APPropriate insurance

Over the past few months, I have been curious to check the amount of life insurance I need. This resulted in an exercise of exploring websites of several life insurance companies and some insurance broking sites. The web interactivity was not completely independent as I got into speaking with a few agents over the phone, who found my contact number I had left on company websites and started calling me.

Intrigued as I was, this resulted in a few meetings with the agents to check what they had to suggest. The experience was vastly different across insurers and I must confess, it was a bit intimidating the way they asked me questions and tried to get me into buying a policy.

During one such meeting an agent pulled out a tablet, which made the entire conversation (he asked questions and I supplied answers) with him on the amount of insurance that I should buy, very interactive. The time taken to fill in details in the insurance forms varied across insurers but, with tablets, the entire exercise was very time-efficient and encouraging. For instance, in the case of SBI Life Insurance, the tablet app is called Connect Life, where the product range is divided into categories such as protection, wealth creation, savings, child plans and retirement plans.

After a mandatory ‘needs analysis calculation’ based on my monthly income, expenses, outstanding financial liabilities, current insurance cover, savings and investments, I was able to arrive at my insurance needs and the requirements to achieve my financial goals including retirement, children’s education expenses and buying a home. In fact, based on the details sought, the app actually works like a mini financial plan, which advises on the amount of life insurance you need and indicates the investments that you should make to meet your financial goals.

Fast track report

The way these apps work, if you move sequentially, you will be asked to fill-up the proposal form, upload the necessary documents and make payment for the policy’s premium as well. All of this happens in less than 30 minutes, if you are clear on what you are looking for. If you are a bit unsure, the proactive manner in which the app responds leads you to other options to choose from, based on the inputs you have shared. Considering the detailed policy features and the policy benefits that were illustrated on the tablet, the entire experience of digitally hunting for a life insurance was not only aesthetically pleasing but also personally satisfying.

The features that stood out were from the app offered by ICICI Pru Life—iNeo+—where the approach to arriving at the quantum of life insurance can be calculated either through income approach or expense approach, based on your convenience. The app had different categories like young professional, unmarried, married, married with children, and financial goals of the user to choose from, making the whole process less cumbersome.

This app earns extra points on the easiness parameter as just by entering your Aadhaar number, a good 40 per cent of the application is auto-filled. I was told by the agent that my ICICI Bank details or an existing policy from ICICI Prudential Life, too, would have done the job. It was noteworthy the way a single piece of information pulled out all my personal details.

Likewise, when exploring the Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance’s INSTAB, the benefit illustration for a policy I was exploring was instantly generated and shared over e-mail. For opening the e-mail, there was a security check by way of generating an OTP (one-time password), that was sent to my registered mobile number. The biggest advantage of using the tab is the fact that almost all formalities are completed in a single attempt, leaving little room to change one’s mind. In fact, the agents I met were more pleased with these features, which allow them to close a case faster.

Another advantage of this form of buying an insurance policy was the standardisation in terms of the insurance plan offered to you. For instance, I met with two different agents from the same insurer who asked me different sets of details. Naturally, the amount of insurance suggested by them as well as the kind of policies they recommended was completely different. In comparison, the standardisation achieved through tablets ensures that there is no such discrepancy when arriving at the amount of insurance needed and policies suggested by the insurance agent.

Similarly, with tablets in their hands, the agents will be more efficient in their functioning and leave little scope for mis-selling, which is a major cause of concern when it comes to buying life insurance. The fact that these tablets are directly linked to the insurance company’s server means they can be trusted more than an advisor carrying printouts. Considering the kind of changes that technology is leading to when it comes to distributing financial products, this is yet another innovative way in which access to financial products will become easy for customers. As for insurance agents, the tablets are far easy to handle than laptops and should help them increase their productivity and efficiency. The next step could be an app-based insurance buying process that would eliminate the need for insurance agents, making the experience of purchasing a suitable insurance policy much more simple.

aakar@outlookindia.com