How Are Indian Women Ensuring Their Rights To Insurance?

Women are becoming more policyholders in India’s insurance market, but analysts believe there is still room for growth. Women’s insurance participation is changing favorably throughout the nation. According to IRDAI, the proportion of women purchasing insurance is rising, with their share reaching 34.2% of all plans issued in 2022–2023. Millions of women will be taking responsibility for their financial security.

Insurance providers are becoming aware of the increasing number of female clients. Products like maternity coverage, critical illness plans for illnesses unique to women, and investment plans for women’s long-term objectives are among the ones they are creating to meet special demands.

The gender gap does not go away, despite the growth. Women’s access to sufficient insurance coverage might be hampered by socioeconomic constraints, ignorance, and gender-based pricing, especially when it comes to health insurance and the unorganized sector.

Co-founder and COO of Insurance, Samadhan Shilpa Arora, offered important insights on the unique difficulties faced by women in the Indian insurance market. Revised Extracts

What particular difficulties do women have when attempting to settle insurance disputes?

Most of the time, we’ve found that women are mostly ignorant of the insurance policies that their families own. They don’t know where the family’s health cards are stored, what sort of coverage they have, who their insurance provider is, or how to go to the hospital in an emergency.

When we had a flood of death claims during the pandemic, we discovered that most women were unaware of the correct procedures, which caused delays in the submission of the claims. Some lacked knowledge regarding the insurance company’s name or even the coverage provided by their house loans. It was quite difficult for us to assist them with the claims because of this knowledge gap.

What steps may be taken to educate women about their rights and protections as policyholders of insurance?

It is essential to understand the insurance goods, particularly the coverages, the insurance company’s name, and the location of the emergency documentation. She should be prepared to take over in the event that the spouse has an adverse event and is unable to communicate these fundamental things.

Additionally, supporting legislative changes that would improve the interests of female policyholders and enable greater price and coverage transparency will assist them in understanding their rights as consumers. Large-scale community gatherings, social media campaigns, and seminars may all be used as instruments to raise awareness of their rights and policies in order to promote the reforms’ objectives.

In addition to this, I think that having more female employees in the insurance sector, such as customer service representatives, will improve communication among female policyholders. They will be able to more freely air their complaints and get the necessary remedies thanks to it.

How can organizations such as yours use technology to improve the transparency, accessibility, and ease of use of the insurance claim process for women, particularly those who are restricted in their technical literacy or have language barriers?

Policyholders may keep all of their policies on our app, Polifyx, and share the link with their family members. We made the decision to create the app, particularly in light of our observations during COVID-19 that many women often found themselves in hopeless circumstances as a result of not knowing the prerequisites. Our goal with the app is to make it easier for women and others who are not computer savvy to comprehend their goods and quickly register complaints or claims.

Women dispelling stereotypes

According to Arora, women who are striving to change the world and dispel prejudices will celebrate their financial independence and support other women by teaching them how to manage money.

Every achievement, in my opinion, opens the door to a brighter future. Therefore, I want today’s women to take ownership of their future, speak up for themselves, and push limits that aren’t necessary. More importantly, I want them to make an investment in themselves, make plans, and figure out how to become financially independent so they can live the life they want and accomplish their ambitions,” she said.