Car insurance is one of the first things that a car owner must have before their drive their car out. The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 mandates all vehicles owners to have car insurance on them at all times. However, there is more to insurance than just regulatory compliance. It is your back up, should things not go according to the plan. In the event of any unforeseen incidents, your new car insurance will ensure complete peace of mind.
The insurance landscape has seen a lot of changes over the years. A business that was once believed to be a string of paperwork connected together, now just takes a few clicks. All these improvements in process and procedures mean that the insurance sector, in general, is evolving. There is no denying the fact that mobile phone usage is at unprecedented levels. And this is allowing insurers to make the most of this trend. Insurance companies are now using mobile apps to connect and interact with their customers, which is making this easy for everyone involved.
India is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the world. And it should not come as a surprise that usage of mobile phone apps is also on the rise. According to data collected by the Internet and Mobile Association of India, 281 million Indians used mobile internet on a daily basis in the year 2017. In fact, App Annie, a company that deals in mobile app data has rated India as the fastest growing country in terms of mobile app usage. And this holds good for both Apple’s IOS and Google’s Android.
Growth Of Insurance
For a lot of Indians, insurance has been one of the most trusted investment tools for ages. And this is not merely a statement, there are enough statistics to back the claims. The market penetration of insurance products in the country stood at 2.71% in 2001. The market penetration stood at 3.7% in 2017, which is impressive. And according to Assocham-APAS study, the industry is set to grow by 280 million USD by the year 2019-2020. One of the flag bearers for this continued growth for the insurance sector is motor insurance.
The car manufacturers are continuously posting better sales figures and it translates to more car insurance policies being sold. More and more car owners are understanding the fact that new car insurance offers a lot of protection and mustn’t be bought only for regulatory compliance.
Integration with Smartphones
Policy buyers look into a variety of factors and features before buying a policy. A convenient claim process is one of the major ones. Thus, it is not uncommon to see insurers coming up with apps to serve their large customer base. Some insurers have already come up with apps where customers can engage in video calls with advisors, renew their policies with ease, find out the list of nearby hospitals and garages and so on. Insurers also boast of features such as claim status in real time as well as a digital locker to store your driving license, RC book etc.
The introduction of mobile apps and simplistic websites for serving customers has shaken the general insurance industry for the good. Gone are the days when a person had to deal with a lot of paperwork. Given the potential of mobile phone apps/simplistic websites that the country has and the higher expected insurance penetration, they both can work in conjunction. With more and more people looking at convenient features and comfort, mobile phone apps/simplistic websites will surely help with the insurance penetration in the country.
This translates into a much smoother car insurance online buying experience. In the future, car insurance online is only going to get better, and even smoother than what it currently is.