In comparison with banking, retail, and even F&B, the insurance coverage trade has been quite sluggish to embrace digitisation.
That stated, COVID-19 was most likely the kick within the butt insurers wanted to stand up to hurry. Today, shopping for insurance coverage on-line is commonplace — particularly relating to easy issues like journey and automotive insurance coverage.
However is it attainable for the extra sophisticated insurance coverage sorts, like vital sickness and medical insurance, to go the way in which of e-commerce?
MoneySmart surveyed 562 respondents in Singapore about how far they’re keen to go digital relating to insurance coverage. Under is a quick abstract of our findings.
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How do Singaporeans get data on insurance coverage?
Gone are the times the place your essential supply of details about every thing insurance coverage is out of your friend-of-a-friend monetary advisor.
The web has democratised data, and the survey outcomes present — 73% of respondents get their details about insurance coverage from monetary aggregators like MoneySmart.
In distinction, solely 56% of them get their data from the insurer’s web site, 50% of them get it from their advisors, and 27% get their data from social media.
The insights from the respondents’ feedback make clear digitally savvy prospects’ behaviour. Realizing that the web is house to each truth and fiction, they depend on trusted data sources like MoneySmart, over the less-reliable content material discovered on social media.
Moreover, prospects are more likely to cross-check their on-line analysis on monetary aggregators and insurance coverage web sites by validating it with their private advisors.
Shopping for insurance coverage on-line or offline: which will we favor?
Today, prospects anticipate every thing to be completed on-line, and that is no totally different for insurance coverage. 86% of respondents stated they have been glad with on-line self-service purchases for insurance coverage merchandise.
However does this paint an entire image? Not essentially. 91% of respondents report being glad with human advisor-assisted insurance coverage purchases, i.e. the standard approach of shopping for insurance coverage.
Earlier than you whip out your calculator and inform me that it doesn’t add as much as 100%, sure, you will be a part of each camps. If something, it is a very robust indication that insurance coverage prospects would favor a ‘phygital’ expertise — a hybrid digital and bodily expertise.
The rationale for that is easy — variations by way of product complexity. For easy merchandise equivalent to automotive insurance coverage, we discovered that prospects have been greater than keen to buy their safety on-line.
However as insurance coverage merchandise get extra complicated, the stakes are perceived to be greater. In these instances, advisor help helps insurance coverage prospects really feel snug and guarantee the next success price of claims.
What about insurance coverage claims?
Shopping for insurance coverage is one factor, however claiming it’s a entire totally different story. That is the realm the place a lot of the shopper ache factors are, and the outcomes are in favour of advisor help as the character of their claims get extra complicated.
The survey respondents famous that the present on-line self-serve channels will not be adequate to handle buyer doubts or questions. “A single, wrongly submitted piece of data may price quite a bit, so I’d quite speak to their folks than submit the shape myself,” famous one respondent.
This ties in with the purpose that self-service claims wouldn’t have a 100% success price, preferring their private advisor to look over their declare submission to handle any gaps.
After the claims submission, having a private level of contact is extremely useful as properly. “You may chase the agent for something. For on-line platforms, I don’t know who to chase when the claims are made,” stated one other respondent.
Clients are typically extremely glad and warranted when advisors help in doc assembling, claims processing and submissions. This sense that somebody on the “inside” is working onerous in your finest curiosity is not present in digital insurance coverage experiences.
How do Singaporeans deal with insurance coverage merchandise otherwise?
Anybody can let you know that not all insurance coverage merchandise are the identical — as is their complexity. For this examine’s function, we surveyed prospects throughout 4 distinct insurance coverage product classes.
So as of least complicated to most complicated, with 1 being the least and 4 being probably the most:
| Complexity stage | Insurance coverage Class |
| 1 | Automobile |
| 2 | Important Sickness |
| 3 | Residence Contents |
| 4 | Hospitalisation |
1. Automobile insurance coverage (least complicated)
When shopping for automotive insurance coverage, 73% of shoppers care about which is the perfect automotive insurer. That is amplified by the truth that automotive insurance coverage is necessary in Singapore.
