Go digital to survive Covid-19, insurance companies tipped

Guests during a 2019 launch of a mobile platform to ease purchase of motor and home insurance covers by Sanlam General Insurance. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A new survey also shows that going digital now will put them in a better place to overcome their biggest sector challenge- low penetration.
  • While insurance companies engage customers when an accident occurs, the report urged a review of the customer-company engagements to include product development, pricing and distribution.

Insurance firms have been urged to urgently digitise all operations to reduce Covid-19 challenges that have seen foot traffic to their outlets cut as Kenyans adhere to the social distancing directive to curb spread of the virus.

A new survey also shows that going digital now will put them in a better place to overcome their biggest sector challenge- low penetration.

The study jointly conducted by Institute of Insurance in Kenya, Insurance Information Bureau and insurance consultancy, Esri Eastern Africa also advises that companies must adopt new business models as well as overhaul their products to accommodate emerging needs especially for the youthful population, pensioners and SMEs who continue to shun the current offerings.

REMAIN RELEVANT

"To grow and remain relevant, insurance companies should be quick to transform via adoption of new technologies, benchmark with the global best while learning from local success stories in the financial and mobile communications sectors,” said the Kenya Insurance Industry Survey 2019.

While insurance companies engage customers when an accident occurs, the report urged a review of the customer-company engagements to include product development, pricing and distribution.

Lack of engagement, it said had seen insurance penetration shrink from a high of 3.44 percent of Kenya’s gross domestic product to the current 2.43 per cent of GDP due to erosion of trust by insurance companies that continue to remain aloof to Kenyan needs.

According to the 2020 Kenya Economic Survey, total assets of life insurance business increased by 15.2 percent to Sh451.9 billion in 2019, while total liabilities grew by 13.9 percent to Sh399.7 billion in the same period.

NEW INNOVATIONS

The survey urged for a review of the training curriculum for insurance workers where the ‘new’ crop of trainees will possess data analytical skills that will drive new innovations in the industry.

Fifty seven percent of those surveyed said Kenyan needs were not fully covered by the current variety of insurance products, especially automobile that remains a mandatory buy while life and health covers were mostly sponsored by employers.

The survey called for a sector-widen conversation to consider introducing products for people earning below Sh50,000 who remain excluded but form up to 70 percent of formal sector workers.