Insurance for insurance: Five big trends for 2030

India is an under-insured nation, where a formal social security system is still a work in progress. People have started to realize insurance is critical and important for their household's financial safety. Here's how I see the consumer and the insurance industry evolve over the next decade.

1. Insurance Would Be Protection

Historically, the narrative around insurance has revolved around "investment" and "tax savings". The new-age consumer has started to understand insurance as "protection", this trend I feel will become stronger by 2030. Protecting themselves against 3Ds (death, disease, and disability) will become their key priority. Profitability at scale for the industry would come from these products. The industry and the government would be somewhere, in their own ways, play a role to position insurance as the "real hero" in insurance. 

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2. Consumer Wants Would Be Clear

Awareness around insurance has been on the rise, on the back of continued efforts of the regulator and insurers alike. By 2030, India will have a strong insurance-savvy population who would be clear around their choices about what they need from their spends — insurance or investment. 

3. Consumer Education Would Be Top Focus

The next generation is always smarter. However, smartness comes with education. In India, the problem has never been technology. Where is the customer, who is looking for insurance is still a very small population. That challenge has to be solved. That would change through education. I expect the industry to multiply their spends toward consumer education. 

4. Tech & Analytics Would Define Underwriting

The correlation between data and insurance will become stronger. If I would know you have a higher probability of contracting any disease, I might not insure you. At the same time, you would have products underwritten for niche cases. Overall, the regulation will have a larger role to play in balancing between the key factors that define insurance — risk, data privacy, and insurability.

5. Digital Claims Would Improve Consumer Experience

Digital technologies are rapidly changing every aspect of our lives. Insurtech had begun to have a small yet significant impact on the insurance industry in India over the last decade. Digital will play a bigger role over the next decade to improve claims processes and overall customer experience.

Product simplification would be the flavor as we move ahead. Eventually, insurance would go back to its original roots — to insure people against financial risks.