Brisbane insurance startup ROOBYX expands into London to protect gig economy workers

Brisbane-founded insurance startup ROOBYX will open its first international office in London as it looks to capitalise on the UK’s one-million strong gig economy workforce.

ROOBYX currently offers gig economy workers across Australia the option to insure between 25-85% of their income, as well as offering permanent disability and death coverage of up to $500,000. It will be launching these services in the UK in December this year.

Underwritten by London-based bank Lloyds, what differentiates ROOBYX’s offerings is its flexible model, which tracks a worker’s earnings and charges them premiums each week based on these earnings. If a worker doesn’t earn anything in a particular week, depending on their cover, they can remain insured for as little as $1.50 plus GST for that week.

Coming from a career in the insurance industry, ROOBYX co-founder Noel Nosworthy was inspired to found the startup after witnessing the rise of the gig economy and the resulting controversy over the lack of employee rights for on-demand workers.

“When ride-sharing started it was obvious that those people didn’t have the benefits and protections they needed, and I didn’t think would ever be regulated,” he tells StartupSmart. Read more

Angela Castles - Smart Company - 6 Oct 2017