India's insurance companies feel the digital pinch amid Covid-19 pandemic

Globally, the insurance industry is moving to a model where insurance policies and premiums are tailored to customer profiles aided by vast technological leaps

The second half of 2020 is proving to be a tough period for India’s insurance companies. For years these companies wrote insurance policies and serviced claims in a limited universe of mostly salaried people but recent trends have disturbed the pace. The first of these is the Covid-19-induced furious pace of adoption of digital means to sell insurance. This digitalisation has hurt non-life companies the most with digital insurance aggregators cornering clients. The other is the dip in the interest rates that has reduced earnings from long-term investments for life and reinsurance companies.

In August, HDFC Ergo and ICICI Lombard