Approximately six out of ten Indians buying two-wheeler insurance online in 2018 were using the digital platform to revive their lapsed policies? These are findings of the Product & Innovation Centre’s (PIC) latest study, which was keeping a track on the behavior of almost 10 lakh+ consumers who buy bike insurance online across the nation. In India, where almost 75% of the two-wheelers are uninsured, the digital platform has started to emerge as a favorable platform for the world’s largest selling two-wheeler market. The survey also revealed that the majority of these consumers will not renew bike insurance in the near future, if not for the digital platform offering ease, satisfaction, and instant issuance.
What makes the survey unique is that this is the largest ever study run on such a big consumer pool that owns a two-wheeler in their household. The analysis of the data clearly shows that digital channel has started to make roads safer and more secured, as accidents are an everyday phenomenon in India. The risk of an uninsured vehicle plying on the roads is quite risky. In case of a mishap, it straight away affects the lives of people and their families involved, which most the times leads to death and disability of an individual in the families. That is why having a comprehensive insurance which covers you and your vehicle is extremely crucial.
Talking about the online survey, the results are brilliant, as it has a larger social impact on the well-being of the society where bikes and scooters are the primary vehicles of transport. Two-wheeler insurance has always been a puzzle for insurers, as distributors have never shown interest due to the small-ticket size. This category will become digitally exclusive in the times to come, with more and more awareness and word of mouth spread. Media has a great deal of social responsibility in making this category sustainable for insurers and the digital platform providers, given the margins are extremely low.
Post the new regulations brought by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) act in accordance with Supreme Court order beginning September 2018, the third party cover is now obligatory for at least 5 years for new two-wheeler vehicles. One would have also assumed that this might bring down the customer’s impressions on the digital platform since it simply means an excessive increase in the two-wheeler insurance premium for the customers. On the contrary, the transparency of the product and ease of digital platform has brought in more customers, which has resulted in a rise of 30% insurance policies being sold only for new two-wheelers.
