‘Covid claims have not moved up significantly’

Non-life insurers have seen their businesses drop in March due to Covid-19, and face uncertainty in the coming months, given the current environment. managing director and chief executive officer, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, in an interview with

speaks about the company’s business during the lockdown. Edited excerpts:

Covid-19 has caused huge disruptions in all the sectors, including insurance. How is the company coping up with the disruptions?

We had gone into work from home before the lockdown was announced and we were fully prepared. We have issued around 1.7 million policies in the lockdown period and settled around 900,000 claims. We also made sure that the staff has access to counselling, which has been kept completely anonymous, and almost 30 per cent of our staff reached out for this service. Also, we are seeing that people are more productive in this work from home structure. If people are able to deliver productivity working from home, then work from home may become a new norm in times to come.

How was the quarter for you and how much of your business got hit by Covid-19?

Our growth for the year has been close to 16 per cent while the industry growth was 9 per cent. So, overall, the year has been pretty good for us. In the retail health segment, a lot of inquiries are coming up. So, movement is happening. But is it to the level that it should be? No. This is surprising, given that health insurance is very under-penetrated. Luckily for customers, the insurance companies’ health policies have Covid cover even now. So, I was hoping that the spike (in health product sales) would be much higher but it is not to the level I was expecting it to be. The property business has also seen a movement up but the motor business was 40-50 per cent lower because there are no new car sales happening.

Will the retail health segment see a spike in demand due to the crisis and penetration in this segment go up?

For the price that an insurance product is available, people should queue to buy it. But even as a push product and in a crisis situation like the present one, penetration doesn’t move

exponentially as it should. If you look at cyber insurance cover, they should sell like hot cakes given that cyber crimes have moved up by 1000 per cent and in such a scenario, there is hardly any sale of individual cyber cover with a premium of ~700 per year for a cover of ~1 lakh.

Have you seen a spike in health claims because of Covid-19?

Not yet. Most of the hospital are reporting occupancies levels of 30-50 per cent. In the lockdown period, the number of health claims has reduced. And, the Covid claims have not moved up significantly.

What is your take on standardisation of rates for Covid-19 treatment?

There should be a regulator for hospitals. Insurance companies do their bit by negotiating with the hospitals so that the rates are standardised because at the end of the day, the customer pays. When the claim ratios go up for insurance companies, they increase the price. And if you have a lot of hikes, the customer is burdened.