CHEW Insurance

What CHEW Insurance does

CHEW Insurance is a UK-based direct-to-consumer provider of car hire excess waiver insurance, operating as a trading style of Freedom Insurance Services Limited, a private limited company registered in England (company number 4399749) and authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reference 306536). The company sells two core products — UK and European Car Hire Excess Insurance and Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance — at approximately £3 per day, designed to reimburse customers for the excess charges (typically £500–£2,000) they would otherwise owe a rental company if a hire car is damaged or stolen, and to cover items often excluded such as windows, tyres, undercarriage, misfuelling, and key replacement. Customers are UK residents aged 23–84 with a full valid UK driving licence, and the geographic footprint spans the UK, Europe, and worldwide markets excluding countries under FCDO or WHO travel advisories.

The underlying technology is a digital insurance platform comprising a self-serve web-based quote and purchase system (with most quotes completed in under two minutes), a cookie consent management interface, and integration with Google Analytics, Meta Pixel for retargeting, Feefo for customer reviews, and Trustpilot for social proof. Underwriting is provided by AmTrust Specialty Limited (A-rated, PRA/FCA authorized, register number 202189), with claims handling transitioning to IMG Global from June 2026 (previously Acasta Europe). The distribution model is exclusively direct-to-consumer via the chewinsurance.com website, supported by web chat, email, telephone, and contact form channels, with paid acquisition through third-party-managed Google Ads and Meta retargeting campaigns.

The revenue model is unit-pricing on insurance premiums, with single trip and annual policy options on a pay-as-you-go basis; promotional discounts of 5–20% are offered exclusively through the direct website and contact centre. The company cross-sells adjacent Freedom medical travel insurance, particularly for travelers with pre-existing conditions, positioning CHEW and Freedom as a bundled travel protection offering. The business is small in scale, with no disclosed headcount or revenue figures, a single St. Neots, Cambridgeshire office, and an active relaunch underway under Freedom ownership.

Name

CHEW Insurance

Legal name

Freedom Insurance Services Limited

Website

https://chewinsurance.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CHEW Insurance is a UK direct-to-consumer provider of car hire excess waiver insurance, selling £3/day UK/European and Worldwide cover to individual UK travelers as a trading style of Freedom Insurance Services Limited.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Insurance (Car Hire Excess Waiver)

NAICS

Direct Insurance (except Life, Health, and Medical) Carriers (52412), Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Carriers (524126)

SIC

Fire, Marine & Casualty Insurance (6331)

akta.pro primary industry

Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) (FSAJAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Travel AD&D / Common Carrier Accidental Death Insurance (FSAIALAD)

Keywords

• Car hire excess insurance
• Excess waiver cover
• Rental car excess
• Travel insurance add-ons
• Hired vehicle protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Ewell

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Car Hire Excess Insurance Premiums: CHEW Insurance generates revenue through selling car hire excess waiver insurance policies. Customers pay a daily rate (from approximately £3 per day) to obtain coverage that reimburses excess charges if their hire car is damaged or stolen. Policies are available as single trip or annual policies. The company is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CHEW Insurance sells car hire excess waiver insurance directly to consumers via its website, covering the excess charges (typically £500–£2,000) a renter would otherwise pay if a hire car is damaged, stolen, or involved in an accident. The product is offered in two geographic variants — UK and European cover, and Worldwide cover — both priced from approximately £3 per day, with single-trip and annual policy options available.

Product overview

CHEW Insurance offers a single core product: Car Hire Excess Waiver Insurance, available in two geographic variants—UK and European cover and Worldwide cover. Both products provide the same comprehensive benefits including excess reimbursement, damage to windows/tyres/undercarriage, towing, misfuelling, key replacement, and travel expenses. The company is part of Freedom Insurance Services Ltd and is relaunching its services soon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• UK and European Car Hire Excess Insurance Car hire excess waiver insurance for UK residents hiring cars in the UK or Europe, starting from approximately £3 per day, providing reimbursement of excess charges on damage or theft plus cover for windows, tyres, undercarriage, towing, misfuelling, key replacement, and travel expenses.
• Worldwide Car Hire Excess Insurance Worldwide car hire excess waiver insurance covering all countries including Europe, with the same comprehensive benefits as the UK and European product plus global protection, starting from approximately £3 per day.

