New startup wants to put an end to expensive wills
“Nine out of ten Danes do not have a will. This is despite the fact that they are well aware of the difficult situation they put the people they leave behind in.” Says Jørgen Koch, Co-founder of a new online initiative, SikkerArv.dk.
If you ask Danes, it is the lawyer’s high hourly rate, which is the cause behind the low amount of wills. Jørgen Koch is trying to change that, together with the other two co-founders of SikkerArv.
“The problem became clear to me when my ex-girlfriend’s mother died. What do you do with the inherit when the person who died got no will?” Asks Jørgen Koch rhetorically.
Jørgen then went out on the streets and asked the Danes if this was a general problem and found out that many people were put into the same position as him and his ex-girlfriend.
Lawyers are expensive
2000-3000 dkr. ($300-450) is the typical lawyer’s fee, if you want to make a will. This is apparently too expensive for most Danes. Therefore Jørgen Koch has developed an online platform, where an algorithm ensures that all the right questions are answered and that you will have a legally valid will ready immediately after answering the questions. The service cost 650 dkr. ($100), but it is not only the competitive price that Jørgen Koch sees as an advantage:
“We have of course been aware of our respondents’ desire for a lower price, but there is also a great flexibility in our service. You can sit in the comforts of your own home and answer the questions alone or together with someone, without worrying about an expensive hourly rate,” explains Jørgen Koch.
Got suddenly busy with the launching
Jørgen Koch already started working on the concept three years ago, but it is not without reason that SikkerArv launches now. Since the Danish TV series “Arvingerne” has gotten a lot of success, there has been a significant rise in the Danes interest in getting a grip on their will.
“There have been four times as many searches on lawyers, who specialize in heritage, since the TV series begun. We are trying to exploit this extra interest and that is why we suddenly got busy getting the product to the market,” says Jørgen Koch.
Besides the online solution, the company also have assigned several lawyers who their customers can draw upon if necessary.
Plans for international expansion
SikkerArv is founded by Jørgen Koch, who has a background as Head of Trading at Codan Insurance, together with Michael Lauritzen and Kristian Kaa who are respectively, a system developer and a programmer. Jørgen Koch and Michael Lauritzen know each other from Copenhagen Business School, where they read together. The three have big plans for SikkerArv.
“The legislation in this area is very similar to the Danish in both Sweden and Germany, so as soon as we have made a good case in Denmark, we will be looking to expand beyond the country’s border. It may very well already be in 2015,” says Jørgen Koch
