Page 14 - Insurance Times November 2021

understand customers preference and customer account information with health cover on private medical insur-
provide personalized solutions in real- BoC Insurance. ance. The cost to businesses and insur-
time. Ms. Mitra concludes: “Digitalization in ers for these problems continues to
rise, so it makes sense to see so many
Consequently, the digital accessibility of the insurance value chain to improve
firms looking to enact such changes”.
insurance services gained traction as operational efficiencies gained momen-
social distancing norms restricted func- tum during the last five years. This, in Insurance firm Zurich reported that
tioning of traditional distribution chan- turn, has provided an impetus to the the proportion of income protection
nels like brokers and agents, which was online bancassurance sales. With banks claims made by individuals citing men-
mostly face-to-face. being at the forefront of digital devel- tal health problems in the UK more
Deblina Mitra, Senior Insurance Ana- opments such as app-based services than doubled to *** 27% in 2020, from
and contactless payment, they are at 13% in 2019. Complementary to this
lyst at GlobalData, comments: “Tradi-
an advantageous position to leverage finding, Zurich released a free-to-use
tionally, agencies and brokers account
for the largest distribution share in their digital infrastructure to further digital tool for UK businesses to estab-
APAC insurance. In China, agencies’ capture the growing online insurance lish the risks and exposures they face
business.” with regards to mental wellbeing and
share in life insurance new business
DWP was 63.6% in 2020 while in Tai- the steps they can take to mitigate
wan, Hong Kong and Singapore, it was Over 33% of UK SMEs have them.
above 30.0%.” increased their support of
The emergence of aggregators and mental and physical According to GlobalData’s report,
API-enabled cross-selling platforms United Kingdom (UK) Income Protec-
have intensified competition causing wellbeing compared to tion Insurance Market to 2025, men-
loss of business to banks. before the COVID-19 pan- tal illness-related claims accounted for

In China and South Korea life insur- demic the largest proportion of paid income
ance, the new business DWP gener- protection claims value in 2020, at
More than one third of UK small-to- 32.4%.
ated by bancassurance declined at a
medium enterprises (SMEs) have, to
CAGR of -16.8% and -14.9%, respec-
some extent, increased their support
tively, during 2016-2020. Hatton continued: “As the most expen-
for mental and physical wellbeing since
To overcome this, banks are adopting sive claim on income protection poli-
the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,
digital and omnichannel approach to according to a survey* by GlobalData. cies, and with mental health claims
diversify their reach. K Bank, a South The leading data and analytics com- becoming more commonplace it is in
Korean digital only bank, has been of- pany notes that this comes as 67.8%** everyone’s best interests to alleviate
fering both life and general insurance of people in the UK were found to be these problems”.
products in collaboration with many at least slightly concerned about their
insurers via its mobile app since 2017. mental wellbeing as a result of the
Kakao Bank plans to launch digital in- In the build-up to World Mental Health
pandemic. Day, Zurich has also teamed up with
surance operations in 2022.
Benjamin Hatton, Insurance analyst at UNICEF to promote mental wellbeing
Several large banks in China are al- GlobalData, commented: ‘‘It is refresh- among adolescents in seven countries
ready using sales automation, where ing to see that a healthy percentage across the world.
insurance companies collaborate in the
of UK businesses are acknowledging
underwriting systems of the banks. the importance of supporting their
Automation enables direct processing, employees’ mental health, especially Hatton adds: “Giving young adults and
and policy documents are issued in real their caregivers in underdeveloped
after such a difficult period. Some of
time. The Bank of China (BoC), for in- the support we have seen ranges from nations the tools to build healthy
stance, integrated its mobile banking establishing a head of wellbeing to paid behavioural habits and emotional sup-
authorization interface and personal port is vital for their long-term health”.
mental health sick days to mental

14 The Insurance Times, November 2021