Companies are exploring new ways of continuing their operations amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted almost all industries across the world, including the insurance industry. This has forced insurance companies to take multiple steps to stay relevant in these challenging times.

According to a PwC India report on the impact of Covid-19 on the Indian insurance industry, while reduced cash flows due to the financial impact of COVID-19 will deter insurance companies from investing significantly, there are some areas where they could consider investing:

# Insurance companies should analyse the available data in conjunction with healthcare companies and medico-legal experts, and try to understand the estimated insured loss on all front due to COVID-19. It is possible that insights gained from such a process may help in reducing risk exposure as well as finding new opportunities and strategies for succeeding in the near future.

# Insurance companies can reach out to their existing customers proactively through continuous digital campaigns and make them aware of the COVID-19 crisis to stop it from spreading further. Customers usually do not use mobile applications designed by insurance companies frequently as the relationship is transactional. Companies can design campaigns on COVID-19 and provide their customers with relevant information to maintain relationships and reach.

# The regulator has put in place several conditions regarding the promptness in settling claims related to COVID-19. Insurers must adhere to those regulations and also ensure that the entire chain – from hospitals and caregivers to third-party administrators (TPAs) and call centres – act fairly and quickly on the claims related to COVID-19. Claims related to COVID-19 getting rejected should also be properly reviewed to avoid customer grievances.

# Life insurers also have an opportunity to come up with innovative riders/add-ons based on single conditions on the base policies taken by the customers. Customers may find such riders useful at this time and contemplate purchasing them. Insurers can approach the regulator and ask for quick approvals of relevant product additions using the regulatory sandbox concept.

# Companies are exploring new ways of continuing their operations amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The large number of insurance company employees working remotely will open up avenues for exploring how companies work in the new normal, redefine their real estate strategies and decide how the teams work in the future. This can quicken all transactions and potentially reduce costs.

# General and health insurers have for long wanted a stronger connect and control over the provider network – garages for automobile insurance and hospitals for health insurance.

# The current situation is ideal for insurers to move to integrated service offerings, with central accounting and scheduling spare parts of automobiles through a blockchain network between garages, manufacturers and insurers. Spare parts unutilised at a certain location can be redistributed and customers will get faster service. This will derive greater benefit from the digitisation efforts and be beneficial for insurers in times to come.

# Similarly, for all health insurance requirements, a direct integration of hospital billing and diagnostic systems with insurers and TPAs is the way forward. This is the ideal time for such a shift when the receptivity of the healthcare ecosystem will be at its highest as contactless transactions become the norm.