Digit Insurer To Cover Mobiles, Partners With E-tail Biggies

Modern Digit Insurance has partnered with Indian E-commerce giant Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm to give insurance cover to mobile phones. On 10% payment of premium, the insurance covers any loss to mobile phones depending on the kind of cover the customer chooses.

According to Digit chief marketing officer Sandeep Komaravelly, surveys have shown that 10-15% of mobile phones suffer screen damage in one year and the average cost of repair ranges between 50% and 60% of the phone’s price.

Komaravelly said, “The typical life of a mobile phone is 18 months. Thus, with more newer models, the repairability of old models is challenging. Digit expects to see a clearer trend on the incidence of damage after it has sold close to one lakh policies.

Buyers can decide between a minimum cover for common screen damage or for a package which includes all accidental damages and theft. The three online retailers account for a large chunk of mobile phones sold in the country.

The payment mode being digital, the claims can also be settled by moving money to the customer’s account. This is one reason why the e-insurance sale is taking off.

“With respect to claims on mobile product, 77% of the customers do the inspection on their own through the video/self-diagnostics app that we have, and because of this, 94% of the claims have been approved within 24 hours. Depending on the option chosen by the customer, the claim amount is credited to the customer account or settled directly with the repair centre,” said Komaravelly.

This move is in line with the company’s strategy to emerge digitally through partners with policies being generated automatically in straight-through transactions. In the recent tie-ups, the company had tied up with Sterling Holidays and Cleartrip for travel insurance. Similarly, the company has tied up with Titan’s Tanishq jewellery chain for insurance. Tanishq customers can buy the cover for theft and accidental damages.