Insurance awareness: How the Covid-19 pandemic has changed perceptions

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted and changed lives on a global scale since its emergence causing millions of infections, and thousands of deaths worldwide. The fear of uncertainty plagued minds. People were worried about their health and their financial future. The steady increase in cases and the unfortunate loss of lives in huge number made everyone realise that health is of utmost importance — everything else comes later.

Awareness

In India, unfortunately, buying health insurance was never a priority. This indifference is seen both in the urban and rural areas. Expectedly, health insurance penetration in India is abysmally low. The Covid-19 outbreak casted a bright light among India’s young population as well. The power of the internet accelerated and highlighted the importance of insurance. There was enough awareness about the excessive financial burden of treatments, hospitalisation, post-Covid medical expenses that an adequate insurance cover could offer in these uncertain times. Industry noticed a greater interest in health insurance covers like never before. The pandemic forced the industry to pause, re-check and re-frame their activities.

Covid-specific initiatives

During the pandemic, the insurance industry geared up to meet customer demands by launching personalised solutions for great customer experience. The pandemic provided insurers an opportunity to innovate and meet the evolving needs of the population. The regulator also mandated all insurers to offer Covid specific products which gave a much-needed impetus and created awareness on health insurance. The launch of Arogya Sanjeevani Policy and Corona Kavach Policy health insurance plans provided coverage up to Rs 10 lakh and Upto Rs. 5 Lakh respectively for a family at affordable premiums. This was a great entry-level plan for young urban individuals as well as rural families, where the cost of medical care was lower and affordable. Finance minister also announced a medical insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for frontline warriors working in government hospitals, labs, etc. IRDAI’s norms on timely and effective settlement of health insurance claims encouraged the population towards getting insured. The government and health insurance providers proactively worked towards revamping our health systems during the pandemic.

Digitisation

The transaction-oriented insurance industry increasingly became dynamic and customer-driven. Owing to the changing patterns of customer behaviour, insurance providers embraced predictive analysis to examine customer demands and deliver personalised solutions for a great customer experience through disruptive technology. Due to the advent of digitisation, customers can easily research about a policy, understand the key benefits and even compare it with other products. This led to a majority of potential customers getting themselves insured.

Cyber security

The Covid-19 outbreak also had an immediate effect on organisations, changing the ways their employees work, exposing them to cyber risks. Digitisation and the shift to operate businesses online also increased the risk of cyberattacks by an order of magnitude. Cybercriminals saw the pandemic as an opportunity to step up their criminal activities by exploiting the vulnerability of employees working from home and capitalising on strong interest of citizens in coronavirus-related news which helped them to launch Covid-19-themed attacks in the form of phishing emails with malicious attachments with the intent of stealing data and credentials. In order to provide protection against such cyberattacks, several insurers launched products to protect businesses from financial and reputational losses due to cyberattacks.

Steps in the right direction

Pandemics like the one we are currently dealing with do not differentiate between the poor and the rich. All stakeholders, both in the public and private sector, have to ramp up efforts to make insurance a key pillar of survival, just like food, clothing and shelter. The lessons from the past months does play an important role in determining the future of the industry and how it recalibrates itself. The focus is on building trust and smooth transactions for better customer satisfaction. Customers have realised that insurance is the need of the hour, now more than ever as it provides you ease, convenience, and hassle-free experience that can protect you against many adversities. After all, insurance is not just another product or service that you buy; it represents a promise.

(The writer is MD and CEO, Raheja QBE General Insurance. Views expressed are personal)