Play your cards right when purchasing online insurance

Kelvin Yu November 11, 2021 09:52

Insurers are in a tight race to ensure that they remain ahead of the ever-changing technological trends by offering customers efficient digital products and services. On the other hand, choices can be overwhelming especially as new digital insurers continue to emerge in the market. Here are two top tips for purchasing digital insurance:

Look for insurers that are transparent

Before purchasing insurance products, you should understand your protection needs and familiarise yourself with the product options available. Digital platforms should provide insurance product details such as coverage, sum insured and exclusions in a user-friendly way, whilst making the customer journey easy and accessible.

The devil is in the detail. A customer-led insurer should be transparent with its fees and charges, disclosing them through simple quotation functions that allows you to compare and choose different plans depending on the insurance premiums and coverage that suit you. An instant quotation service is a good example as it allows you to see all available products, coverage and premium options at a glance. Don’t forget to make use of this function to calculate insurance premiums based on designated sums insured to get some foresight on how much you’ll have to pay and what you’ll get back.

A reputable insurer should be able to offer quotations, plan selection, purchasing and payment all in one go – with a policy issuance process that can be completed and effective in no more than 30 minutes. Some insurers go the extra mile by offering instant online customer support in addition to the 24/7 online insurance purchase service, so that you can get assistance as you need.

Know the claims process before you purchase

In Hong Kong, the time spent on processing medical claims can range from days to weeks. As technology becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, insurers are duty-bound to innovate their digital offerings to speed up the claim payment process.
You can look for insurers that offer instant claims services via mobile apps, using AI assessment engines that help customers receive reimbursement in as fast as within seconds. Apart from instant claims, you should also pay attention to how insurers will pay your claims and choose one that provides convenient and diverse options (e.g. FPS, PPS, convenience stores as well as direct bank transfers to name a few).

In addition to fast approvals and convenient pay outs, personalisation is another element to consider. You should check whether the insurer provides personalised claims support. Claims ambassadors play a key part in improving the customer experience as they can provide tailored claims support to help you expedite the claims processes especially for more complicated cases.

The choice is yours!

As the insurance industry evolves, you’ll come across more digital insurance choices. Before making a decision, it’s important to take the company’s scale and track record into consideration, as these factors determine how likely you’re to get prompt and professional follow-up on purchases and claims. Digitalisation is the new normal, so buying insurance should be simpler, faster and smoother than ever before!

-- Contact us at [email protected]

Kelvin Yu

Chief Product Officer of FWD Hong Kong & Macau

Hong Kong

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