Etherisc Insures Against Flight Delays Via Crypto Rails

key takeaways

The platform currently only accepts payments in crypto, but plans to accept traditional bank cards in the future
Etherisc integrates Chainlink oracles in its product so users can see if the correct flight information was used when determining the claims process

The firm behind a blockchain protocol custom-built for the insurance industry is launching a new on-chain product for flight delays and cancellations.

Etherisc’s FlightDelay product will go live on Thursday, which will make filing an insurance claim faster and more transparent, according to co-founder Christoph Mussenbrock.

The application will issue policies and give almost instant payouts for travelers who experience flight cancellations or delays of over 45 minutes. The project aims to take out the paperwork and lengthy process of manually filing an insurance claim.

“While there are other travel insurance products available, they typically require a delay of several hours to a planned flight before any compensation is deemed applicable. In addition, policyholders need to manually file a claim and this process is cumbersome, time-consuming and lacks transparency,” Mussenbrock told Blockworks.

“In contrast, Etherisc’s blockchain-backed insurance product offers real-time, fully automated payouts starting at just 45 minutes delay. We are the only providers currently offering such a solution.”

Additionally, Etherisc integrated Chainlink oracles in FlightDelay, so users can access on-chain data to see if the correct flight information was used when determining the claims process.

“[This product] has a real opportunity to disrupt manual claims processing by reducing employee labor, server, software management, and other overhead costs via blockchain-based automation,” William Herkelrath, managing director at Chainlink Labs, said in a statement.

FlightDelay’s insurance risk pool will be generated by members of the Etherisc community that actively stake its native DIP token, according to a press release.

FlightDelay is available with over 80 airlines. The platform currently only accepts payments in crypto for its services, specifically through blockchain payments platform Gnosis Chain, but plans to accept traditional bank cards in the future.

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