Quantifiable outcome

• Save approximately £27 per day compared to rental desk add-ons
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Freedom Insurance Services LimitedcoreOthersCHEW Insurance is a trading style of Freedom Insurance Services Limited. Freedom provides the operational infrastructure, regulatory compliance (FCA authorized, reference 306536), and underwriting relationships. CHEW is part of Freedom, bringing together specialist insurance experience with over 20 years supporting the UK travel market.
• Freedom (Medical Travel Insurance)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerFreedom offers medical travel insurance for travellers with pre-existing conditions. CHEW cross-promotes Freedom to customers seeking comprehensive trip protection, recommending pairing Freedom medical travel insurance with CHEW car hire excess coverage.
• AmTrust Specialty LimitedcoreOthersAmTrust Specialty Limited underwrites CHEW's car hire excess waiver insurance policies. They are authorized by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA (financial services register number 202189). They are an A-rated insurer backed by a strong global insurance group.
• IMG Global (Claims Handler)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIMG Global handles claims for policies issued from June 2026. Customers can contact IMG Global via telephone (02921 684 240) or email ([email protected]) for claims processing.
• Acasta Europe (Previous Claims Handler)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAcasta Europe previously handled claims for policies issued between July 2024 and May 2025. Contact: 0345 040 5975 or [email protected].

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LV= Travel Insurance: Large UK mutual insurer with a dedicated travel cover line distributed through direct and price-comparison channels. Important overlay competitor for the premium share of CHEW's audience but is not specialist in car hire excess.
• Avanti Travel Insurance: UK specialist travel insurance provider, part of a broader insurance intermediary group, focused on medical travel cover and standard travel policies for UK travelers. Sells directly to consumers in the same demographic CHEW serves and competes for travel-insurance product awareness, though without a single-line excess focus.
• World Nomads: Global travel insurance provider offering comprehensive travel cover (including some vehicle-related coverage) to adventure and long-haul travelers. Not a car hire excess specialist but targets the same UK/outbound traveler and competes on the broader 'protect your trip' wallet share where CHEW cross-sells via its Freedom partnership.
• Cover-More Travel Insurance: International travel insurance brand with a UK presence offering single-trip and annual policies for outbound travelers. Competes at the adjacent travel-insurance layer where CHEW cross-sells through its parent Freedom's medical travel product.
• Direct Line Travel Insurance: One of the UK's largest personal-lines insurers, offering travel cover as part of a much broader motor, home, and life insurance portfolio. Travels into the same UK consumer insurance wallet via aggregator channels; broader incumbency advantage but not specialised in the car-hire-excess niche that CHEW serves.
• Staysure: Large UK specialist travel insurance provider (founded in 2004) selling medical and cancellation-heavy travel cover direct to UK consumers. Competes indirectly for CHEW's travel-insurance adjacent customer base, particularly through upmarket and older demographics who also frequently hire cars.

Direct peers

• Insurance4CarHire: UK-based specialist car hire excess insurance provider selling single-trip and annual policies direct to consumers in the same niche as CHEW. Offers very similar coverage scope (excess reimbursement, tyres, windows, undercarriage, key cover) at comparable unit pricing, making it the closest head-to-head competitor in the UK market.
• Holiday Extras: UK specialist travel extras retailer offering car hire excess insurance alongside airport parking, airport hotels, and travel insurance. Operates the same direct-to-consumer digital model and serves the same UK traveler segment hiring cars abroad, often bundling excess cover with other holiday add-ons.
• Questor Insurance: UK-based specialist insurance provider with dedicated car hire excess products in the same vertical as CHEW. Operates a similar direct distribution model and competes for the same price-sensitive UK travelers who would otherwise buy excess cover at the rental desk.

Others

• Compare the Market: UK price-comparison aggregator featuring travel insurance products from multiple carriers. Indirectly influences CHEW's customer acquisition by controlling the comparison funnel traffic from which consumers may (or may not) end up on specialist car hire excess sites.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chew-insurance

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CHEW Insurance