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Has COVID-19 Accelerated Adoption of On-demand Insurance?

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Since the start of the national lockdown, many South Africans have had to drastically change their lifestyles. This catalysed a need for a new kind of short-term insurance cover as well. With business unusual taking precedent, many are seeing the benefits of on-demand insurance options, which can be ‘switched on and off’ flexibly, as required. 

Over the past decade, on-demand has been the buzzword as technology advances and people are expecting service delivery at the click of a button. 

Jaclyn Prior, COO and Co-founder of JaSure, an on-demand insurtech company says, “There has been considerable technological advancement in the financial services industry. The insurance industry is following suit with insurtechs emerging and established insurers exploring digitisation. Customers are increasingly adopting convenient digital solutions in their busy daily lives, from Uber to app-based banking. They expect the same of their insurance.” 

Lockdown has seen many businesses make the move to remote work. This has shifted people’s online behaviour and expectations. The changing needs of consumers must be met with responsive product offerings. Prior says, “Insurance has not been the exception. We have seen the change in client needs in terms of cover and channels.” 

As lifestyles are changing, so are insurance needs. On-demand insurance offers clients the ability to customise their cover as their needs change and save while doing so. Customers can conveniently manage their insurance on the app, by the toggle of a button to switch cover on and off. They also have the option to schedule or pre-select the cover that they need. For example, during lockdown level five, exercise was not permitted, and cyclists didn’t make use of their bicycles over this period. With on-demand insurance, you can switch on cover only when you need it. 

Does on-demand insurance meet the needs of all?

On-demand insurance is enabled through technology, which means the user must be comfortable transacting digitally. Prior says, “While some in the older generation need more convincing, we have experienced that this is the preferred way of doing things for younger generations. We are noticing that older age groups are open to adopting and converting to tech-based insurance when they become aware of the efficiencies.” 

While there is an adoption of new insurance cover, many people still want to feel they have a broker who can help facilitate their insurance needs. Andrew Coutts, Head of Intermediated Business at Santam says, “The current landscape is the perfect market for traditional and on-demand insurance to work together. 

“We invested and partnered with JaSure in January because we remain committed to being relevant in the market and to lead by providing innovative solutions for existing and new client needs.