Policybazaar expects motor insurance policies to drive growth

Online insurance marketplace Policybazaar is expecting to more than double the sale of motor insurance policies, including private cars and two-wheelers, in FY20.

According to Sajja Praveen Chowdary, Head, Motor Insurance, Policybazaar, increasing awareness among consumers about the ease of online purchase and claims settlement will be the key growth driver.

The company, which sold close to 11 lakh insurance policies for private vehicles in 2018-19, is expecting to sell around 22 lakh next year. The number of two-wheeler policies sold in FY19, which is likely to be close to 21 lakh, is expected to grow to 45 lakh in 2019-20.

“In 2017-18, we sold close to 5.7 lakh policies for cars and around 10 lakh two-wheeler policies. While the sale of car policies has grown by more than 90 per cent, sale of two-wheelers has grown by nearly 110 per cent this year. We expect to double this next year,” Chowdary told BusinessLine.

However, it is interesting to note that less than 1 per cent of the total number of policies sold are for first-time car buyers.

Of the 11 lakh policies for private vehicles sold by the company, only around 6,500 were bought by consumers purchasing new cars. This is primarily because motor dealers tend to package the car and policy payment, leaving little choice to consumers to decide on the policy or the insurer.

“We are trying to make consumers more aware of the regulations, and are planning to come up with an educational series to create awareness. We will come up with an online campaign soon,” he said.

Online purchases to grow

Online purchase currently accounts for less than 10 per cent of the total motor insurance sold in India. Close to 2.2 crore policies for private vehicles were sold in 2018-19, but only around 19.5 lakh policies were sold through online channels. Of this, Policybazaar’s share is close to 11 lakh policies.

But the share of online sales is likely to grow. It has already grown from less than 5 per cent in 2017-18 to close to 10 per cent in FY19. Simple processing and claims settlement will aid growth in online sales, he said.

Policybazaar, for instance, has launched an exclusive ‘Cashless Assurance’ feature for customers to help them at the time of claims. The feature will allow customers to opt for cashless approvals on claims across all garages across the country within a matter of a few hours. In the past, this serivce was available only through select insurer network garages.

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