Simple, low-ticket insurance: These products cover new areas of risks

Though the insurance sector was thrown open to private players in 2000, insurance penetration still remains at only 3.49 per cent of GDP (figure is for 2016-17, according to data from the Economic Survey 2018). A large swathe of the population doesn’t buy insurance products because it finds them difficult to understand. Customers also stay away because they are not sure whether they will get the benefit when they make a claim. To deal with these issues, a few new insurers and distributors have come out with products that are simple, have small premiums, and also make relatively smaller payouts.