile, real risks like cybercrime, tool theft, and occupational accidents are rising. To give just one example, in 2024 more than 11,000 tool theft incidents were reported; on average a tradesperson loses nearly £4,500 worth of kit and 83 per cent of them miss out on work afterwards. Only a tiny fraction recover their tools, and many don’t even have insurance. At the same time, two in five Britons now earn extra income from a side hustle, yet 23 million adults say they have gaps in money skills. blip exists to plug those holes. By combining fair pricing, lightning-fast claims and educational resources, we give small business owners the protection and confidence they’ve been missing.

Where is the business today?

Since launching in 2024 we’ve grown a passionate community of small business owners, sole traders, and freelancers. We’ve forged partnerships with the National Enterprise Network and MENTA to extend affordable cover to their members, joined forces with Stolen Tools UK so that every policy bought through them funds a £10 donation to help victims, and teamed up with Xero to offer accounting software trials to new customers. We’ve added professional indemnity insurance with a four-question application and refined our asset registration feature so claims can be settled in 24 hours without an item limit. Alongside being named BusinesstoBusiness StartUp of the Year and shortlisted for other awards, we’ve launched campaigns calling for tougher penalties for tool theft and donated thousands to support affected tradespeople.

What made you think there was money in this?

Decades in insurance showed me how inefficient the industry is. A huge slice of every premium goes to middlemen instead of covering risk, and microbusinesses effectively subsidise glossy TV adverts. When I sat down with small business owners, they told me they were paying hundreds of pounds a year yet still had to battle for payouts. That mismatch between price and service convinced me there was room for a model that’s both commercially viable and genuinely fair.

What's your biggest strength?

Our greatest strength is the alignment between our mission and our model. Because we’re digital first and deal directly with customers, we can offer competitive prices and pay claims quickly. Our rapid payouts set a new standard for value and service. The profit share turns customers into stakeholders and helps build a loyal community. We also have deep domain expertise: our team knows where insurers waste money and how to cut costs without cutting cover.

What is the secret to making the business work?

Trust and focus. Small business owners are rightfully sceptical, so we’ve obsessed over making every interaction frictionless and transparent. Quotes take seconds, policies are written in plain English with as little jargon as possible and claims handled by humans, not bots. We’ve kept overheads low so we can return savings to members and reinvest in technology. And we never stop listening; many of our best ideas, from profit sharing to providing tool cover, came straight from customer feedback. Staying true to that feedback loop keeps us ahead of much bigger competitors.

How do you market the company?

Our members are our best advocates. Happy customers tell their peers, which is why word of mouth drives a lot of growth. We partner with trade associations, enterprise networks and charities to reach people where they work and learn. We attend expos to meet potential customers face to face. We also leverage social media to share real success stories and practical guides, focusing on authenticity over flashy campaigns. Whenever we roll out a new initiative, we build narratives around community impact, which naturally attracts attention.

What funding do you have? Is it enough?

From day one, we had support from giants in the insurance world: former colleagues, mentors and technology partners who shared our vision. Our small team has skin in the game, which keeps us disciplined about costs. We’re now exploring strategic investment to scale faster so we can continue to prioritise our service. Our current runway is sufficient because our model is lean and we reinvest profits back into the platform and our community.

Tell us about the business model

blip’s business model is built on making small business insurance fairer, faster and genuinely better value. By going direct to customers and cutting out comparison sites and other costly middlemen, blip keeps premiums highly competitive while offering clear, policies with less jargon that small businesses can understand in minutes. Its digital-first platform streamlines everything from getting a quote to registering tools and managing claims, helping customers get insured in just a few clicks.

What truly sets blip apart is its profit-share model. At the end of each policy year, if claims and expenses are lower than total premiums, members receive up to 10% of their premium back, creating a sense of shared success. Alongside this, blip offers a supportive online community and practical business toolkits to help small businesses grow.

What were you doing before?

I spent more than forty years in the insurance industry, largely in the Lloyd’s market, where I held senior underwriting and management roles. That career gave me a front‑row seat to how traditional insurers operate and, more importantly, how often small businesses get a raw deal. Away from the office, I come from a trades family, so I’ve always felt close to the people we now serve. Those experiences, both the professional and the personal, combined with a desire to give back, led me to create blip.

What is the future vision?

Our immediate priority is to launch insurance tailored to side‑hustlers, people combining a day job with freelance or creative work who currently sit between personal and business cover. We’re also developing more specialist products and continuing to refine our profit‑share model. On the advocacy side, we’ll keep pushing for policy changes and supporting campaigns that protect and empower small business owners. Long term, we want blip to be synonymous with fair, transparent insurance for micro‑businesses and independent workers across the UK. Once we’ve proven the model here, we’ll consider taking it to other markets where small businesses face similar challenges.