Coronavirus pandemic| Tele-checkups to e-claims: Here’s how ICICI Lombard is managing the lockdown

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting, Claims and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard, said employees would have to operate from home given the 21-day lockdown. “Since we are connected through electronic devices, it is easier to coordinate. Approvals are also granted over such e-meetings, doing away with face-to-face interactions,” he added.

New business For insurance companies, premium collection and claims settlement are the two most crucial functions. ICICI Lombard collected gross direct premiums of Rs 12,569.11 crore from April 1 to February 29 and commands a market share of 7.25 percent.

“Meeting clients and feet-on-street is a challenge since that is how we primarily procure business. Now, the thrust on tele-calling has increased,” he added.

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Industry insiders said there will be an impact on premium collection as corporate clients, in particular, would not be comfortable paying high premium amounts without re-verifying the policy terms through a physical meeting.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance posted a 23 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its December quarter net profit at Rs 294.11 crore. Gross domestic premium income (GDPI) of the company remained flat at Rs 3,693 crore in Q3FY20 compared to Rs 3,699 crore in the year-ago period.

For issuances of new policies, a health check-up is done to verify medical history of a prospective customer. Given the lockdown, Datta said the company is undertaking tele-checkups.

However, he admitted that if the prospect belongs to a higher age-group, where tests are mandatory, policy issuance could be a challenge. “The policy issuance could get postponed in these cases because those conducting physical medical tests themselves are not ready to visit customer homes,” he added.

What about data privacy? When it comes to data privacy, IRDAI laws mandate that private information of a customer, including contact details and medical history, are kept secure. Data is usually stored on a cloud server, which can be accessed by authorised persons.

“We follow stringent data storage norms, since we are required to do so as per insurance laws. Even during this lockdown period, this is being followed,” he added.

This data that is collected is used for validating the credentials of the customer. This information comes handy at the time of filing claims.

Claims settlement Claims settlement is usually considered the true test of how good an insurance company is. Any delay or rejection in claims leads to a drop in the brand perception of an insurer.

Datta explained that whether there is a lockdown or not, claims keep coming in.

“It is not just COVID-19 claims. There are hospitalisation, accident and fire insurance claims. We are trying to minimise documentation and have allowed scanned copies of reports so that claims can be settled quickly,” he added.

Once the lockdown is eased, Datta said customers could visit the insurer’s office and submit the physical documents for verification.

For motor insurance claims, Datta said ICICI Lombard has a facility called InstaSpect, the mobile self-inspection feature that eliminates the need for physical inspection of cars.

Through this, customers can now record a video of their car on their mobile phones as per the guidance provided in the ‘Insure’ app. This facility saves customers the hassle of having to wait for a surveyor to visit and carry out the physical inspection.

However, for large claims where surveyor is required to physically inspect the location, Datta said the company has facilitated it because it is an essential service.

ICICI Lombard has one of the highest claims settlement ratios in the industry. During FY19, the company settled 99.87 percent health insurance claims and 93.14 percent motor insurance claims (own damage) within 30 days of claim filing.

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