The insurance industry of India has evolved as compared to the recent past. When we talk about evolution, it essentially implies the change in the characteristics over time.

Although the core of insurance lies in its simplicity, the best thing happened is digitization, which has given a new insight into the world of insurance.

With digitization coming into the picture, it has improved the image of insurance as it was perceived during earlier times. Besides, turning of the wheel of time has been for better and the well-being of the customers is the centric focus for the insurance providers.

Look below and let us understand the pointers that will help you to understand the difference between new-age insurance and traditional insurance and how the wheel of time has turned for better.

Read On!

Terms of Cost

Traditional insurance involved higher operational cost as the majority of the work was done on an offline basis. Reaching to the plethora of several branches for disseminating any information was a serious task.

With new-age insurance working on the digital mode not just saves time but at the same time is cost-effective as well. Today, understanding the cut-throat competition insurance providers such as Oriental insurance, HDFC ERGO insurance, ICICI LOMBARD insurance, SBI general insurance, Religare insurance and so forth have a digital presence with various social media handles and running insurance campaigns to inform, educate and spread awareness regarding the insurance.

With new-age insurance, the policies are easily accessible with various options and if in case any clarification is required it can be resolved within 24 hrs, which was earlier, a task during the traditional counterpart.

Process of Buying Insurance

Undoubtedly, purchasing insurance policy was a daunting affair in traditional times when compared to the times of today.

The process of buying insurance in the past was tedious, complicated and lengthy. Besides, earlier people were not well-versed with the importance of insurance and tend to get irritated during the buy of the insurance policy. The buying process of traditional insurance was expensive on the pockets as one had to pay the broker, agent or the middle-men. Besides, one also had to invest time in visiting the insurance company for any details/clarifications.

The buying process of new-age insurance is simplified and user-friendly. Today, the customers mostly prefer buying stuff online just as if they buy stuff from any e-commerce websites. Buying an insurance policy online is easy, quick and reliable wherein one can easily scroll through various plans, customize the plan without the interference of anybody else and get instant quotes and make an informed decision without getting into the hassle of paperwork or paying anything extra to any middleman, etc. Today, from the rural population to the urban population, the users have become digital-friendly and going digital is a preferred choice these days.

Process of Communication

Insurance is generally taken as a concept, which is difficult to understand. However, this is not the case. To make the customers understand the information, the information must be presented accurately. Traditional insurance uses a lot of jargons to communicate the advantages and features of a specific insurance plan whereas today, new-age insurance drafts information in a quirky and understanding manner wherein infographics, images, etc. are used.

Besides, as most of the insurance providers have a digital presence these providers make ad-films to increase awareness among the customers and arouse interest. Moreover, they all run digital campaigns to grab the interest and for the interests of the potential customers. This also helps in maintaining the customer base and earning goodwill in the market.

Insurance Claim Process

The objective of buying an insurance policy is to safeguard you and others insured in case of emergencies. Having insurance is of no use when you are unable to benefit from the same when it is required.

Earlier, the claim settlement process was a task as most of the people were unaware in regards to the claim settlement process. The claim settlement process of an insurance company is of its utmost credibility. When buying new-age insurance, the claim settlement process is no more a roadblock as today the new-age is cautious about the image of the company and provide customer-friendly and hassle-free claim settlement process and keep the customers happy and satisfied.

The Hassle of Paperwork

In case of buying traditional insurance, you will have to get into the habit of paperwork. The traditional insurance implies buying policy offline, which requires filling up lengthy forms and include documents, which are an additional task in the eyes of the customers.

On the contrary, new-age insurance completely works on a digital mode, which requires the minimum of paperwork and at the same time, it takes care of your convenience and efforts.

In the below grid, find the difference between new-age insurance and traditional insurance on important factors:

Factors	Traditional Insurance	New-age Insurance
Communication	It is like reading a research paper, which is complicated.	It is like reading a newspaper or a comic that is easy to understand.
Cost	It is on an expensive side.	It is cost-effective and pocket-friendly.
Buy	It may seem like you are buying a car.	It may seem like you are buying your favourite apparel.
Paperwork	The maximum paperwork with minimal convenience.	The maximum convenience with minimal paperwork.
Claim	Time-consuming claim process.	Smooth processing of claims with less of hassles.

Going the Digital Way

Below are some instances, which depict how technology has been improving the efficiency of the insurance industry in India.

During Kerala floods, Reliance General Insurance deployed the feature of video conversation to process the claims in regards to the motor vehicle. With this, a two-way video chat was done to show the damage incurred to the surveyor. With the help of using this technology, the claim was processed within three days.

Baja Allianz Life Insurance has a mobile application to hire the agents. With the help of this mobile application, the processing time of the agents has been cut down and this helps in training, licensing and in exams.

Besides, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a self-settlement claim tool in regards to claims against motor vehicles.

For corporate customers, ICICI Lombard has developed an IoT based instant health check facility. Moreover, telematics is used to identify and then segmenting vehicle users on the premise of driving behaviour.

To Conclude

When buying an insurance policy, make sure that you read the terms and conditions of the policy schedule carefully without a miss. If in case, you have queries, get the doubts cleared.

Do not buy an insurance policy based on word of mouth rather buy insurance depending upon the needs. Understand the inclusions and exclusions mentioned in the specific plan.

With new-age insurance, you get in touch with the customer support round the clock and contact them via calls or over e-mails.

Buying new-age insurance is easy, quick and hassle-free.