Online insurance marketplace Coverfox.com is looking at rolling out micro-insurance products by tying up with insurance companies.
The products will be customised to suit the needs of young millennials who prefer purchasing insurance online.
Products sold on the online platform are typically expected to be 20-30 per cent cheaper compared to the offline version.
“We are right now in talks with insurance companies for customised offerings. We hope to come up with exclusive motor insurance plans only for Coverfox customers by mid-March,” Premanshu Singh, CEO, Coverfox.com, told
Coverfox is also in talks with insurance companies to co-create products across several other verticals, including travel, cyber, pet and home insurance. It is hopeful of firming up plans by July-August 2019.
“We are planning to launch two to three more verticals by the second quarter of next fiscal. We are looking at cyber, pet and home insurance,” he said.
Coverfox currently sells more than 10 lakh policies a year, and is hopeful of clocking an annualised premium of around ₹800 crore by the end of this year. Nearly 60 per cent of the sales is in non-life – motor and health segments – while the remaining 40 per cent comes from life. “We grew by nearly four times this year, compared to last year. We became operationally profitable about two quarters ago, but we are not EBITDA-positive right now. We wish to grow by five times next year and become profitable by 2020,” he said.
Digital, the way forward
According to Singh, the size of the Indian insurance industry is estimated to be close to $100 billion; of this, 3 to 4 per cent is digitally-influenced.
The industry is still largely dependent on traditional channels of distribution, including brick and mortar branches, bancassurance, and agent-led model.
“The life insurance industry is growing at 6-7 per cent, and non-life at close to 15-16 per cent. While all other channels have stagnated, digital is growing at nearly 20 times. In 10 years, we expect digital to be a much larger mode of distribution,” he said.