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PolicyBazaar

Compare to Ensure with

Policybazaar
M
Policybazaar hit the
jackpot with its unique
idea of selling insurance
comparison to consumers,
bringing transparency and
preventing duplicity in the
process. By S Ojha

28

JUNE-JULY 2013

www.ibef.org

aking a venture successful in a span of merely

five years, when most are struggling to break
even, is the stuff that makes business folklore
for startups. But to script this success story in
the competitive insurance market is remarkable
indeed. Even so, the success of Policybazaaran online insurance and loan aggregator that helps customers compare financial
products like life insurance, general insurance, loans and credit
cardswas a foregone conclusion given that it had the best brains
in the business behind it, and a unique business premise.
The company, says its founder and CEO Yashish Dahiya, was
a mission for him. The chemical engineering graduate from
IIT Delhi with a management diploma from IIM Ahmedabad,
wanted to bring transparency in the insurance sector in India.
Thus, Policybazaar commenced in 2008, on the foundation of a
clear vision and mission statement. This was also prompted by a
bit of personal history as narrated by Dahiya.
My father had been buying insurance for a long time and was

PolicyBazaar

Crusading for the Underserved

The areas which are close to my heart and have not been given due cover are
critical illness and disability. A disabled person is economically worse off than
a dead person. An economically backward disabled person most often cant
work. His financial liability is higher than a dead persons. Currently, the average
disability insurance cover is `2 lakh (US$ 3460.8) and personal accident cover
is `2-5 lakh (US$ 3460.8-8652.02). What can this meagre amount achieve? An
accident need not necessarily end in the death of the insured. He may end up
with a life-long disability. Hence, insurance cover for disability is very important.
Yashish Dahiya, Founder & CEO, Policybazaar

cheated by his agents. He was duped

by people he knew and had trusted for
more than 20 years. Given the scenario,
the general perception among the people in India has been that insurance is a
cheats game. I felt it was imperative to
bring transparency in the sector. Thats
where the idea came from, Dahiya says.
There were two other people who
lent their hands in starting the company Avaneesh Nirjar and Alok
Bansal. Nirjar was responsible for
running the business and ensuring
operational excellence. He is now on a
short sabbatical. Bansal looks after the
companys finances.
Before starting his own venture,
Dahiya had spent considerable time in
similar businesses which whetted his
appetite and built his expertise in the
sector. He was the Managing Director
for online travel aggregator ebookers
Plc in Britain, which employed 2,000
people across 13 countries in Europe. He
also served as the CEO of First Europa,
an online insurance broker with operations in nine countries.
I was involved with ebookers Plc
in Britain and knew the insurance
business well. After working there, I
thought, if travel is sold online in such a
manner, why cant we sell insurance the
same way? says Dahiya.
A firm believer in technology and
though well-versed in the nitty-gritty of
the business, Dahiya admits that setting
up an insurance business in India was
quite a different experience.
We knew how to get traffic; we knew
how to build the website. But we didnt

know how to build a business in India.

We had never dealt with the government
while running ebookers Plc in UK. We
were never a part of suppliers, because it
was mostly a consumer activity, admits
Dahiya candidly exposing his struggles.
With a handful of people on board,
Policybazaar tied up with most of the
financial institutions disbursing loans
and selling insurance in India. The
field was set for the launch of the portal
whereby customers could get free insurance quotes and compare plans based
on multiple features. Today, the business has grown into an industry that
boasts of over 1,000 employees, working
round-the-clock to support its growing
customer base.
As of now, Policybazaar is the largest
seller of pure life insurance products
dominating 50 per cent of the market
and is also the largest seller of retail
insurance products.
We dont want to venture into the
business of soliciting a person to buy
insurance. But when a potential buyer is
about to buy insurance, we ask him to
stop and compare the various plans on
offer. This careful consideration prior to
buying an insurance plan can help him
save much money and not be cheated.
Policybazaar provides that reference
point for comparison, adds Dahiya.
Initially, Policybazaar commenced
business with the idea of showcasing
basic plans. Subsequently, it realised
that the better suited plans were never
sold or pitched to the consumers. This
prompted the company to provide
in-depth details of both investment-

