Comparison site gets Irda approval

Mumbai-based insurance portal MyInsuranceClub.com has become the first comparison website to bag Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India's approval. This license allows MyInsuranceClub to officially compare premiums and features of insurance policies online.

Deepak Yohannan, chief executive officer says, “If web aggregators are supported by insurance companies it would result in drop in premiums, as costs of transacting online are much less compared to other modes of sale.”

The huge success of low-cost online term insurance plans is a good example where web aggregators displayed the zero-commission products for the benefit of their visitors. Increasing number of online plans are being launched by insurance companies, which will be priced much lower compared to offline plans, he says.

Online insurance aggregation is a big hit with consumers in many developed markets. Last November, Irda had issued guidelines that capped the remuneration that aggregator websites can receive from insurers and banned them from rating or reviewing policies.