PhonePe Says 75 Percent of Its Coronavirus Insurance Bought by Users in Smaller Indian Towns

PhonePe, India’s popular digital payments platform, shared trends on the adoption of its coronavirus insurance product on Thursday. According to the company, 75 percent of the COVID-19-related insurance policies were bought by customers in smaller towns outside the tier-1 cities. The top states contributing to sales include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Gujarat. PhonePe is re-witnessed a surge in COVID-19 insurance sales in March 2021 as cases across the country started rising. In early 2020, the platform in association with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance introduced the ‘Coronavirus insurance policy’ that requires an annual premium of Rs 396 for a cover of Rs 50,000. Customers can also opt for a higher cover of Rs 1,00,000 at a premium of Rs 541.

In terms of claims paid to customers, top states include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi and Karnataka, as per PhonePe data shared in a statement. The company says claims from customers of more than Rs 3.5 crore have already been paid. It adds that 75 percent of the claims came from users residing in smaller towns and rural areas of the country.

Speaking over the development, Gunjan Ghai, head of insurance at PhonePe, said that many Indians do not have health insurance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and it aims to reach out to its userbase of 280 million-plus members. “While the central and state governments are taking several steps towards containing the outbreak, many Indians still don’t have health insurance covers as a result of which they may have to bear an additional financial burden in case someone in their family needs to be hospitalised for COVID-19,” he added.

Customers can buy coronavirus health insurance by going to the Health Insurance section on the PhonePe app. They do not need to undertake any medical tests before the purchase. Users would be required to provide relevant government-issued ID proof.

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