Eight out of 10 consumers want customized health insurance policies: MD Future Generali India Insurance Company

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role of insurance in providing financial security and risk mitigation. It has prompted individuals and organizations to r-eevaluate their insurance needs and coverage, and it has also raised awareness about the need for more comprehensive and adaptable insurance products in a world where unexpected crises can have far-reaching consequences.

In an exclusive interview with India Today NE, Anup Rau, Managing Director and CEO of Future Generali India Insurance Company explains how the insurance providers are adapting to the evolving market needs. 

Post Covid-19 there is a lot of focus on health insurance. What is the share of health insurance to your total business? How do you see it growing? 

At Future Generali, in FY 2022-23, our Gross Written premium (GWP) grew by 10% to ₹4,626.80 crore from ₹4,210.35 crore in the previous financial year. The high interest garnered by health as a category has been a significant contributor to our growth. We have witnessed a huge uptick in the segment and expect this trend to continue in the mid-term. Our overall health portfolio is about 20% of our Gross Direct Premium Income. Anticipating further growth in our health insurance business, we have worked on strengthening our provider network and focused on innovative products and services.

Post pandemic, individuals woke up to the realization that health is an asset that needs financial protection. Consequently, to meet this demand, insurers have started offering more innovative products, through non-traditional distribution networks, targeting hitherto underserved demographics. These are clearly long-lasting effects as we continue to witness an uptick in the sector three years later. 

We are also focusing on innovative products and services and have successfully established a wide presence throughout India with over 8,260 hospitals. In keeping with Future Generali’s philosophy of being a lifetime partner to our customers, we have an in-house health claims processing team to make claim servicing a seamless experience for our customers. 

India is among the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world and is poised to emerge as one of the top six insurance markets by 2032. Backed by the government and with regulatory support, health insurance will continue to spearhead this growth. 

Do you think the market is mature enough for your recently launched DIY products? What has been the response so far? 

We launched our latest health insurance plan—D.I.Y Health—in June 2023. This plan is the direct result of our deep customer insight that brought forth a growing need for customization in insurance policies. Accordingly, D.I.Y Health comes with a base plan comprising of 17 features and 20 optional covers / features. It enables customers to design their personalized tailor-made policy in tune with their health insurance needs, making them the architects of their own protection, in the process.

In simpler terms, through this plan, features such as maternity expenses, critical illness booster, emergency air ambulance, as also accidental death cover can be available on-demand, as against it being a mandatory feature. This makes it a powerful tool in the hands of our customers as they can simply build their own customized plans that suit their unique health risks and needs.

We believe that the market is very much ready for this innovative product—in fact, our research showed that there was a market gap.  We conducted a survey in association with Unomer involving over 1,500 respondents across 14 Indian cities. The survey indicated that most customers feel current health insurance policies lack customization, and 94% would prefer to customize their health insurance policies if possible. Our survey revealed that eight out of ten consumers are looking for customization of health insurance and are willing to pay an additional premium and opt for the insurance they require specifically rather than paying for something they don’t need. 

Since D.I.Y health insurance plan was launched very recently, it is too early to comment on performance. However, the market response has been encouraging so far.

Which are the key areas of business growth for you? How much does motor account for your total business?

With growing awareness, insurance penetration is picking up across the country. While health and motor insurance are the two biggest contributors in our revenue so far, we have witnessed a trend where emerging segments, such as home, lifestyle, and travel insurance, are in demand. 

The motor insurance segment alone has contributed to nearly 37% of our overall premium collection during FY 2022-23. In fact, we serviced the highest numbers—more than 2 lakh own damage claims—in 2022. Customers appreciated our speed of settlement, while our cashless network increased to more than 6,500 workshops across all locations in the country. 

Can you throw some light on your other business verticals that is travel insurance and lifestyle insurance?  What kind of traction in demand have you been seeing?

There years post-Covid, the world has opened up, as have the markets. In fact, both business travel and leisure travel has increased manifold over the last year. There is pent up demand in the industry both for travel and lifestyle and that is definitely working in the favour of insurance companies, including us. Travel insurance is no longer an afterthought—travellers want to safeguard against flight cancellations and other unforeseen situations, resulting in a noticeable increase in insurance cover for domestic as well as international travel.

What is your gross premium at present? What kind of growth you are expecting this fiscal?

Future Generali has always been operationally efficient—in fact, we achieved break-even in 2013-14, our sixth year of operations. Our vision, far-sighted business continuity plan, willingness to adopt digital technology and our unwavering focus on innovation, human touch, ownership and implication—what we call our lifetime partner values—helped us thrive even during the unprecedented pandemic. As a result, we managed to cross 4000 crores in premium in 2022. In FY 2022-23, our Gross Written premium (GWP) grew by 10% to Rs. 4,626.80 crore from Rs. 4,210.35 crore in the previous financial year. Our net profit stood at Rs. 106.26 crore. We continue to be among the top 10 private general insurers in India, and THE preferred insurer—our impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 63.4 reflects this. In keeping with this upward trajectory, we expect a growth of about 20% this year, crossing the Rs. 5200 crore-mark this fiscal.