Suncorp is piloting its new comprehensive car insurance brand Bingle Go in three cities, offering month-to-month, cancel any time policies straight from a smartphone app as well as rewards for less frequent car use.

Suncorp is only running the pilot - which offers heavily discounted cover for 500 customers - in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Bingle Go makes car insurance as accessible and as easy to manage as your favourite subscription,” CEO Insurance Product & Portfolio Lisa Harrison said.

Customers can get a quote, purchase a policy, view their policy and submit a claim directly in the app.

The pilot follows rival IAG’s introduction of Poncho last year, which targets millennial customers who are engaged with subscription-based purchasing models like Netflix. Poncho offers multi-car, multi-driver monthly car insurance instead of traditional annual contracts.

The Bingle Go cover includes a “mobility bonus” discount of 20% off insurance premiums when customers travel on foot, bike or by mass transit rather than in their car.

It also offers “Go-cover” third-party property damage for commuters who walk or use a skateboard, bike, e-scooter or other mobility device, and also offers personal valuables cover such as headphones and laptops when commuting without their car.

“Bingle Go is an evolution of a traditional comprehensive car insurance product with additional features and functionality that protects and rewards customers when they’re both travelling by car and by other modes of transport,” Ms Harrison said.

Suncorp says the cover is designed for how people live and move around today’s cities and this year has created a unique opportunity to pilot it as COVID-19 is already changing how many people are travelling and COVID restrictions are seeing some workers completely eliminating the daily commute.

“We know many people are under financial stress at the moment, and Bingle Go can be a cost-effective way for customers to keep their cars protected, while being rewarded for how they already live,” Ms Harrison said.

The insurer internally rolled out Bingle Go late last year, when it was described by Suncorp Group CEO Steve Johnston as “a market-first insurance product designed specifically for customers who rely on more than their car for their everyday commute”.

Bingle Go was built with insurtech Trov and uses telematics to detect a customer’s mode of transport and their trip distance to determine qualifying journeys and the mobility bonus. The new protection “aligns perfectly with the rhythms emerging in personal mobility,” says Scott Walchek, CEO/Founder of Trov.