Business process automation to streamlines Indian policyholders’ experience

A recent piece by ITBusinessEdge noted that while more and more operations are going paperless, there are a number that still show no signs of upgrading from paper-based processes anytime soon, despite the efficiency boosts promised by straying from traditional methods. Indeed, the operations that are remaining faithful to paper include some very common behaviors undertaken by a high volume of people, such as filling out mortgage applications, applying for jobs, requesting credit, signing contracts and authorizing other legal documents.

Now, insurance policyholders in India will have less paper to wrangle, as the country's Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority launched its Insurance Repository System earlier this month, The Economic Times reported. The system, which is free, allows users to view everything within one portfolio, reducing the confusion and disorganization often associated with juggling multiple policies.

"Many policyholders buy several policies – say two life policies, one health, one motor and one home insurance cover – and are often not able to keep track of all of them," noted certified financial planner Suresh Sadagopan, founder of Ladder 7 Financial Advisories, as quoted by the news source. "If they have an e-insurance account, they can view all the policies at one location. It helps them access the policy details in case they want to make any changes or assess their protection portfolio."

Rajesh Relan, managing director and country manager of PNBMetLife India, pointed out that it's much more convenient for users to simply log into the relevant online portals whenever they have questions or simply want to read over the details of their policies, rather than rummaging for the hard copies of the documents.

But organizational improvements are not the only benefit associated with this form of business process automation. Specifically, explained Vikas Gujral, executive vice-president and head of customer service and operations at Max Life Insurance, paperlessness also facilitates claim settlement by allowing policyholders to lodge claims online, as well as streamlining the process of tracking policy details such as renewal due dates and maturity amounts. In terms of record-keeping, the Insurance Repository System will maintain records of claims and loans.

Addressing data protection concerns
Many entities in industries such as healthcare and financial shy away from electronic document management, citing concerns about complying with data protection regulations. However, provided these companies work with reputable document conversion service providers and build systems with robust security frameworks, there is little need for concern.