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#StartupStory: Be your own insurer with SelfSure
16 Mar 2020
SelfSure, a new fintech in South Africa, has come up with a smart way to solve the problem faced by many car owners when they put in a claim after an accident. After paying premiums each month to cover their vehicles, consumers are often shocked at the thousands of rands they still need to pay to cover the excess.
Proud Chitumba, CEO and founder of SelfSure
Proud Chitumba, the brainchild of Selfsure, shares his journey with us.
Can you tell us a bit about SelfSure?
SelfSure was derived from the word self-insure, which is a way of insuring your car by putting the premiums in your own savings account as opposed to paying them to the insurer.
SelfSure gives you control to convert a portion of your insurance premiums to savings by way of self-insuring some of the risks. In doing so, you will be able to build sufficient savings to cover any repairs and damage to your car.
When, how and why did you get started?
About eight years ago I took out a car insurance policy, and like all drivers with little to no history on South African roads, I had to pay a monthly insurance premium of R1800. To date, I have paid R172,800 in insurance premiums.
Had I put my premiums in a piggy bank, I would have savings worth over R150,000 in insurance premiums by now.
Wouldn’t car insurance be more affordable and make more sense if I could get some of my premiums back if I don’t claim? The combination that I didn’t get any premiums back, that my claims weren’t guaranteed to be approved and that I would still have to pay an excess, was the inspiration for SelfSure
What is the core function of SelfSure?
Good drivers and those drivers who hardly claim should be in a better financial position. This is possible if they sign up with SelfSure and significantly reduce their insurance premiums through self-insuring part of the risk.
What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out?
They say a startup dies three times before it shoots out the lights. SelfSure has died twice now. Employees and co-founders left to pursue other interests. We have encountered delays forming strategic partnerships with insurance companies. Corporates take time to make a decision and startups like SelfSure don’t have much time. Each day without answers can lead to a startup’s demise.
What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?Don’t give up on your dream, take a break or rest but don’t you dare give up on your dream.What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you?
Entrepreneurship is a continuous journey. There will always be a better way of doing something and there will always be new problems and challenges that require a new way to solve them. I see myself moving from one problem to the other as a serial entrepreneur.
What do you think is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes?
SelfSure is part of AlphaCode Incubate. The support of incubators like this cannot be understated. The financial support provided by an incubator forms the lifeblood of a startup especially at the early stage when the startup isn’t generating any revenue.
The mentoring support and the valuable contacts offered also plays an important role during the early stage of a startup. Without this mentorship, a lot of money would be wasted in conducting some of the pilots and experiments to achieve product-market fit.
What would you like to see changed in the South African startup landscape?
More than hassling with funding or trying to build a team with the right skills, regulation is probably one of the biggest challenges of the fintech sector. The startup landscape in South Africa is restrictive and prohibitive for new players, especially for fintechs. There is a need for an ecosystem that fosters growth without stifling innovation by restrictive and highly burdensome regulation and policies.
We need to see more innovation hubs being created to bring entrepreneurs and incumbents together, as well as regulatory sandboxes that allow innovators to test new technologies and products in a safe environment.
What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed?
You need to be a visionary. I imagine what SelfSure would look like in 2030, then come back to 2020 and I work toward that vision.
Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur?
I can only encourage someone to do what they love. If it’s starting your own company you have to love working on that business or idea because there will come a time when all excitement, enthusiasm and energy are gone, then only passion will keep you going.
Where would you like to see SelfSure in the next 5 years?
SelfSure’s Excess Wallet should be a standard add-on product on all motor and household insurance, making insurance more affordable and less of a grudge purchase but rather a springboard to financial freedom.
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