Policybazaar said that it has sold 10 lakh insurance policies between April-Dec 2020. Over these nine months, it said that it has sold 4 lakh health insurance policies amounting to a total sum insured of over Rs 7 lakh crore, the company said in a press release. “This is driven by 1) Steep jump in demand for Health Insurance in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic, 2) introduction of new innovative higher sum insured products, 3) Flexible payment options and 4) simpler processes which makes buying Health Insurance a lot simpler and cheaper,” the press release stated.
High sum insured coverage has become critical, and now there are multiple products in the Rs 1 crore sum insured segment. Policybazaar stated that around 40% of customers are now buying such products on their portal.
The ability for customers to pay for their health insurance in a flexible manner has also contributed to this growth, the press release stated. “Data reveals 20% of customers preferred paying for multi-year policies in one go, which helps them get a discount. The pandemic has also negated the myth that people with pre-existing ailments cannot buy a health insurance policy. We observed that of all the health insurance policies sold by Policybazaar, the share of policies bought by those with pre-existing conditions was 30%, with the most common illnesses being Diabetes – 40% and Hypertension – 25%.”
Over the last few months, with changes in underwriting guidelines and digitization of various processes in the insurance sector, buying a health cover has now become much easier and faster. Policybazaar states that 65% of the total policies sold in this time frame were sold through ‘Straight Through Process’ – based on customer declaration and were issued instantly. The remaining 34% were sold through tele-medical and only 1% needed a physical medical check-up.
