Farewill already has deals in place with two life insurers, who effectively fund the cost of the will service on behalf of their customers.
Online will provider Farewill is set to offer more customers taking out protection policies the incentive of a free will.
Farewill already has deals in place with two life insurers, who effectively fund the cost of the will service on behalf of their customers.
Now the venture capital-backed firm is in discussions with ‘two major brokerages’ looking to have the same arrangement.
Constance Mantle, head of partnerships and business development, said: “Broker firms pay for it – in order to sell more protection.
“They are almost looking to replace the IFAs. That’s why more and more people are interested in selling protection.
“More and more people are trying to provide this well-rounded service to everyone and wills fit really naturally into that.”
She added: “Brokers previously didn't have a good follow-up product they could use, while going to a solicitor is expensive and feels like a huge task.”
Farewill also has a partnership agreement with mortgage consultancy Capricorn. However this works on a different model where Capricorn refers customers to Farewill and earns a revenue share in the process.
Mantle said customers are twice as likely to take out a will with the ‘free’ model.
Farewill is already the UK’s biggest provider of wills despite launching in December 2016.
For customers coming direct to the firm it costs £90, or £135 for a couple. They can subscribe to change their will at any time for £10 per year for individuals and £10 each for couples.
Those who end the subscription still keep the will but would have to pay to sign up from scratch if they wanted to make changes.
Farewill operates in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland likely to be next on the radar.
It is currently an unregulated firm, so doesn’t offer inheritance tax planning.
Around half of people signing up to the service do so on their mobiles, while the firm’s growth has come through partnerships and from customers direct on a 50/50 basis.
The idea behind Farewill came from a university thesis from its chief executive Dan Garrett in 2015, when he studied a double masters course in Global Innovation Design at the Royal College of Art.
He said: “Compared to a life insurance policy or mortgage payment it is a really small amount of money for a broker to pay out to offer a will.
“It builds a stronger relationship with their client – it fits in with a broad service of sorting your life out.
“The insurers understand that engagement is everything and they are willing to have a hit on the acquisition cost to build the relationship with their client.”
