Ramakrishnan Chandrasekaran

Insuretech - A Solution to enhance customer service and control cost

Insurance penetration has become one of the top-most priorities for insurers now. It is calculated as the ratio of total insurance premiums to gross domestic product in a given year. Penetration indicates the level of development of insurance sector. Regulator has also mentioned that by 2047 every Indian citizen will be covered under insurance. Increased customer awareness resulting in increased number of policies pose a great challenge for companies to issue policies in the traditional way. The endless growth in the range of the products on offer has further intensified the competitive nature of the market. The tremendous increase in the service expectations of the clientele results in the market witnessing a tendency on the part of the clients to switch insurers based on service criteria. The necessity to adopt to technology driven system has assumed lot of importance. Here, the insuretech companies could play a crucial role by bridging the gap between the traditional insurances and the ever-changing market requirements. With the help of technology, any insurer could make the insurance model more efficient and effective. The increase in efficiency helps the insurance companies to reduce its cost of operation. Secondly, by embracing solutions the technology provides, the process of customer onboarding, becomes faster and simpler through a streamlined process. Technology enables from quotation stage to issuance of policies to claims service seamless with audit trail. Currently many insurance companies are struggling with their outdated core system. Moving to a new system is either hampered or delayed by internal resistance to change or due to cost involved. Insuretech companies provide cost effective solutions using AI and machine learning technology. By using data analytics insurers could get deeper into the customer requirement. Insuretech companies offer smartphone applications and Chatbot to respond to customer queries online. Since insurance is an intangible product, the quick and correct issuance of policies and fair and fast settlement of claims are the two factors the end customers are concerned with. This becomes easier with the help of solutions provided by insuretech companies. Insuretech companies help the insurers to explore new options outside of traditional human efforts. They help to connect and bring all the stakeholders outside the insurance industry like health care and intermediaries under a single platform by providing value added services through the insurers. At the end of the day, every company expects a simple plug and play software. Approximately there are around 150 Insuretech companies in India. The services these insuretech companies provide through their application includes KYC verification, Quotation System, Payment Processing, Policy Issuance, Fraud detection and many more. They are not only cost effective, but also simple to adopt. Though the solutions provided by insuretech companies is independent of the legacy system, they also provide the services either to integrate or transfer the data with the core system. Unlike the legacy system, the insuretech solutions are flexible and easy to adopt. They are ready to use and requires less manpower training and intervention. Insuretech companies provide digital resilience even in adverse situations. They enable the insurers to manage large volume of complex data. In a competitive environment the pricing of the product taking into account various data sets becomes easier with escalation and control mechanism. Their role as a business enabler cannot be over emphasized. While most insuretech companies offer solutions to handle pre-underwritten retail products, only a select few offer solutions to commercial insurances like Fire, Marine, Engineering and Group Health etc. By evaluating and engaging the right insuretech provider, an insurer, without any doubt, can increase their business, level of service to end customers and improve their bottom-line.