Based on its recent analysis of the life insurance industry, Frost & Sullivan recognises Instant Life with the 2016 South Africa Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Leadership. Instant Life is a low-cost, automated life insurance model that addresses the growing need for pure-risk life insurance.
It offers cover for life, medical gaps, and funerals, as well as for people with work disability, critical illnesses, and cancer. Its paperless processes simplify claim processing by assessing the risk of a potential customer through an adaptive, computer-generated questionnaire based on applicants’ previous answers. As it is an online process, Instant Life’s platform is suitable for many markets.
Instant Life is the only life insurance company that boasts a complete online application process. The online applications and underwriting can be completed in just 20 to 30 minutes. This underwriting technology enables Instant Life to price its product aggressively by eliminating many costs. Furthermore, it does away with medical examinations for policies worth up to 6 million Rand, making it easier for customers to obtain coverage.
“Improving upon the traditional broker model, Instant Life employs a multi-channel approach that makes policy application more efficient, expeditious, and appealing,” said Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Programme Manager, Danielle de la Mare. “Its first channel is call centres, wherein reps can talk directly to customers to discuss their specific needs. The second is Instant Life’s Internet portal where questionnaires are used to ensure that customer information is truthful, confidential, and secure. The third is face-to-face meetings with a representative.”
There are 55,000 combinations of questions that are generated based on the answer to the previous question. Potential customers will be sent a policy document via email immediately after the questions are satisfactorily answered and the risks are accepted. Instant Life also presents Medical Gap Cover customers with Text-a-Doctor digital doctor, a short message service SMS platform that provides access to qualified medical doctors for confidential and trusted medical advice.
In 2015, Absa Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited, bought a 75% stake in Instant Life, giving the latter access to its customer base. Before Absa, Instant Life made use of Guardrisk, an underwriter leader in cell captive business and alternative risk transfer solutions in South Africa.
“With an already established customer base of 15,000, Instant Life targets the missing middle customer segment comprising 35 to 45 year olds who are underserviced by brokers and financial advisors,” noted de la Mare. “Instant Life also targets customers, such as small business owners, professionals, and wealthy people, living in very small towns. +This missing middle is estimated to number 5 million.”
Additionally, the company is looking to disrupt the life insurance industry by providing wearable devices to its FitLife Cover policy holders. These customers can obtain discounts by sharing the number of steps taken and the number of hours slept each day. They are encouraged to use Instant Life’s FitBit activity tracker for six consecutive months to avail a 15% reduction in premiums. This way, Instant Life encourages healthy living in addition to easing the process of purchasing life insurance policies.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products.
Instant Life set out in 2008 with the goal of using the latest technology to deliver life insurance products that offer clients peace of mind, simplicity, and value for money. Because it runs on efficient digital systems, Instant Life is able to offer customers savings of up to 30% of their premiums as well as generous cash benefits.
Customers can buy life cover and have their policies issued in under 20 minutes with no need for a medical examination. Instant Life’s Fitlife Policy comes with a Fitbit Flex Activity Tracker, offering discounts to users who simply track and share their activity for six consecutive months.
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