Page 39 - Insurance Times June 2024

impact trade relationships and business partnerships. In These risks are evolving, and their impact on each business
the digital age, terrorism takes on a new narrative either in a dynamically changing environment could be unique.
as cyber terror or loss of business, often causing no Today, no business can claim to be impervious to NDBI or
physical damage but inflicting significant losses. assert that they are adequately protected by traditional BI
insurance covers. Although these protection gaps and
5. Regulatory risks: Events such as government-mandated
public shutdowns due to health crises, withdrawal of uninsured spaces have existed previously, they were
considered unquantifiable and uninsurable. In the current
regulatory approvals or licenses from manufacturing
companies, or closure of production facilities by environment, where NDBI could cause significant disruption,
the primary concern for businesses is the risk of being
regulatory bodies can lead to sudden disruptions. For
uninsured or underinsured. The market demand and appetite
modern businesses, data, and its management- for comprehensive NDBI coverage, the insurance industry's
encompassing sourcing, storage, processing, deriving sensitivity in identifying these risks, the ability to build risk
insights, and initiating action-have become central
models, the capacity to design coverage, and the efficiency
nervous system activities. In this context, regulations
to deliver them, even for small-ticket opportunities, have
pertaining to data privacy, cybersecurity, digital assets, significantly improved.
and the use of artificial intelligence algorithms have an
impact on business operations temporarily or
indefinitely. ̱ ¾» ½±²¬·²«»¼ ·² ²»¨¬ ·­­«»

Insurance firms issued 700 surety bonds worth Rs. 3,000 cr

About 700 insurance surety bonds valued at around Rs 3,000 crore have been issued by different insurance companies
so far, an official statement said. The statement further said state-owned NHAI has so far received 164 insurance
surety bonds, consisting of 20 bonds for performance security and 144 bonds for bid securities.
Insurance surety bonds are financial instruments, where insurers act as 'surety' and provide the financial guarantee
that the contractor will fulfil its obligation as per the agreed terms. Wider adoption of such instruments will help to
strengthen infrastructure development in the country.
According to the statement, the Ministry of Finance has made insurance surety bonds at par with bank guarantees
for all government procurement, and NHAI has been urging insurance companies and contractors to use insurance
surety bonds as an additional mode of submitting bid security, and /or performance security.
NHAI organised a workshop in New Delhi on the implementation of Insurance Surety Bonds (ISB) for NHAI contracts.
The objective of this workshop was to review the progress made in the implementation of Insurance Surety Bonds
and encourage participation from the stakeholders for wider adoption of the instrument, the statement said.

6 out of 10 individuals complain of insurance mis-selling

A survey conducted by LocalCircles revealed that as many as six out of ten consumers of online insurance sales and
service platforms have experienced dark patterns such as nagging, subscription traps, and forced actions. These dark
patterns compromise the users’ choice, value, coverage benefits, and data.

The survey found that 61% of those who purchased an insurance policy online experienced a subscription trap, where
the platform made it difficult for them to cancel the policy. Additionally, 86% of respondents stated that the platforms
frequently used a nagging approach when they tried to obtain an insurance quote or cancel a policy. Furthermore,
57% of respondents reported that platforms frequently sought unnecessary personal details to provide a quote and
sent unsolicited information or misused personal information.
The rise of online insurance sales and service platforms has led to an increasing number of consumers facing dark
patterns. These manipulative selling tactics, also known as dark patterns, have become a concern for consumers in
the last nine months.

36 June 2024 The Insurance Times