A comprehensive insurance cover

Drawing on its experience, Asego realised that it can’t work with just one insurance company. As a result, for the first time, it has come up with a multiple underwriting model to be able to offer travellers coverage for all their needs. Dev Karvat, Founder & CEO, Asego, shares more details.

Hazel Jain

How has insurance as a product changed over the years?

We were quite surprised when we saw that during the lockdown, our conversions had actually doubled. We felt that it was only going to be for those 12-18 months while there is pandemic. But we saw that trend continue. Now, travellers want to buy travel insurance before they leave. For the first time in our 22 years, we are getting a lot of calls from travellers at the airport asking for travel insurance. So there is an after-regret which was never there earlier. Surprisingly, the big uptick has been in the Asian countries. When people travelled to the Middle East or Far East countries, they would never buy travel insurance. On the non-Asia plans, where people travel to Europe and USA, we have seen a jump in the medical sum insure that they are taking. Earlier, they used to be happy with a Rs. 50,000 sum insure, which was a minimum requirement for the visa. Now, they are ready to pay that 25-30% more.

What kind of innovation have you brought in this segment?

We realised that we can’t work with just one insurance company. And for the first time, we have come up with a multiple underwriting model. On a single platform, a travel agent has the option to choose different types of insurance cover. We have extreme adventure sports cover that is provided by a particular company. So when a customer gets a travel insurance policy from us, a medical coverage from company A, deep-sea diving is from company B, the full-trip cancellation is from company C. It is essentially a concoction of different insurance companies.

Could you share insights into some major risks travellers face nowadays?

Recent travel volumes have skyrocketed with the gradual dissipation of COVID-19 around the globe, and so has travel related risks. Eventualities such as missed/delayed flights and hotel/ flight cancellations are inevitable when it comes to travel. However, we have recently witnessed a huge spike in newer travel risks such as loss and damage of gadgets, cyber security issues, identity theft and credit/ debit card fraud among travellers.

How does Asego mitigate these risks?

Asego has been working tirelessly to identify and mitigate these risks with comprehensive travel assistance and insurance solutions. Our bouquet of offerings not only takes care of medical emergencies and other travel-related inconveniences but also ensures that travellers are protected against travel risks. Further, our carefully curated standalone products offer travellers an opportunity to customise their protection plans as per their needs.

Asego did the travel insurance for TAFI delegates attending the convention in Malaysia. What benefits were they offered?

Ensuring a safe trip for travellers, be it on land, air or sea, has always been our priority. Being TAFI’s preferred travel protection partner for over a decade, Asego offered complimentary global assistance with insurance to all delegates who attended the convention in Malaysia. With our exclusively curated protection cover, all delegates were extended benefits such as medical emergency cover including COVID-19, emergency medical evacuation, protection against loss of valuables like passport and baggage along with relevant assistance services.

What differentiates Asego

• Fast track claims support: Its travel assistance and insurance products are powered by 24×7 fast track claims support and expert teams present across the globe ensure that the travellers are fully protected, no matter where they are.
• Customisable protection plans: Its bouquet of travel assistance services and new-age bundled products have always been customer favourites. Nevertheless, we realised that tailoring offerings at a micro level are the need of the hour. We are now offering an array of relevant standalone products, such as emergency OPD expenses, quarantine cancellations, cruise cover, and flight delay/interruption covers, pertinent to the current scenario.
• Cutting-edge technology platform: AI and machine learning are key to the ever-evolving Insurtech market. Asego has been leveraging these tech capabilities to create a specialised system which helps us understand our customers more deeply and creates a customised user experience, helping them choose the right plan for their needs.