'Regular mediclaim renewal to earn you loyalty benefits'

Health Insurance companies are looking at offering loyalty benefits to customers who continue to stay with them for more than 3 years. The benefits offered by such loyalty programs aim at retaining customers for a longer time span. The programs employed by the insurance companies will not only help retain and enhance customer loyalty but also provide a boost to renewal business to insurance companies.

• Health insurance companies have begun offering loyalty benefits to customers that stay with them for more than three years.
• The benefits seem to target retaining the customers for longer time span and keep the renewals business ringing in handsomely to their revenues kitty.

Health insurance contracts are renewed every year. Recently, Tata AIG General Insurance lau­nched a product that offers free health checkups wo­rth 1 per cent of the sum insured to customers that have three continuous re­newals. Max Bupa He­alth Insurance, one of the three standalone health insurance companies, proposes to enhance sum insured for its loyal customers.

“Our product designing team is working on auto enhancement of sum insured after certain years of continuous policy renewal. Through this, we want to tackle rising healthcare cost concerns of our customers. Although the process is in initial stage, we expect to come out with this product within this year,” said Damien Marmion, chief executive officer of Max Bupa Health Insurance.

In order to improve service standards of health insurance, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had allowed health insurance portability from October 2011. Portability allows customers to shift to another insurance company along with all the accrued benefits such as no claim bonus and waiting period of pre-existing diseases.

“Loyalty programmes are important for insurance companies, especially, in a market which is evolving so rapidly. We have been providing health checkup coupons to our customers who had renewed their health insurance with us for four continuous years, irrespective of whether they had registered a claim or not. More such initiatives can be expected in the market in future,” said Sanjay Datta, head of underwriting and claims at ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

However, Gaurav D Garg, managing director and chief executive officer of Tata AIG General Insurance said, “Going forward, customer retention is expected to play an important role in health insurance segment. Unlike life insurance, health insurance products are yearly contracts. Insurers cannot afford to rely only on loyalty programmes to retain customers. Innovative products and high service standards would be crucial in attracting and maintaining customers.”

Health insurance is one of the fastest growing general insurance products registering over 30 per cent growth every year. To tap growing health insurance market, many life insurance companies have also begun offering health insurance plans. Soon, another standalone health insurance company, Religare Health Insurance is expected to begin operations​.