Aegon Life is the pioneer of digital insurance in India: Harish Kurudi

Aegon Life, one of the leading digital insurance companies in India, is a new-age digital service company and is amongst the first companies to launch Online Term Plan in India. Being the online protection specialists, Aegon Life has a company-employed service team that is fully geared to provide customers the highest levels of service. With a vision to be the most recommended new age life insurance company, the company’s Direct to Customer (D2C) focus establishes a direct dialogue with the customers to bring in greater clarity and transparency.

The pandemic has changed people’s perspective towards the protection plans and it has made people realise the importance of getting protected against unforeseen circumstances. The demand for the protection plans has been a popular choice with the customers since the pandemic struck. Aegon Life understood the need for a comprehensive protection plan against COVID-19 and launched the industry’s first ‘Life insurance with COVID-19 Cover’.

In conversation with Adgully, Harish Kurudi, Vice President and Head – Products & Marketing, Aegon Life Insurance, speaks at length about people’s changing perception of insurance, the strategy of going digital, COVID-19-specific plans and more.

The pandemic has disrupted globally and there is fear in people’s minds. Has the pandemic prompted people to take more precautions and insure their life? Did you witness any new policy purchasers asking for Aegon Life in the last 6 months?

The pandemic has changed people’s perspective towards the protection plans, it has made people realise the importance of getting protected against the unforeseen circumstances. The demand for the protection plans has been a popular choice with the customers since the pandemic struck us. We understood the need for a comprehensive protection plan against COVID-19. Hence, we recently launched the industry’s first ‘Life insurance with COVID-19 Cover’. This is the first COVID-19 plan which covers hospitalisation expenses of up to Rs 5 lakh if the policyholder tested positive for COVID-19, and the life cover can be availed from the base term life plan in case of the unfortunate death of the policyholder due to COVID-19. It has witnessed a great liking amongst our customers. In the coming months, we look to offer more such comprehensive protection solutions for our consumers, considering the demand and the current scenario.

Smaller towns have shown good potential and most marketers are turning their focus on these markets. Do you see any potential in the smaller markets? Any strategy that Aegon Life has planned to leverage these markets and aggressively promote its products?

The majority of the population still resides in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, which makes this market very important, especially from the digital perspective. Customers in smaller cities are becoming more aware of the need and importance of protection plans. The larger Internet penetration among the masses has enabled insurance to reach the untapped regions of the country. We are very focused on providing the protection solutions and operate on D2C models, and all our products are available on our website and our digital partners’ apps or websites. We had made all our processes online way before the world was affected by the pandemic. This enabled us to connect directly with our customers and eliminate the need for agents for any of the process.

How has digital helped you stay engaged with your business partners and your sales agents during the lockdown? How are you keeping them motivated and sharing knowledge and running your sales training program?

Aegon Life is the pioneer of digital insurance in India. As I mentioned earlier, we had digitalised all our processes, sales, medical tests, claim settlement, etc. Our customers do not need to step out of their homes to buy any of our products. Our strategy has always been digital-focused, and it also reflects in our business alliances. We have partnered with the major e-commerce and digital e-wallet players in the industry to sell our products on their platforms; this has helped to expand our digital horizons and cater to a larger set of audiences.

How do you see the festive season bringing cheer to the Insurance industry amid pandemic times? Are you planning to leverage the festivities with any promotions and launch of new products?

The festive season comes with a lot of good wishes for families and friends. The year 2020 has changed our way of looking at our health positively. People are more conscious about lifestyle choices and in line with this thought, we would be launching a new health plan. The healthcare expenses for any major illnesses are exuberant; we aim to ease out the financial liability which arises due to such conditions.

How have you been handling the customer care cell? With restrictions placed by the government to operate, how have you addressed the pain areas and grievances of your customers?

Our valued customers are the soul of our operations and strategies. As mentioned earlier, we work on the ‘D2C’ model, and we try to provide them with the best of services pre- and post-issuance of a policy. Customer service is one of the cornerstones of our company, we ensure that our customers do not face any issues, either at pre- and post-issuance of the policy. Our customer care cell works vigorously to ensure that our customers do not face any issues related to their purchase and other processes. For grievance redressals, customers can submit an online application or can write to us and can also get in touch with our customer service representatives on our toll-free number. We listen to our customers and address their grievances at the earliest and to the best of our abilities.