Insured By Us has introduced a travel insurance product exclusively for women.

Director Ben Webster told insuranceNEWS.com.au the Travel With Jane policy is designed to engage women before, during and after purchase.

Customers are invited to support one another on a real-time community platform, using messaging app Slack. It may be as simple as sharing travel tips, or as sophisticated as connecting with other travellers in higher-risk regions.

Mr Webster previously worked in women’s advocacy for one of the big four banks.

“From my extensive customer engagement, I heard over and over again how women felt disenfranchised when engaging with financial services,” he said.

He says the insurance industry is making “some progress” on gender equality, but there is a long way to go.

“There are these blind spots throughout the insurance industry in the way policies are structured and the way insurance products are marketed.”

He says the “dirty secret” in the industry is that very few customers read policy wordings.

“We want Travel With Jane customers to read the wording and understand the product they are buying, so we’ve broken it down into individual articles and highlighted parts relevant to each traveller.”

Mr Webster says while data indicates women make significantly fewer claims than men, premiums do not reflect that. “That’s something we’re working towards.”