South African company launches world-first ChatGPT insurance app

The South African company Naked Insurance has a new app that can provide a final, binding insurance quote using the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT.

The new app was developed natively within OpenAI’s generative AI tool, and allows users to get a binding vehicle insurance quote from Naked, which the company believes may be a first for any insurer around the world.

It also claimed that it is the first major South African company to launch a native ChatGPT app.

Using the app is similar to what motorists have come to expect when using Naked’s website and mobile apps.

New users are required to connect the Naked ChatGPT app to their account, after which they can use the chat function to request a quote for a specific car model using natural language.

The chat asks users the same questions that Naked employs on its other platforms, requiring them to submit the following information

• Car brand, model, and year
• Name, surname, and ID number
• Insurance claims over the last two years
• Address where the vehicle is usually parked at night
• Whether the car is being used for personal or business purposes
• Whether the car has received performance-enhancing modifications

Once this data is filled in, users are taken to a confirmation page to ensure that all the information they provided is correct, after which they are provided a quote.

“Naked’s ChatGPT app connects directly to the same live underwriting and rating engine that powers quoting and buying on its website and app,” said the insurer.

“This means the quote generated from the app in the ChatGPT interface is the final premium, and not an indicative estimate that requires an additional quoting process later.”

The company added that the app is not meant to replace Naked’s website or mobile app, which remain the easiest ways to update a policy or submit a claim.

“Our app and website are still the best way to use Naked today. But we believe AI assistants will, in time, become one of the primary ways people interact with financial products and we want to be ready for that next industry shift,” said Alex Thomson, co-founder of Naked Insurance.

“This signals our readiness to keep making our offering easier, more convenient and more personalised as technology evolves.”

ChatGPT providing binding car insurance quotes

In an interview with our sister publication MyBroadband, Thomson highlighted a few advantages of using the app over to a conventional insurance quote portal.

He noted that the app allows uses to write in their natural style and provide order in any information they choose, rather than following a series of prompts.

“Some of your information may already be in a policy schedule or something else you could upload,” he said.

He also said the AI app is good at figuring out what users mean if they are vague in their inputs, asking users to confirm their information before generating a quote.

“These language model-based agents are pretty good these days, but they do sometimes make things up and get things wrong,” he said. “That’s why we have this confirmation step.”

While Naked offers short-term coverage for buildings and home contents, the ChatGPT app is currently limited to vehicle insurance quotes.