By Miles

A London insurtech offering pay-by-mile car insurance for lower-mileage drivers.

About By Miles

By Miles sells pay-by-mile car insurance. Most car insurance charges a yearly price however much you drive. With By Miles, drivers pay a fixed upfront amount that covers the car while it is parked, then a monthly amount based on the miles they actually drive, tracked by a device called the Miles Tracker. It also offers connected insurance that uses driving data. The app includes extras such as Car Medic, which reads fault codes, Find My Car and journey estimates.

By Miles was launched in 2016 by James Blackham, who left a managing director role at Goldman Sachs to start it, with co-founder Callum Rimmer. Blackham worked in central London and drove mostly at weekends, so he felt his insurance premiums gave poor value for how little he drove. Tech.eu describes By Miles as a UK insurtech (a technology-led insurance company) based in London. Headcount grew from 25 in March 2020 to about 80 by 2022, according to Insurance Times. In April 2023 it was bought by Direct Line Group, and in October 2023 Blackham left and Maddy Howlett, who had joined from British Gas in 2021, became chief executive.

Blackham's mission, in his words, is "making driving fairer": to price motor insurance in a smarter, fairer way. He says many UK drivers cover few miles each week, yet insurers often charge low-mileage drivers more. By Miles aims to give the UK's 19 million lower-mileage drivers, those driving under 7,000 miles a year, a fairer alternative.

By the time Blackham left, By Miles had sold more than 100,000 policies and insured over 500 million miles, with about 50,000 customers at that point (Insurance Times, October 2023). Its products are pay-per-mile motor insurance, the Miles Tracker device and the app. These are the main names we found. Its best-known partner in the sources read is Direct Line Group.

On culture, Blackham has described a mix of technical and creative people and a close-knit, talented team (his own words). When it hired a chief people officer in 2022, Asha Singh said the firm "unapologetically put[s] our people and virtues first" and aims to champion inclusion and compassionate leadership (company statements). Roles have covered engineering, product, marketing, commercial and people work. We did not find graduate schemes or internships, so check By Miles's careers page for current openings.

What they do

• {'desc': 'A fixed cost for the parked car plus a per-mile rate for driving.', 'title': 'Pay-by-mile car insurance'}
• {'desc': 'A device that records the miles driven so you only pay for what you use.', 'title': 'Miles Tracker'}
• {'desc': 'Cover that uses driving data.', 'title': 'Connected insurance'}
• {'desc': 'Car Medic fault codes, Find My Car and journey estimates.', 'title': 'App extras'}

Key facts

• Launched in 2016 by James Blackham with co-founder Callum Rimmer
• Acquired by Direct Line Group on 25 April 2023; Maddy Howlett became CEO in October 2023
• Grew from 25 staff in March 2020 to about 80 (Insurance Times, 2022)
• Over 100,000 policies sold and 500 million miles insured by October 2023
• Targets the 19 million UK drivers who cover under 7,000 miles a year

Website: bymiles.co.uk