Policybazaar optimistic on TN’s adoption of e-insurance

Vaidyanathan Ramani, Head Product and Innovation Centre, Policybazaar.com, tells us, “A lot of innovations are happening in the product space, especially on the motor front. 

We have two partner insurers with whom we have already gone live, three more are waiting in the wings, and one of them happens to be from Chennai. We are also working with Star Health on a new concept in health insurance, which is focussed on people who have already had exposure to a claim (sickness related) event.

It’s usually a hard sell for people who have already undergone an ailment to seek insurance in India, as the underwriting rules are extremely stringent. We are also working on an initiative focussing on young professionals under 30. We are developing a morphing insurance product that starts off with features relevant to a young professional today, and then goes on to evolve its terms flexibly and fairly with the passage of time.”

The insurance website and comparison portal recently launched a report titled Industry – First Report on Motor Insurance in Digital Space. As per the report, individuals who renew their car insurance at least 3 days prior to expiry are 25 per cent more profitable customers than those who do so later. The report also ties in with the portal’s work on the motor insurance front. 

“We are taking personalisation to the next level. A visitor to our portal will now get a personalised quote for motor insurance, through a system which employs analytics and carries out assessment of customer behaviour, via our partner insurer companies.” Talking about the focus on TN, he says, “Policybazaar today accounts for at least 55-60 per cent in all the key insurance markets. In term insurance, we occupy close to 75-80 per cent of the market. 

Tamil Nadu is a key focus area for us. There are few states in India which lead in financial literacy and quality of lifestyle and TN is usually among the top 3. Historically, it has always done well in the motor insurance and health space (both online and offline put together) with 8 per cent share, in both segments.” 

“However, the online share is disproportionately low. TN’s lower share in the online space is a matter of concern for us and we feel there is a need for greater awareness in this area. To allay, this, about four months ago, we rolled out Tamil-speaking call centres to help our customers make informed insurance decisions.”