Fast Cover Travel Insurance has taken out comparator Finder’s 2021 Best Insurance Innovation award while Upcover took this year’s honours for Best Insurtech Innovation.

Winners of the annual Innovation Awards contest, which celebrates creativity and impact in the insurance industry, were announced today at a virtual awards presentation.

Fast Cover took the win for its Live DFAT Travel Alert Status, which integrates government travel warnings with policy underwriting restrictions. It competed against NobleOak Life, Pet Insurance Australia and Stella Insurance.

“It’s really impressive to see a company take a much more ethical approach and create a significantly improved customer product during this really challenging time, so a big congratulations to Fast Cover on that award,” Finder senior editor Sarah Megginson said during the virtual ceremony, which was attended by insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Fast Cover have really put their customers first and taken responsibility and, really importantly, provided transparency for the market at a time when consumers are really responsible for reading the PDS (Product Disclosure Statement) before taking out insurance.”

Finder said the innovation was a bold business plan and an impressive technical feat and had the potential to make insurance products more fit-for-purpose.

“The potential impact of this is massive and will represent a huge win for consumers, especially if this becomes a standard across the industry,” Finder Publisher Tim Bennett said. The change would likely reduce Fast Cover sales numbers in the short term while travel warnings are the rule not the exception, he said, though many of those sales would have been for insurance products that “don't offer the customer any actual coverage”.

Upcover was recognised for the launch of its PAYG (Pay As You Go) Embedded Insurance for businesses, beating fellow finalists handdii, Fast Cover and Wilbur.

Upcover's partnership with EASI offers PAYG insurance to individual drivers in a simple, fast, and affordable way.

Finder says it represents “an entirely new approach to insurance underwriting” and offered “huge transformative potential as the gig economy grows”.

“The judges noticed Upcover has taken advantage of a gap in the market for a potentially vulnerable cohort of workers in the gig economy,” Ms Megginson said. “It’s a way for gig workers to properly benefit from the existing infrastructure of small business owners.”

COVID had undoubtedly disrupted the insurance industry, Mr Bennett said, and it was great to see providers “getting on the front foot” with changes like those awarded at Upcover and Fast Cover.