RADOMIL VALEŠ ON OUR NEW INSURANCE PROJECT
Life insurance doesn't have to be dull
We talked to our project manager Radomil about one of the hot things around here – a new life insurance, which is now going through the exciting phase of testing.
Does the project have a name already?
At this point we're testing two propositions, and their respective names. One proposition is focused on recreational athletes and it's called Pulse. The second proposition is called Paya and it is based on the idea of a direct insurance, without the need to include agents or brokers, who usually work for a rigid insurance companies that have their backs.
So there's no insurance agent, forcing me to buy something I actually don't need. On the other hand, I think I wouldn't be able to create and adjust the life insurance all by myself...
Exactly. Life insurance is in fact a pretty complicated product. People don't know what to get, it's usual for contracts to have around eighty pages. People also get insurance for one kind of risk, but the contract contains complete information about all the options and products. This way insurance companies are trying to sell products, which are in fact unnecessary..
But you are going to do it differently.
We want to create simple contracts for particular products. Without piles of exceptions and exclusions. We also want to create insurance which covers what's important in life. We focus on incapacity to work, disability, and death. Those are the basics which will provide for people with average income who support a family. Moreover, you can get the insurance online.
What does life insurance for athletes look like?
We call it insurance “for athletes”, but that's not accurate. We rather want to favour those who live healthy lives and don't neglect prevention. Medical studies show that 90 minutes of sports a week significantly reduce the risk of civilization diseases. Those include heart attack, cancer and many others. A lot of people, who don't consider themselves sportsmen, actually meet this 90minutes requirement. So our target group is quite large.
That sounds great, it's kind of positive motivation, right?
Yes. Communicating insurance is quite difficult, mostly it's actually presenting the worst scenarios and raising fears. But motivating people to lead healthier lives is great.
I know that you're doing a lot of sports, so basically you belong to the target group.
I absolutely do. I like sports very much. If I could, I would do it all the time. As a child I did racing skiing, afterwards I trained young skiers. Now I came up with an idea that I'll participate in “stoboj” (“hundredthlon”) race. It's a fun happening during five weekends, with twenty disciplines every weekend.
And how are you doing?
Well, I'm far away from the top 🙂 The best training for the “stoboj” race is gymnastics or martial arts. They are both very universal. I'm losing most points in swimming.
How many “disciplines” are there in building an insurance company?
Currently it's a combination of sprinting and orienteering. We have to be the first on the market with a great product. Originally, we actually wanted to set up an insurance company. But then we found out that it includes doing incredible amount of paperwork, and that waiting for the license could take up to two years. Finally, we have decided to get an existing insurance company as a partner.