Insurers should learn from Telecom companies to penetrate rural areas

Today, India stands at second position in population with 1.21 billion people. Still, sixty years after Independency, healthcare access in rural areas is still one of country's greatest challenges. 

The reasons being unevenly distributed healthcare facilities, unavailability of trained healthcare personnel, poor quality of drugs and lack of diagnostic tools. Every year more than one million Indians die, maximum of them being children and women. 

Overall, less than fifteen per cent Indians has health insurance. Rural health insurance is less than ten per cent. Insurance companies should learn from telecom companies in penetrating rural areas. 

In late 90s, when telecom companies started venturing into rural markets, they faced big obstacles due to lack of infrastructure. Unshaken, they first established mobile networks and then studied the needs of rural population and then customized their products for rural markets like cheap handsets and tariffs. 

The companies approached customers at their doorsteps with attractive tariffs and products. The result being, nowadays even poorest of the farmers have cell phones. Insurance companies could learn from telecom companies to penetrate rural regions. 

In the first place, insuring companies should understand the rural customer needs, streamline services, control cost, good customer service and cheap pricing. As the maximum of people in rural areas has limited buying capacity, insuring companies should bring in products at affordable rates just like the telecom companies did.

British Riots to Cost Insuring Companies Dearly

Riots in London and other cities are probably going to cost insuring companies millions of pounds. London was hit by three straight nights of rioting, plundering and arson by anarchists who wrecked havoc in parts of the British capital. On Monday, violence spread out to other cities.

Insurance analysts are forecasting a repair bill amounting to tens of millions of pounds which has to be absorbed by insurance industry. The insuring companies have to pay as 125 year old British law makes the constabulary liable for property damage induced by rioting and plundering.

According to law, police force is responsible for holding law and order and in case they fail, they have to pay for the damage. This would put police finances under pressure. In 2001, Police force filed for the insurance claims after being forced to pay for fixes and repairs following riots in English towns of Bradford, Burnley and Oldham.