Betting big on innovation, private non-life insurer Bharti AXA General Insurance has started delivering policies and renewal premium to its customers through the instant messaging platform -‘WhatsApp’ and today said it plans to sell private car, two-wheeler and travel insurance through WhatsApp chatbot soon.

The company is the first among non-life insurers in India to introduce the entire bouquet of service initiatives such as policy documents, renewal notices and claim intimation for its customers by using WhatsApp chatbot, an intuitive and user-friendly chat structure where the customers can raise requests simply through numeric inputs.

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As part of its innovation strategy, Bharti AXA General Insurance introduced WhatsApp chatbot as an instant and additional customer service option for the policyholders, apart from the company’s multiple channels, including its vast network of branches, robust customer care and contact center, and dynamic portal.

“We are building innovation into our strategy and performance development to generate higher productivity for all stakeholders, including customers. Hence, we have taken a step towards servicing customers on an innovative platform — WhatsApp – of their convenience with real-time query resolutions and updates. As WhatsApp has become one of the preferred online communication channels for majority of the populace, we are using digital touch-points to make policy, service and claims related processes as easier and faster as possible for our customers. It is an ‘instant messaging’ platform to stay connected with the policyholders anytime, anywhere,” said Sanjeev Srinivasan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bharti AXA General Insurance.

With this innovative servicing platform, the customers can also avail assistance for various queries or service requests through the chatbot. They can also locate the nearest cashless network of garages and hospitals by providing pin code of the city or town.

Apart from obtaining policy documents and renewal notices in real-time, by using the chatbot, the customers can also register motor claims and check the claim status. Its branch locator feature helps find the company’s nearest branch.

With WhastApp chatbot, the total journey pertaining to availing service requests has been reduced from 8-9 minutes of call time to immediate and instant closures.

“Customer-centricity is at the heart of all endeavors of the organization. We aim to achieve higher customer satisfaction through effortless journeys and customer interactions on the back of WhatsApp chatbot,” said Srinivasan.

The chatbot has anti-pilferage features to avoid data theft and involves double authentication to access sensitive information. The authorization mechanism asks for policy-related inputs to identify and authorize ownership in order to prevent misuse of customer data.

To initiate WhatsApp support and updates, the customers only need to give a missed call to the company on its defined number.

Bharti AXA General Insurance has also planned an elaborate future road-map for the WhatsApp chatbot to provide enhanced services to its customers in the coming months. It will sell private car, two-wheeler and travel insurance through WhatsApp chatbot soon.

The company aims to achieve a significant number of service volumes through WhatsApp chatbot in the next financial year, he added.