Not a lot human interplay is required both, so prospects often purchase automotive insurance coverage by means of digital means. They expertise comparable ranges of satisfaction when submitting automotive insurance coverage claims digitally as properly.
2. Important sickness insurance coverage (much less complicated)
Clients don’t thoughts window looking for vital sickness insurance coverage on-line: 63% of them report being glad with on-line self-serve purchases for this insurance coverage kind.
Nevertheless, relating to submitting and processing the vital sickness insurance coverage claims, the outcomes are overwhelmingly in favour of advisor help, with 71% of respondents preferring it.
By way of their advisors, they see extra worth in screening their submissions for max success charges, and in addition their involvement in pushing their claims in the direction of a beneficial payout.
3. Residence insurance coverage (extra complicated)
Clients felt house contents insurance coverage to be one of many extra complicated sorts of insurance coverage, maybe as a result of everybody attaches a special perceived worth to their properties and belongings. Clients seeking to purchase are extra eager on consulting their advisors.
Claiming house contents insurance coverage is similar story as properly — 68% of respondents report making their claims by means of their advisors, even with digital self-serve choices accessible.
The complexity of submitting the house contents insurance coverage claims is responsible right here, with plenty of necessities for proof, components which might be simply missed when trying to do it themselves.
4. Hospitalisation insurance coverage (most complicated)
As a result of complexity of Singapore’s healthcare and medical insurance techniques, prospects search to purchase and declare medical insurance by means of their advisors quite than on-line.
Except you’ve gotten skilled a declare personally, it’s obscure your protection wants, dangers, premium quantities and the way reimbursement works. Thus, prospects are more likely to welcome recommendation from human advisors who’ve processed precise instances.
It’s no shock that 74% of survey respondents overwhelmingly favor claiming their hospitalisation insurance coverage by means of their advisors. Advisors play a invaluable position in gathering and compiling the required documentation to submit a profitable declare.
Shifting ahead: what ought to insurers do to satisfy buyer wants?
The folks have spoken overwhelmingly in favour of wanting on-line for data earlier than making their buy, counting on monetary aggregators like MoneySmart to satisfy their informational wants. However it’s putting that solely half of respondents get their details about merchandise from the insurers’ personal web sites.
To enhance on this metric, insurers have to be extra clear and goal, highlighting exclusions and different related data quite than hiding them contained in the coverage paperwork.
Clients just like the comfort of digital providers, however there’s a important wants hole in addressing buyer doubts and questions on-line. Insurers ought to take into account filling this hole by way of round the clock help from chatbots and/or human advisors.
From this, insurers can anticipate to personalise and consolidate insurance coverage packages for people or households, in order that prospects can save themselves a headache from having to maintain monitor of many shifting components — be it the phrases of the plans they’ve, the numerous premiums they need to maintain monitor of, and submitting their claims individually.
So… bots or our bodies? The reply is each. Whereas “bots” get fundamental duties like buying and easy claims completed, it’s human “our bodies” who expedite or improve the success price of the shopping for and claiming means of insurance coverage.
Examine & store on your insurance coverage wants on MoneySmart
While we work in the direction of the ‘phygital’ future, MoneySmart can tackle your insurance coverage wants by way of our comparability device, and our Insurance coverage 101 information. By way of these instruments, it is possible for you to to make an knowledgeable choice on what your insurance coverage wants are, and be sure that you get the perfect value to pay on your premiums.
Have doubts or questions? There are MoneySmart insurance coverage specialists able to allay them. Reaching out to them is so simple as answering 3 questions based mostly in your question and sort of insurance coverage that you simply’re looking for. There’s additionally no strain so that you can decide to a purchase, they’re merely there to reply your questions.
Obtain Bots vs Our bodies, MoneySmart’s insurance coverage white paper, for additional studying and extra survey findings.
