Hero launches non-life insurance

Riding on the technology platform, Hero Corporate Service Ltd (HCSL), part of the $2.2-billion Hero group, has launched Nsure Plus, to market non-life insurance products.

To start with, Nsure Plus will be available at Hero Honda's dealer outlets that will be a single-window interface for customers to make speedy settlements of accident claims. The company has tied up with National Insurance Company Ltd in this regard.

Launching the service in New Delhi today, Sunil Kant Munjal, managing director, HCSL, said the service would be based on a strong network in the country.

National Insurance has similar arrangements with Maruti Udyog Ltd and Helpage India. National Insurance Chairman H S Wadhwa said the company had invested around Rs 160 crore in upgrading technology to enable more such strategic tie-ups with other corporates.

The Nsure Plus will initially be offered to Hero Honda customers and later expanded to other companies within the Hero Group. Wadhwa said taking advantage of the technology, the insurer will try to bring down the claim settlement time from seven days to three days and later move towards same-day settlement.

Munjal said the Nsure Plus services are already offered in 45 dealer outlets and will be extended to all its 500 dealer outlets in the country.

He said the Nsure Plus service will offer a cashless claim settlement to owner of Hero Honda motorcycles. The company is also planning to offer the service in 500-odd service outlets of Hero Honda. Munjal did not rule out the possibility of offering the service to companies outside the Hero Group.

Wadhwa said the with the aid of technology NI has moved from the No 4 position in the insurance sector to No 2 position and will soon become the number one non-life insurance company.

"In the first five months of this fiscal we have grown at over 20 per cent in terms of premium collection while the industry grew at less than five per cent." He said the growth has been primarily due to strategic tie ups with corporates to offer products and services in the non-life insurance sector.