ICICI Lombard Launches Mobile Self Inspection For Cars

The feature eliminates the need for a surveyor to conduct a physical inspection of the vehicle

ICICI Lombard, one of the biggest general insurers in India, has launched a new feature in their mobile application. It is called Mobile Self Inspection and it helps the customer to renew or purchase a car insurance policy, without the need of a physical inspection from an insurance surveyor.

Here’s how it works. A customer needs to either log into the ICICI-Lombard website or the mobile application and pay the premium for the renewal or fresh car insurance policy by entering all the mandatory details. Once done, the customer will be prompted to upload a self-inspection video of the car via the Insure App. Once the video is uploaded, the company claims that the policy will be generated in a few hours.

This sounds really convenient, especially for someone who keeps busy and doesn’t have time to place a call through the call center, wait for the insurance surveyor to come and inspect the car and then wait for at least a couple of days before the policy is generated. However, there are some guidelines which a customer needs to know before recording the video. For instance, one needs to have the updated Insure App, a high-speed internet connection and at least a 3-megapixel camera. The company then defines guidelines for recording the video. These can be found either on the website or within the mobile App.

The company says that if customers record and upload self-inspected videos between 9am to 4pm, from Monday to Friday, they can expect the policy status on the same day. The video recording, once started, cannot be paused in between for customers to resume it later. However, once recorded, one can discard the video and record a new one.

In a press release, Sanjay Datta, chief, Underwriting, Reinsurance and Claims, ICICI Lombard said, “At ICICI Lombard, we understand that once a motor insurance is lapsed, it takes much effort for consumers to renew a policy. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced this unique feature, Mobile Self-Inspection. It reduces renewal time from two-three days to barely a couple of hours. This initiative is part of customer centric endeavors to ensure that they have a delightful and hassle-free experience while insuring with us.”

When asked how the recent demonetisation has impacted the company, Datta claimed that the company has been promoting electronic payment options for a while now. Hence, demonetisation hasn’t impacted the work flow of the company at a major level. There is some cash in hand but it isn’t something to worry about.

The company has started Mobile Self Inspection for cars only. It will go live by the end of November 24, 2016 on the updated Insure App. The company will analyze the response from customers before launching it for two-wheelers in the coming future.