Meet Phil Zeidler, CEO at Life Insurtech Company: Deadhappy

Deadhappy is an insurtech digital disruptor aiming to change attitudes to Death, in order to get more people to think about, talk about and plan for what they want to happen when they die.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
Having suffered a ‘near death experience in 2005, I naturally started thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t had a lucky escape, to my wife, children, broader family and friends?

I then tried to update my will, which proved a very long and laborious process, and even worse, update my life insurance, where I was told I couldn’t! With a background in general insurance, this didn’t seem right. I then researched the market to discover some startling facts:

• There is a massive ‘protection gap’ in the UK of £2.4trillion made up of 8.5 million people who have dependants and liabilities but no protection in place for the families if they die.
• 112 children (18 or under) in the UK lose a parent every day, half of them have no insurance or will.

So this seemed like a problem worth solving.
 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
Fortunately, as a true digital insurtech with our own stack, engineers and flexible working already ingrained as part of the culture, the business was able to adapt easily to the new working environment, and being a 100% digital proposition, customers continued to access the service we had already developed, and we continued to build the various features and products on our road map.

We did have some adverse effects from the lockdowns, where the mortgage market stopped and families were busy juggling with homeschooling, ensuring the industry saw volumes drop, although this just meant we grew by 130% YoY rather than the faster rate we were aiming for.

One area we did develop was the pet-related deathwishes. With the explosion of families buying pets, we focused on ensuring they could easily design deathwishes that set out what should happen to their pets if they died or became seriously ill, including funding for their future upkeep under the life insurance.
 

What can we hope to see from Dead Happy in the future?

 
We are aiming to build the largest ‘death store’ in the world setting out the huge variety of things you may want to happen if you die, sure in the knowledge that if the worst happens (and it will one day),  Dead Happy will facilitate them!