How Acko beat Godigit with just 15 health-insurance agents
Jan 21, 2025
auto_awesome
Acko, a digital insurer, draws inspiration from a memorable Bollywood dialogue to revolutionize health insurance sales. Shunning traditional agents, they've directly connected with customers, leading to remarkable success. In just 21 months, they've sold health insurance worth Rs 51 crore, outperforming established competitor Godigit. This innovative approach highlights a shift in consumer behavior and the potential for disruption in a traditionally rigid industry.
Acko's innovative approach to health insurance emphasizes immediate care without bureaucracy, inspired by a poignant dialogue from Munna Bhai MBBS.
By leveraging a direct-to-consumer model and reintroducing medical underwriting, Acko seeks to build trust and transparency in a competitive industry.
Deep dives
Inspiration from Cinema
A significant scene from the film Munna Bhai MBBS has influenced the operations of a digital insurer known as ACCO, highlighting the urgency of providing medical attention without bureaucratic delays. The memorable dialogue questioning the necessity of paperwork in life-threatening situations has been adopted as a guiding principle in the company's approach to health insurance. ACCO entered the retail health insurance market in March 2023 and achieved remarkable early success, selling health policies worth 51 crore rupees within just six months. This initial performance surpassed that of more established competitors, demonstrating the effectiveness of their innovative philosophy.
Transforming Distribution Channels
ACCO's strategy diverges from traditional insurance approaches by favoring a direct-to-consumer model instead of relying on agents, which is uncommon in the sector. The company targets a growing digital-savvy customer base eager for personalized experiences, aiming to capitalize on a shift from conventional brokerage relationships. Despite the challenge of establishing trust as a new player, ACCO focuses on transparency and clear communication, making its policy documents straightforward and accessible. By creating a telecalling support team for customer inquiries, ACCO enhances its service offering without incurring high agent commissions.
Revisiting Medical Underwriting
In a bid to restore trust within the insurance industry, ACCO reintroduced medical underwriting, assessing applicants' health histories before issuing policies. This approach counters the trend of simpler onboarding practices that often lead to claim rejections and dissatisfaction. By implementing this process, ACCO aims to ensure clearer expectations regarding coverage, allowing for a smoother claims experience, particularly for those who maintain healthiness during examinations. While this model is beneficial, experts suggest that ACCO's digital-only focus may limit rapid scaling in India's vast market, contrasting sharply with competitors who utilize traditional practices.
1.
Disrupting the Insurance Market: A Digital Insurer's Innovative Journey
A dialogue from Munnabhai has become the ultimate source of inspiration for Acko, a digital general insurer.
"When someone’s dying, do they necessarily have to fill out forms?"
The Ken spoke to multiple Acko executives who said that this line is frequently repeated in meetings of its 21-month-old retail health insurance business. The inspiration seems to be working.
Despite being new to the retail health insurance game, the company was able to sell health insurance policies worth about Rs 51 crore in the segment. That’s 40 per cent more than Godigit, which is listed and had the advantage of being around longer.
Most people who understand this space are thrown off by the route it has gone down. You see, conventionally, the industry has depended heavily on agents and point of sale personnel to sell policies. But Acko has no interest in this approach.
Tune in.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode