Flight disruption cover via Blink’s parametric platform will be provided to Zurich Canada policyholders ensuring they receive real-time support wherever they are travelling worldwide. Once a traveller registers their flight details, Blink monitors that flight in real-time. Any flight disruption that occurs to the registered flight such as delay or cancellation, automatically results in a traveller being notified instantly and offered service choices within their policy terms that can immediately alleviate the stress and consequences of the disruption.

Sid Mouncey, CEO of Blink Parametric, noted the importance of this announcement at such a pivotal time for the travel insurance industry, stating: “This announcement with Zurich Canada is hugely important to us and to the market we serve. The post-Covid-19 period is set to be InsurTech’s finest hour! It is certainly the time for a data-led real-time parametric solution to become the norm for resolving the ongoing disruptions faced by the travelling public caused by Covid. Zurich Canada and Blink Parametric’s solution restores confidence and trust with consumers concerned about future travel risks should they be faced with similar events, as we all learn to live with Covid-19. Blink can now process up to 100,000 claims per hour without any manual intervention from either customer service teams or consumers.”

As a platform, Blink is designed to deliver operational efficiency on processing high frequency, low severity claims when the traveller needs an immediate, real-time claim resolution. Zurich Canada has already made the step-change to digital transformation, prioritising customer and user experience as well as revenue savings.

Sanjeewa Goonetilleke, AVP, Travel Insurance, for Zurich Canada, said: “Since our strategic move into the Canadian personal travel insurance market in 2019, we have had a singular focus to add value to our travelling policyholders. Our alliance with Blink Parametric adds a truly novel protection. We are now offering a seamless service to assist stranded or delayed travellers by providing them with service options on their phone in real time to help make things a little easier. Our newly branded “Zurich Flight Assistance” service will be offered through Zurich Canada brokers to travel suppliers and, ultimately, to consumers, and we have every expectation that it will be transformative by offering the right assistance at the right time to anyone who experiences the inconvenience of flight disruption. As we increase our general transit activity and set about re-establishing our close business and tourism connections with our neighbours in the United States, this service as part of our travel insurance offering is designed to give travellers some peace of mind before they travel, because Zurich’s got their back”.

This deal is a culmination of collaboration between Zurich, Blink and Red Consulting, a leading Canadian travel insurance and medical assistance consulting company leading the expansion of Blink Parametric products throughout Canada and the United States.

Gary Andrews, President of Red Consulting, who was key to supporting the successful launch of CPP and Zurich Canada, said: “The Canadian travel insurance industry is truly grasping the value of innovative care for their customers. The Blink parametric service with Zurich Canada is another significant turning point that is showing that travel insurance is becoming relevant and essential for travelers.”