In a world driven by global trade and logistics, ensuring the safety and security of cargo is of paramount importance. However, the cargo insurance industry has long suffered from inefficiencies and gaps in coverage, leaving many shipments underinsured or uninsured.
Breeze, a pioneering company in the field, is offering a fully automated and digital insurance solution to this problem, specifically tailored for freight forwarders and logistics companies, backed by advanced technology, big data and an industry-first machine learning platform.
The company’s digital insurance solution fully integrates with existing systems and workflows, allowing forwarders and logistics companies to seamlessly offer shippers better protection for their cargo (from issuing insurance policies to end-to-end claims processing), while also generating more revenue for their business.
Plugging a gap
Breeze recognised a significant gap in the cargo insurance market, particularly concerning uninsured cargo. Through first-hand experience working as freight forwarders and gaining insights into the complexities of the trade industry, the founders discovered that many customers, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), mistakenly believed they were insured when, in reality, they had limited liability coverage.
“We discovered that there is a big gap in the market. The focus became developing this process, this platform that allows freight forwarders and logistics players to embed insurance offerings into their existing operational workflow,” Eyal Goldberg, CEO of Breeze, said.
On the other hand, freight forwarders and carriers lacked the knowledge, tools, and platforms to offer insurance seamlessly during the shipment process. Breeze’s mission became clear—to bridge the gap between these parallel lines and empower freight forwarders and logistics players to provide comprehensive coverage to their customers.
Breeze aims to link freight forwarders, logistics companies, and insurance providers, providing comprehensive coverage and peace of mind to all stakeholders.
“Our business is customer obsession. If you’re truly customer obsessed, you want to make sure your customer is fully aware that they’re not comprehensively covered for their cargo. And we have a really simple way of doing that,” Matthew Phillips, Chief Commercial Officer of Breeze, added.
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Seamless integration
Breeze’s offering revolves around embedding insurance solutions into the existing operational workflows of freight forwarders and logistics companies. The company provides two distinct offerings to cater to the varying needs of the industry. For traditional players, Breeze offers a platform that integrates seamlessly into their systems, enabling them to quickly find and offer insurance to their partners and customers.
“Our perspective is just trying to make sure that we can marry into existing systems and processes. It is very simple and straightforward. You really want to try and make sure that any kind of friction is completely avoided,” Phillips explained.
For digitally-driven players, Breeze provides an API-based digital integration, allowing for a more streamlined and efficient insurance process. The value proposition for customers is two-fold: improved and comprehensive coverage for their shipments, and increased revenue opportunities for freight forwarders.
One of the critical factors contributing to underinsured or uninsured cargo is a lack of visibility and knowledge about insurance options. Breeze recognises the need for education and aims to provide visibility to its partners and their customers regarding the potential gaps in coverage.
“This is a very traditional industry and things have been done in one way. Change is hard and we understand that,” Goldberg highlighted. “But the main pillar here is trust. It takes time to trust a new technology or a new platform, a new way of doing things. We want to make sure that, whatever we provide, you can trust and understand.”
By seamlessly integrating insurance into the operational workflow, Breeze ensures that freight forwarders can offer comprehensive coverage without disrupting the shipment process. This education and awareness play a vital role in safeguarding shipments and maintaining the reputation of both freight forwarders and their customers.
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Industry evolution
The cargo industry has historically been slow to embrace digital innovation due to its traditional nature and the challenge of building trust in new technologies. However, Breeze believes that digitalisation is inevitable and vital for the industry’s growth and efficiency.
“We think that the industry can move faster, should move faster and will move faster,” Goldberg explained. “You start seeing players that are actively looking for more innovation, digitalisation and speed, ensuring that they don’t fall behind.”
“Everybody warned me before going into digitalisation or into supply chain insurance that it is a slow moving industry, but we found partners that are keen on utilising tech as much as we are and they move fast. They want to quickly improve internal processes, so it’s definitely going in the right direction.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the industry’s adoption of digital solutions, as remote work and the need for seamless operations became imperative. Breeze aims to lead this digital transformation by offering flexible and modular technology solutions that integrate seamlessly with various systems, including both analogue and digital platforms.
“The exciting thing for us and for the business is it’s a constant process of evolution as to where you want the product to go, so we’ve recently launched a fully automated insurance offering that hasn’t really been up before,” Phillips added. “It’s a perfect storm. I think what we see is a lot of incumbents trying to innovate. But I think you need the kind of the technology they can work with, which is what we provide.”
