From January 1, 2018, car insurance premiums for Bajaj Allianz will come down by 5 – 15%
Christmas and New Year festivities have started pouring discounts and offers for vehicle buyers through year-end season sale. Car makers and automobile firms are providing EMI holidays, attractive buying options and a package deal of goodies on the vehicles. Larger discounts are bringing the price tag down by up to Rs 1 lakh. To add to it, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. has slashed its insurance premium rates by 5-15 percent for the private car segment.
The basic aim of this rate cut is to encourage more people to buy insurance. Reportedly, MD & CEO Tapan Singhel were quoted saying, "The Company will pass on the benefits of digitisation and increasing efficiency in various distribution channels to all existing and new customers. This rate reduction is not done with the objective of increasing market share. Bajaj Allianz is already growing at 30%, which is almost twice as fast as the market. We are not looking at what the market is going to do. We felt that it is always good to be proactive with rates."
The new rates will come into effect from January 1, 2018. The company wants to encourage more people to buy insurance. This rate cut perfectly coincides with the entry of two new players - Acko General Insurance and Digit. Motor insurance is the largest and fastest growing segment and the competition here is about to intensify more in the coming months.
Traditionally, in the motor segment, Bajaj Allianz has been a conservative player. In order to grow its market share, it has not taken on underwriting losses. Their combined ratio of claims & expenses to total premium has improved after making investments in automation. This has enabled them to pass on the benefits to their existing and new customers alike.
Even in the past, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has implemented new technologies like DriveSmart and Motor OTS. Motor OTS helps customers in self-surveying their loss with the company's Insurance Wallet application on their smartphones and settling the motor claims for an amount up to Rs. 20,000 immediately. While, DriveSmart, a telematics has rewarded customers for their good driving behaviour.
After this rate cut, Bajaj Allianz Car Insurance premium for Honda City I-VTEC has become Rs. 25,500 from the earlier Rs. 27,000. The premiums for Swift Dzire LXI model will now be Rs. 14,000 against Rs. 16,000 while that of Maruti Suzuki Wagon R LXI model has come down to Rs. 14,500 from the earlier Rs. 16,500.
