Health Insurance in India, JUST TIP OF THE ICEBERG!

Critical Illness policies have not really caught on in India. What benefits do consumers derive from such policies and do you see such policies take-off in the future?

According to me it is very good policy but the problem is of mindset. If a person buys a Mediclaim policy, then he does not go for critical illness policy, it’s like either / or. From the pricing standpoint, if he is getting the Mediclaim policy at ‘x’ amount, he doesn’t want to take critical illness policy. Moreover, mediclaim also scores over other variants that are available. I agree that these are two completely separate streams; still critical illness is covered under Mediclaim as it has become generic term for Medical insurance. But while issuing the policy we make our customers clear that it is not Mediclaim particularly when we are doing this on phone.

AIG is the world leader in Travel Insurance? What extra benefits do consumers get from your travel policies?

Yes we are very well known in travel across the world. Our issuance process is the simplest and we are competitive on price. Our coverage is also very wide like we offer upto $500000. Besides our claim service network across the world is very strong as we have AIG counters all over the world with the facility of authorization on phone.

You have an innovative rider on your auto policy for a package householder’s policy? Is that unique to you and have consumer’s taken to it in a big way?

Yes we have. We have always added more value to the products and services we offer to our customers as part of our strategy to continuously innovate. The add on covers will provide the customers with more choice based on their requirements. This is the next step, which will redefine the dynamics of the motor insurance business.
The 8 add-ons on our auto policy are:

Depreciation Reimbursement which offers full claim on value of parts replaced without any deduction, Daily Allowance which offers to pay daily allowance to help meet the cost of hired transport while vehicle is under repair in consequence of a valid claim for covered peril under the policy, Return to invoice which offers to pay (if the insured vehicle being a Total Loss / CTL) the shortfall between the amount receivable and the purchase price of the vehicle as in the sale invoice OR current replacement price of new vehicle in case exactly same make/model is available, whichever is less, No Claim Bonus Protection, which offers the same No-Claim Bonus at the time of Renewal, Key Replacement which offers the cost to replace the lost / stolen vehicle or residence keys / locks as well as cost of hiring a rental car, Repair of Glass, Fiber, Plastic and Rubber parts- No Claim Bonus will not be impacted if repair is opted for damage to only Glass/ plastic/ rubber/ fiber parts rather than replacement, Loss of personal belongings - Offers to pay for the loss or damage to personal belongings caused by perils mentioned under section 1 of the policy, while in the vehicle at the time of loss or damage to the vehicle and Emergency Transport and Hotel Expenses- Offers to pay the cost of overnight stay and taxi charges for returning back to the place of residence, or the nearest city, if insured vehicle has met with an accident and cannot be driven.  

In India householders policies have not taken off - what do you think are the reasons and do you expect them to take off in the future?

I think this is due to social and cultural factors. Interestingly, abroad it is the highest selling insurance and the reasons are very simple. As the houses are made of wood, the exposure to perils like fire and other natural calamities is much higher, besides burglary and theft. Moreover you do not have 24-hour occupancy, whereas in whole of South East Asia, the exposure to natural perils is much lower. Also people are not aware that rate of the home insurance is much lower and they equate it with car insurance.
Talking of burglary here, it is a historical view that it is very difficult to get a insurance claim as you have to file an FIR, then you have to wait for the police report and then there will be a survey. Still you will not get the amount that you have lost. This is the general perception though it may not be true.

You sell policies on phone in a big way, but still not started selling Online. Please comment.

Our telephone sales are doing very well. For telephone we have this in-bound and out-bound calling and both have been pretty successful.