The pandemic has had grave effects across industries, dispersing to the wider economy of the globe. As for the insurance industry, it too could not escape its impact, however, it responded quickly to the crisis. Because of this, it witnessed relatively less damage on the business front and significant opportunities for the insurers, in the medium and long term. This time was specifically lucrative for them, in terms of policy awareness and sales.

Giving us an outline of how the pandemic acted for the industry as a whole, Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance agrees that it has been a very strange time. “Last March, we had very little idea about what it is and what it will be. The enforced lockdown was new.

Professionally, the overall industry has done well. While the stakeholders of the company have been tested at all levels, I still feel we are blessed and privileged. Things can only get better from here, now that the vaccines are available.”

An Opportune Time

Given the apparent focus on health and security, we asked him about the kind of opportunities the pandemic sprouted.“One should not let any crisis go to waste. One must do everything to make an organization survive. Did the pandemic lead to people buy a lot of health insurance? Indeed! During April- July, we witnessed a lot of queries on health. But did it sustain? Not much. It did get tapered a bit.

We didn't profit from the pandemic, but it actually came as a great opportunity to morph our products, change our work style and create whatever was required by the customer.

In fact, the mindset change has been the biggest success for the category- that insurance is not a bad investment. Individuals have become more aware and engaged in insurance. Today, nearly 4% of people in the country have their own health cover, which is startling. They are beginning to understand that this cover is critical and must-have.”

Technology- The Rescuer

Indeed, businesses were tested and impacted to an enormous extent. From a leader's perspective, Mantri elaborates on the role of technology that helped resolve the challenges that emanated from these uncertain times.“Clearly, we all did get tested. Business was not usual. It was a reasonably challenging environment as everything was shut.

On the bright side, it was an eye-opener as to what technology can do- physical interactions moving to digital being one of them. For us, we harnessed the use of technology, from its development to adoption. Fortunately, the environment was also conducive to accept these adoptions. Today, the world has seamlessly shifted and this is here to stay.”

ICICI Lombard, as an organization, has been digitally adept for more than a decade now. They invested in their digital channels much ahead of time. Hence, it did not encounter any complication with respect to selling its products digitally. “Almost 97% of our policies are issued digitally & not a single paper travels in office. On the macro level, we have been involved. But for current times, we need to have a multi-channel distribution. We must align ourselves with what the customer wants. There must be a customer-centric approach.

For our business, in specific, there is a layer of channel partners. Direct connect with customers is only online or through tele calling. Hence, products that align becomes crucial,” he believes.

Digital, technology tools and millennials pretty much belong to the same side. Where India stands in terms of demographics, nearly 60 cr of the individuals are less than 25 years of age. Mantri elaborates on exploring millennials' new trust equation in insurance. He asserts, “ We have a demographic benefit here. The way millennials are moving, they are fully digitalized. The good part is the seamless transition.

But, from a category perspective, the industry has been average. We haven’t done a great job in attracting this set of customers. We do have digital routes but millennial buyers are insignificant in number.”

“With the level of internet penetration & the loop emerging in terms of people sharing losses, there will be more category development,” he hopes.

Last but not least, Mantri anticipates the future to be a low-touch economy. For him, the use of technology is irreversible. “All categories have realized the convenience and cost mitigation that comes with digitized processes. There will be far more balance that will come in, as we progress as a community, through this pandemic,” he shares.