An Indian Fairfax-backed Company is Simplifying Insurance for the Customers

Buying insurance is one of the most difficult tasks. Imagine this, after a lot of efforts, you shortlist a product along with the insurer but just when you are about to the buy the policy, the terms and conditions pages will arrive to confuse the hell out of you. And this vicious circle goes on and on.

And if at all, god forbid, if something goes wrong then the claim process is another set of a nightmare for customers.

Wouldn't life be easy if insurance could be simple? Sounds more like an oxymoron, isn't it? However, Kamesh Goyal plans to turn this paradox into a reality.

After spending over two decades in the industry, what bothered him the most was how much insurance was mistrusted by people as jargons complicated the product. This is where he saw an opportunity and started Digit Insurance with an idea to simplify the complexity around insurance products.

"If there is one thing that would truly make a difference to people in the insurance context, it is busting the complexity of the industry and bringing in simplified insurance," Goyal said in a conversation with Entrepreneur India.

The Approach

Apart from simplifying insurance and customising process as per customer requirements, Digit is also known for its claim settlement process.

The start-up professes a 92 per cent claim settlement ratio for private cars own damage, 91 per cent for two-wheelers own damage, 99.5per cent for domestic travel, 97 per cent for mobile and 93 per cent for international travel.

On asking him how a 16-month old insurtech company could manage to achieve this claim settlement ratio, he says, "One of the reasons why the processes in insurance are full of checks is because they are made for fraudulent cases. We flipped this and said how the processes would look like for genuine customers."

Pain Points

With the increase in smartphone penetration and internet boom, India is transiting to a digital nation. However, working with authorities and access to official records continues to haunt both traditional and new age insurers.

Take an example of motor insurance. If companies could access RTO data, driving license data, etc. wouldn't life be easy for these institutions which in turn could help them focus on customer experience.

"Working on more technology solutions that would challenge how buying and claiming is experienced right now. With more consumer data insights, we will be customizing our plans further with sharper offerings relevant to that segment," Goyal shared.

Expansion

Presently, Digit is marketing motor, travel, home and phone insurance. However, hinting at fundraising by end of this year, the entrepreneur says he will soon launch health insurance under Digit's umbrella.

"The principles on which we build our other products and processes will apply to health as well. Apart from that, we will see more institutional partnerships and more strategic partners added to our network. We are also continuously expanding the number of locations where we are doing business," concluded.