Imagine logging on, going to a site, and buying yourself a customised life insurance policy from any number of companies selling them. Imagine, then, being able to manage all your insurance policies online and being able to pay your premiums on time. Sounds incredible? It may not be a pipedream anymore.
Experts say, 'Insurance is never bought, it is always sold.' The Net is about to rewrite those rules. With over a dozen sites waiting to tie up with private parties whom a consumer can buy insurance online from, without the pushy hard sell from agents, the insurance sector is changing. The only hitch is the long wait for the opening of this sector, according to IRDA regulations. A large number of sites have, however, already begun staking their claim.
Offering tax planners, a discussion forum to voice your opinions, the services of consultants, agents, tax planner along with the latest Insurance news is bimaonline.com. The site also offers a personalised service in order to help maintain all those life and non-life policies in your name and those on your spouse's name in one place. Recieve automated emails to remind you of how much amount to be paid at which office, before what date.
The first mover was AssureIndia.com, offering the latest industry news, articles, innumerable and helpful links to companies, schemes, government departments, etc. The site claims over a hundred multinational and Indian clients including automobile and agricultural bioengineering companies, consumer durable manufacturers, textile firms and information technology companies all representing an insured sum of over Rs. 10000 crore.
Insure2bsecure is another such site. Offering a plethora of advisory and portfolio services, information, quotes, insurance policies, agent registration and an agent listing, there is a lot for the common man to avail of in order to get insured with the minimum of fuss. "We have a solid domain expertise in this area. What we have managed, ever since we launched in October 2000, is a brand name and services that have a large number of registered users."
Most other sites have also started off as similar knowledge-based sites, at least until the regulations fall into place. There are others offering more add-ons, like gateway2insurance, which has tied up with everyone.net for free e-mail, a community forum, chat facility, polls and the latest happenings in the insurance sector.
The site owners are optimistic about the future of selling of insurance online. "Privatisation of Indian insurance was inevitable. The sector will now be home to some international insurance majors. We will have the benefits of new products and new technologies. But the insurance market is meant only for those with a long-term perspective in mind," voices I. H. Dalait, CEO of gateway2insurance.com.
There are others who have already initiated the process of selling online. While it is currently not possible to sell insurance online directly, 123bima.com sells insurance through its distribution network of registered agents. "As of now, we pass on all direct inquiries received from visitors to registered members who, in turn, sell insurance. This services is absolutely free and the value of insurance sold by our distribution network is in the range of a few crores," says the CEO
"Our core target is to identify agents who will be able to sell products for companies that we have a tie up with. Money will also be generated from banner advertisements, commissions, and subscriptions. We would like to provide a complete comparison shopping experience for those buying insurance and, more importantly, focus on being the sole Application Service Provider by providing agents with on line sales and service tools. At present, we have cyber agents who can get consumer referrals through the site," explains Shashwat Babu, Web Strategist for Insuremagic.com which, apart from information, offers the services of an insurance counsellor, portfolio manager, calculators and payment reminder services.
Sites like insure2bsecure have already applied for permission for e-broking from the IRDA, and currently offer Life and Non-Life insurances along with health, property, auto and life insurance policies. "Issues dealing with transactions over the Net, e-broking and payment issues have yet to be sorted out by the IRDA. But, once the government opens up the sector and amendments to the requisite section have been made, it is a matter of time before insurance sites like us will get into e-broking, and agent training. Broking for corporates and consultancy services will become a part and parcel," says R Sudha, CEO, insure2bsecure.
IRDA regulations not falling into place may slow down the process but does not seem to stop the traffic coming into these informative insurance sites. Bimaguru.net claims that they have had 20,000 page views in four months, with a large amount of feedback coming in even from countries like Oman and Canada. Babu, of insuremagic, agrees: "Our site generates over 3000 page views per day and consumers and insurance professionals are getting advice through our discussion forum and expert panel on a regular basis."
Business models here are click and mortar arrangements. Most sites are in the process of forging alliances with private insurance companies to sell insurance online. Other options include training, consultancy and corporate insurance, say the owners of Firstpolicy.com which is yet another me-too version offering the latest on the insurance industry.
Though most would not like to reveal names, they are all busy getting their infrastructure into place. "We are going to have a strategic alliance with the ICICI Bank-Bill junction to enable payments of insurance premiums via the Net," says Dhalait.
Each site seems confident of grabbing their niche market in cyberspace. "We would deal with competition by giving insurance customers add on value based services. We will also educate them through weekly newsletters about insurance products, pros and cons, and other insurance related health services, creating an awareness among the Indian masses," rounds off Dhalait.
Needless to say, it will be a testing time for all these hot claims soon enough. Wait and watch.
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