Most Indians prefer an intermediary - be it insurance agents or online aggregators such as Policybazaar to buy insurance products.
A PWC – CII survey titled ‘Competing in a new age of insurance: How India is adopting emerging technologies’ shows that 55% Indians prefer buying insurance policies through intermediaries. While 35% Indians prefer buying insurance policies through agents, 20% favour online aggregators.
A significant number of participants (40%) who preferred buying insurance via an intermediary, chose it because of convenience. While 12% investors said that they select insurance scheme due to word of mouth, 13% said that it was due to scheme features explained to them by agents and 31% investors said that it was due to direct approach from agents.
Among those who prefer online aggregators, 55% said that they opted for it due to convenience. Further, 9% investors listed word of mouth as the reason.
Interestingly, 25% Indians prefer buying insurance policies on their own. Among other popular routes, 19% Indians prefer buying insurance from the insurance company staff.
Source of information
When it comes to seeking information about insurance, digital mode was the most preferred one, with 47% Indians opting for it, the survey shows. Of this 47%, 18% prefer go to the company website, 20% opt for online aggregators, and 9% choose financial blogs and portals.
Interestingly, the survey concluded that even in this digital era human touch in the Indian insurance ecosystem has a major role. When it comes to finalising their decision on which insurance product to buy, 27% Indians rely on feedback from family or friends.
The survey took feedback from 200 people, including customers, agents and insurers.
