Is Home the Next Prize for Insurers?

As work from home is proving to be efficient and productive, people are beginning to make their houses more comfortable to make it conducive to good work results. 69% of Indian employees believe that their productivity has improved while working from home. The creation of an organized space and additional expenses on equipment for professional needs are some of the requirements that Indian employees might need to do. As people are slowly adjusting to the ‘better normal’, it is paving a way for a connected living. Even though connected living was in its nascent stage before the pandemic, people will witness its necessity now. As most homes would transform, people are most likely to get home insurance now, therefore homes can be the next prize for insurers. 

Existing gaps between home insurance and customers

Home insurance penetration is just about 1% in India and barely 3% of houses are insured. Despite going through financial tension of repairing and reinstalling certain contents of the house, people are unwilling to buy home insurance. Houses older than 30 years are not insured and coverage for loss of Gold deems unsatisfactory among the customers. These are the most commonly cited reasons for people being hesitant to buy home insurance. Apart from this, one of the common misconceptions is the lengthy claim settlements. As people are gradually adopting more digital-enabled services in the ‘better normal’, home insurance is likely to witness a fundamental shift.

Home Insurance is the next prize for insurers

With remote working, newer risks are likely to prop up. For instance, while using the Zoom platform, a lot of people suffered security issues. Cyber risk and cybercrime coverages are not usually included by most standard home insurance companies but are slowly becoming popular. For instance, State Farm is the only major home insurance company that offers personal cyber insurance in addition to a standard homeowner insurance policy. 

Insurers are recognizing the significance of smart-home services that can help them enhance their offerings and personalize the customer experience. Installation of smart home devices would lead the insurers to become watchdogs of the contents of the house. Connected security systems and smart-home devices also mean low premium, thus allowing insurers to change the value proposition.

The world of connected living will also bring the opportunity of partnerships. For example, AXA partnered with connected device manufacturers to enhance its offering. It has developed a mobile application “MY AXA” with which it can control the smart-home devices. MyFox, Kiwatch, Philips Hue, Orange My Plug are some of the manufactures with which AXA has partnered. Owing to this, customers can get policies at a lower premium. 

Work from home has made people realize the necessity of a conducive environment to work smoothly. A comfortable space and installation of technologies and equipment at home for professional demands are being recognized by people. Owing to this, home insurers can expect calls from their customers who might want to know the coverage of assets. Few contents can also require extra coverage such as electronics, depending on the level of usage. For instance, Lemonade’s contents insurance covers contents with extra coverage on assets such as bikes, jewellery, etc. If a customer wants extra coverage on their camera, they would be required to send pictures of the receipt and camera. In the case the receipt is misplaced, insurers can determine the replacement value based on the current value of the camera. 

Conclusion

People have seen a change in their lifestyle, and are buying products to make their houses comfortable to work in. Content insurance can ease lifestyle by providing extra coverage on valuable assets, and act as watchdogs for physical assets. As priorities are meant to change in the ‘Better Normal’, people are likely to consider home insurance. With the ‘Better Normal’ and modification in work culture, the insurance sector is also likely to transform its services to cater to customer needs.   

Further Readings:

1. The State of AI chatbots in Insurance 2020 Report
2. Mantra Labs joins the third annual Insurtech100 list
3. Contactless Solutions in Insurance
4. The CIO guide to keeping operations up during pandemics
5. COVID-19 Lockdown Effects: A Paradigm Shift in Indian Edtech