IRDAI Chairman TS Vijayan has today said that distributors should be adequately compensation in order to increase the penetration of insurance. He was speaking at the 18th CII Insurance Summit held in Mumbai.
Vijayan said that insurance is not something which could be sold online like clothes and mobile phones. He said, “A policyholder needs proper handholding and advice to buy an insurance policy. And who is better than agents. Hence, insurance companies should motivate agents to take insurance distribution as a full time career.”
He further said, “A lot of debate has been going on high upfront commission of distributors. However, I have a different view on this. I think agents should be compensated in such a way that she should find insurance an attractive career option.”
He further said that it takes a lot of effort to solicit insurance policies and give after sales services to clients. Distributors are the face of insurance companies and hence they deserve adequate remuneration for their services, he added.
Sharing an instance of conversation with an agent, he said, “An agent told me that his persistency ratio is over 85%. In my view agents can help the insurance industry increase the penetration.”
