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    Covid has transformed the entire insurance ecosystem: Shanai Ghosh, ED & CEO, Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI)

    Synopsis

    The most impactful outcome of Covid has been the acceleration of digital claims. The entire process, right from claims intimation, to processing to settlement is now becoming completely digital, bringing in a lot of ease and convenience to all stakeholders.

    Shanai Ghosh, executive director & CEO, Edelweiss General InsuranceAgencies
    Digital first insurance providers are trying to transform the market with promises of customer behaviour based products, real time app based claims processing and faster claims settlement. One such digital insurer in the non-life segment is 2018 founded Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI).

    It claims to be making the insurance process simple and transparent. In an interview, Shanai Ghosh, executive director & CEO,Edelweiss General Insurance, discusses changes in insurance in the post-Covid environment, how technology is impacting user experience and more. Edited excerpts:

    Covid accelerated digitization and insurance was among the products that customers adapted to buying online. What has been your experience and a few key trends that you noted in this period?
    Covid has transformed the entire insurance ecosystem, right from insurers, customers, partners, and intermediaries. The entire transaction cycle, from purchase to claims got a fillip, with digital becoming the most preferred medium.

    The most impactful outcome of Covid has been the acceleration of digital claims. The entire process, right from claims intimation, to processing to settlement is now becoming completely digital, bringing in a lot of ease and convenience to all stakeholders.

    Besides digital transformation, another trend the motor insurance space is witnessing is the ‘Pay as you use’ model under the regulatory sandbox. Under this model, EGI has launched SWITCH, an on-demand, mobile telematics based comprehensive motor policy. SWITCH incentivises good driving behavior. It allows customers to save money if they are driving well.

    IRDAI's sandbox initiative calls for innovative ideas to offer new products. Among these are behavior-based insurance products. How will this impact the market?
    Customers today want personalized solutions that offer them better value and empower them with greater control and choice. SWITCH is our sandbox product that addresses this very need of the customer. It places control in the hands of the customer. For example, the better they drive, the less premium they pay.

    IRDAI’s Sandbox is a great platform for digital insurers like us to offer tech driven solutions to customers. We are hoping that some of these sandbox products will get converted into mainstream products in the near future. ‘Pay as you use’ is one concept and trend that has the potential to become mainstream. It is expected to change the industry standards and norms of determining motor insurance premium by bringing in factors like usage based premium and driving based premium.

    What new products is EGI offering?
    Our latest offering is SWITCH, which is completely digital. The policy is an app, where customers have access to everything right from viewing the policy document to claims, thereby providing seamless customer experience.

    SWITCH is a usage-based model where how much and how well you drive determines the premium you pay. The app detects vehicle motion and automatically activates insurance, generates a real-time driving score, and dynamically rates the premium. ‘Drive less, pay less; Drive better, pay less’ is what SWITCH is all about.

    Claims settlement has been an issue among customers for long. How has digitisation impacted claims settlement?
    Yes, claims have been an area of concern, but technology is now enabling insurers to address this. We use technology to bring down our turnaround time and improve our customer experience. For FY22, we have a claim settlement ratio of over 97% for motor claims. For us, speed is of essence. We have settled our fastest motor claim in just 79 minutes.

    We have our live video streaming app, Bolt, that allows instant inspection of vehicles. The app can be used by consumers, partners, and garage owners to ensure fast settlement. 41% of motor claims in FY22 were processed through Bolt.

    What are the challenges you see in the market?
    Insurance penetration continues to remain a challenge for the industry. Low awareness and understanding of insurance is part of the problem. However, it is further exacerbated by the unfortunate trust deficit that exists. Our research showed that customer perception of claims continues to be opaque, document intensive and needlessly complex.

    The skepticism, coupled with the technical and confusing lingo, could be huge deterrents. The industry needs to really introspect as to why despite the volume of claims paid, we still suffer from perception. We need to do a much better job of communicating with customers in a simple and transparent manner.

    The other big thing we need to do to amp up in the industry is empathy – customers react to ‘how’ more than ‘what’. I have seen several instances of customers not being happy with the experience despite the claim being paid in full. Insurers need to offer simple products that are easy to understand and convenient to use for the customer. The entire process from purchase to claims needs to be simplified and also explained to customers with an empathetic approach and in simple language.

    Insurers need to strike a balance between digital adoption and human intervention that will not only help simplify the entire customer journey, right from search to purchase to claims to customer service, but it will also lead to building positive seamless, positive experiences.



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