The insurtech startup is on mission to make car insurance better for the UK’s 19 million low mileage drivers - those who drive less than 7,000 miles a year - by offering a fairer and more flexible way to pay for car insurance cover.
With a By Miles policy, your car is covered by your fixed annual cost while it’s parked, then you get your own unique per-mile rate to cover your driving. This offers many lower mileage drivers the opportunity to substantially cut their bills if they mostly use their car at weekends or for regular short trips.

The miles you drive are measured using a Miles Tracker which drivers can plug into their car in moments. Customers can use the By Miles app to automatically see the cost of their journeys and access handy driving tools and reminders.
This switch to pay-as-you-go, rather than pay-how-you-drive (speed, braking etc.), sets By Miles apart from existing black box and telematics policies, as they don’t use driver scoring or curfews to change the cost of a driver’s insurance - just the distance they drive.
By Miles is pioneering a customer-centric approach that has already attracted thousands of users: collectively they’ve driven over a million miles since its July 2018 launch. The company has a 9.7/10 rating on Trustpilot and is the first insurance provider in 30 years to be awarded a Plain English award, an award it won for its jargon-free policy handbook.

The Series-A funding will be used to build on this award-winning approach by further investing in its market-leading customer service team and in-app claims handling so if the worst does happen, claims can be resolved quickly and smoothly. By Miles will also be continuing the roll-out of more innovative new car insurance products, enabling them to bring smarter and fairer pricing to even more drivers.

James Blackham, co-founder and CEO of By Miles, said: “Those who don’t drive as much are being treated unfairly. They’re charged more to subsidise the insurance of higher mileage drivers. We’re using tech to stop people being overcharged for their car insurance. At the same time we also want to change the way the industry interacts with its customers. It hasn’t got the best reputation!
“This investment will allow us to bring the benefits of pay-by-mile to the 19 million low mileage drivers out there that may not have already discovered the fairer way to pay. We will continue to place customer experience at the heart of this new wave of car insurance, improving the tech, the level of service and expanding our team. We’re proud to be putting customers first, only charging for miles driven and making car ownership more affordable. And reaching our millionth mile shows this approach is something UK drivers really want.”

Malcolm Ferguson, Principal & Early Stage Investor at Octopus Ventures, said: “Teaming up with By Miles was a no brainer for us; they have already had a huge impact on the car insurance market with their customer-first approach. The car insurance industry is known for being complex and difficult to navigate. By Miles is changing this perception by offering a fair pricing model based on use, driving savings across the board. They are set to change the car insurance market for good and we want to help them do just that.
“We are looking forward to supporting By Miles as they continue to grow from strength to strength.”

In addition to the lead investor, Octopus Ventures, By Miles has successfully further funding commitments from its original investors including Insurtech Gateway, the insurance-focussed incubator set up by investor Hambro Perks and Lumleys, InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund and JamJar Investments, the venture capital fund of the innocent drinks founders.