‘Life insurance companies should be permitted to sell health plans’
Mint, Mahesh Balasubramanian, managing director, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, says reinsurance support and additional health data of consumers that helps reduce friction around underwriting are equally important to increase protection in the country. Balasubramanian,who says that life insurers should start selling health plans, also talked about composite licence, individual risk-profiling, Bima Sugam and fraud prevention. The industry needs to come together and start awareness campaigns where protection is a key theme so that customers can understand products and natural demand gets created and met.
From a product availability perspective, it is quite adequate along with the flexibility at the customer level. Sachet products are available where insurance can be bought at minimal premium. Premium payments can happen monthly, quarterly or annually while policy can be bought for one, two or even five years in one go.
Return of premium plans are popular because it caters to the customer segment which wants something back in case they survive the policy period. Our recently launched product Kotak TULIP is also aimed at providing high sum-assured to customers along with market-linked returns. What we also need to do is reduce the friction around underwriting and increase the capacity from the reinsurer’s side.
So, better presence, products and awareness, and reducing the friction to purchase insurance are all enablers for the industry to focus far more on protection. It has two aspects. One, everybody can do everything.
It is certainly a solution to low penetration of insurance but we have to wait and watch as to when the regulations will be amended and implemented. A near-term solution can be worked out. Instead of
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