Royal Sundaram Offers Cashless Claims Facility

Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company (RSA) has become the first private sector non-life insurer to introduce cashless claims facility in the area of motor and health, both sectors which today have high loss claim ratios. This assures that the insured does not have to pay upfront, as the concerned repair expenses or medical treatment is reimbursed on the spot by RSA through its various strategic alliances and network. "We want to take the hassle out of claims," said RSA managing director Mickey Brigg.

The highest single claim cleared by Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company (RSA) has been over Rs 1 crore. This was paid out to a commercial client of RSA as loss on account of business interruption.

Since it started operations eight months ago, RSA has launched products in the area of home, motor, travel, accident and health. However, it has preferred to take the route of strategic alliances to sell its products. Said the company's vice-president Richard Schofield: "The beauty in working with a partner is that someone has already got the good will with the potential customer and we can capitalised on the same."

"Our core distribution of products will be through our banking partners, as we do not want to get so many people whose proof of income and existence of car would be an issue," said Schofield. It has strategic alliances with ABN Amro, American Express, Sundaram Finance, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and Fiat Sundaram Auto Finance. Helping with banks helps as there is already a pre-acceptance. This is RSA's entry strategy into the Indian market, which faces high loss claim ratios.

Starting with a pilot project in Bangalore, RSA is the first insurer to introduce cashless medical treatment to its customers through tie ups with 10 hospitals in the city. "We have also signed up the Calcutta-based Medicare as our third party administrator for our health plans in the country," said Schofield.

The product is about 10 to 20 per cent more expensive than the Mediclaim product offered by state insurers, said Schofield. "But this factors in the cashless claim facility introduced and the health portals customers can access, which would also store their medical history," he added. The idea is to move more towards health management.

The medical plan has three different tiers of coverage depending upon the budget, and how much a customer wants and for whom they are buying. Unlike Mediclaim cover where there are a number of discounts offered, RSA intends to offer additional cover to the parents of the customer taking the policy. Recently it tied up with Citibank to offer health insurance to children under Citibank Junior -- the bank's children's savings plan.

RSA's next stop to introduce health plans is Mumbai where it has already tied up with leading hospitals including Breach Candy, Nanavati, Jaslok, etc.

On the motor insurance front, plans are afoot to introduce a loan protection policy. RSA would repay the balance taken for a vehicle should the owner die in an accident or be permanently impaired, said Brigg. "This cover is in the planning stage and would be structured on the lines of a personal accident policy. Should the owner be temporarily impacted, we propose to offer a temporary payment while he is hospitalised," he said.