Now Insurance Industry is Customer Friendly


Availability and accessibility of insurance products are also being modified to cater to insurers’ needs. Bancassurance, short for Bank Insurance Model and Open Architecture Model of Distribution have been given the green signal. These models involve insurance companies tying up with banks for utilizing their distribution system. Insurance firms can also have multiple tie-ups with various banks in order to sell insurance products. Insurance firms are also gearing up for providing their products online, not just for registering and verifying. Selling Term Products online has proved to be an instant hit and Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) and endowment are on their way too.

Insurance Aggregators like - Myinsuranceclub.com and Policybazaar.com have been instructed by IRDA to disclose certain types of information to the insurers, like visitor’s information. In order to avoid any bias, these aggregators are prohibited from posting sponsored content or advertisements on their websites. Aggregators are also responsible for online security of buying insurance. Though the Minimum Guarantee per annum has been decreased from 4.5 percent to some number above zero, insurance agents are asked to give all details pertaining to these guarantees. This will ease the insurer and he/ she can have full information regarding the guarantee. Transparency and accountability will improve this way.

Srinivasan also said, "While the immediate result of IPOs could be value creation for shareholders and access to insurance companies stocks for investors, insurers will benefit from greater transparency." Rego quoted, "Highest-NAV products will be a casualty then as most buyers don't understand its dynamics." Rego also said, "Healthy competition, stricter norms and watchdogs will keep insurers agile." So, better variety, availability, accessibility, transparency and accountability will help the insurance industry move towards a bright future.