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With a plethora of
plans to choose from,
a customer doesnt
know what to buy.
He needs to conduct
exhaustive research.
At Policybazaar.com
it takes 1-2 minutes
of research to buy
insurance and it
is easy.
Yashish Dahiya
Founder & CEO, Policybazaar

cum-insurance plans as well as all other

general insurance products. The information that a consumer now gets on the
website includes costs and commissions,
coverages and exclusions of the insurance plans, expected and guaranteed
returns, and other things about which
most buyers are unaware.
Have we worked according to our
plans? The answer is yes. Financially,
whatever we had planned, we have
achieved approximately. But our business plans have undergone a lot of
change. Policybazaar initially was to
provide services for car insurance. But
along the way, we realised it was difficult.
While car insurance was meant to make
up 90 per cent of our business, it is not
even 15 per cent of our revenue today.
Life insurance has become a very big
part of our business, Dahiya discloses.
The modus operandi of Policybazaar
ensures fast and accurate information.
After receiving basic information from
customers and matching compatible
financial products with it, the review is
sent to the readers within a few seconds.
If the customer wants more details
about a particular product, the company
makes available a list of companies with
insurance plans best suited to the customers needs.
With a plethora of plans to choose

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JUNE-JULY 2013

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PolicyBazaar

from, a customer doesnt know what

to buy. He needs to conduct exhaustive
research. At Policybazaar.com it takes
1-2 minutes of research to buy insurance
and it is easy, added Dahiya.
The figures prove it. In January 2013
alone, the website had approximately 3
million visitors. The financials are also
northward bound. From `9 crore (US$
1.56 million) in 2010-11 to `45 crore (US$
7.79 million) in 2012-13, the company
has grown five times. The insurers are
now finding a worthy partner in Policybazaar and are lining up to collaborate.
In 2008, nearly 15 online insurance
portals already existed. We carved out a
niche for us in these five years because
of two thingswe kept customers as
our first priority and we brought real
value-add to them. We were focussed
on our goal, Dahiya reveals his success mantra.
Policybazaar began operations with
funding worth `20 crore (US$ 3.46
million) from Info Edge (a naukri.com
group venture). Three years later, Intel
Capital made an investment of `30
crore (US$ 5.19 million) and Info Edge
invested another `10 crore (US$ 1.73
million). In May 2013, Inventus Capital
Partners made a funding of `27.50 crore
(US$ 4.76 million), which the company
aims to utilise in strengthening brand
and customer services. Investors are
certainly not shying from funding its
dream run.
In 2012, the portal added a mobile
wingm.policybazaar.com. Aimed at
the 5 million customers who use mobile

Team of Policybazaar: Facilitating a transparent comparision.

30

JUNE-JULY 2013

www.ibef.org

phones to visit the site every month, this

move is sure to strengthen its market
presence and reach.
Dahiya believes that innovation keeping in mind customers first is the key
to success. Many times you have to
make a choice between customers and
your business, and we always put our
customers first, he says. Dahiya never
shies away from an opportunity with a
hidden potential, howsoever risky in the
short run.
Health insurance is not a profitable
product. There is every complexity
involved in selling it. Yet, nobody other
than us is focussing on it. We know
the hidden potential in the sector.
Three years from now, when people
ask me why we grew, I will tell them it
is because we saw the opportunity in
health insurance that no one else did,
claims Dahiya.
The marketing strategy is already in
action. A new television commercial
campaign launched recently by the company highlights the benefits of comparing health plans before taking a decision.
In partnership with insurance
telematics provider Chleon, the company has launched another unique
schemePay How You Drivewhich
provides financial benefits for safe driving and is aimed at eventually reducing
road accidents. It may also remove
the complexity involved in insurance
claims when a car owned and registered in an adults name is misused by
his young son or daughter.
With this initiative we want to move

In 2008, nearly 15
online insurance
portals already
existed. We carved out
a niche for us in these
five years because of
two thingswe kept
customers as our
first priority and we
brought real valueadd to them. We were
focussed on our goal.
Yashish Dahiya
Founder & CEO, Policybazaar

beyond just a simple no claim bonus

by rewarding a safe driver. A device to
monitor driving can be fitted on the
underside of the vehicle and will be
supported by cloud computing. It will
capture details like mileage, speed, hard
braking or high acceleration, kerbing
and adherence to traffic signals to
deliver an overall score of a drivers
behaviour, explains Dahiya.
Dahiya moves forward in the insurance industry, continuing to cement his
unique position with each new groundbreaking idea. As the industry keenly
watches the startup for its next revolutionary move, consumers are content
to finally have an insurance agent they
can trust.