Edelweiss Tokio Life combines life cover with customised pay-outs

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance (ETLI), a private life insurer, aspires to emerge as a comprehensive income solutions provider for consumers as it goes about expanding the choices of products for them to choose from depending on their age, point in life, etc, a top official said.

The latest effort on the income space is an ‘Active Income Plan’, which offers guaranteed income, flexibility and cash bonus, allowing customers to meet both short-term and long-term financial goals, especially under current economic conditions and volatility, Sumit Rai, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, told BusinessLine. This ‘Active Income Plan’ — fourth income based product for ETLI — can serve as a customer’s ‘second income’ product during the working years and a ‘primary income’ source post retirement.

“We are creating strong product proposition on incomes across platforms and across age groups. Income is a big need and big opportunity in India and we are creating suite of products to fulfil this need. There is a need for secondary income that will become a fall-back option during working years and good source of income during the retirement year. This is our product positioning for Active Income Plan,” he said.

At the same time, Rai made it clear that the ‘Active Income Plan’ should not be seen as company’s response to Covid-19 situation and the resultant increase in unemployment. “This product was conceived before Covid-19 situation and lot of unemployment is a coincidental situation. Over the last couple of years, there is increased desire for longer term coverage among insurance consumers. This is because all are realising that life span post retirement is going to be longer than your working life. That need for having income coverage for long time (75 or 85 or even 99 years) was coming out clearly,” Rai said.

Describing ‘Active Income Plan’ as a three-generation product, Rai said that the plan is available irrespective of age and could be suited to grandfather, father and to the child in the family as well.

Premium growth

Meanwhile, ETLI is one among the four private insurers that had recorded growth in individual new business premium in April-June 2020, latest data from Irdai showed. The entire business in the first quarter came through digital channel, Rai said, adding that the company plans to this year ramp up its investments on the digital front.

ETLI will not look to expand its physical branch network this fiscal, he added. The pandemic has completely changed the world of insurance with no face-to-face physical meetings between agents and customers possible and the only channel of selling has been through digital and digital tools.

Source: The Hindu Business Line