By Sanath Nanayakkare

BIMA Lanka Insurance Brokers (Pvt) Ltd, a leading insurance broker, and healthcare service provider has been ensuring the well-being of over 1.5 million Sri Lankan citizens through various insurance and healthcare products, since its establishment in 2013.Taking note of the performance of BIMA Lanka within a very short span of time, The Island Financial Review had an interview with BIMA Lanka’s Director and Country Manager Ajith Alexander to determine the services the company provides and to get a better understanding of its future plans.

The following are excerpts from the interview.

Could you explain your role and provide a brief introduction to BIMA Lanka?

I have been the Director and Country Manager of BIMA Lanka for close to three years now. BIMA Lanka was established in the year 2013 and it is a subsidiary of a UK-based company named BIMA. BIMA is a multinational company that specialises in affordable insurance and healthcare products in emerging markets. Our services are provided through technology that enables affordable and accessible solutions for each and every one. At the moment, we are present in three regions, namely South East Asia, South Asia, and Africa, and we are providing healthcare and insurance solutions to more than 25 million people. Our vision is to provide 100 million people with access to high-quality and affordable insurance and healthcare services by the year 2026.

Now, in terms of BIMA Lanka, along with our business partners, we have provided affordable insurance and healthcare services to more than 1.5 million people in the country. We have two main products, Per-Day Insurance, and BIMA Doctor, a 24/7 telemedicine service. We have more than 45,000 customers registered for our telemedicine services.

We have a staff of more than 300 in Sri Lanka which includes customer service and claim processing teams to ensure swift payments to customers. We have processed and paid more than 100,000 claims from our customers totalling over Rs. 2 billion. Our staff includes well-trained sales officers in Colombo, Galle, and Kurunegala, who explain the product features and benefits to customers and register them.

Could you elaborate on the per-day insurance service?

BIMA Lanka brings a product named ‘Per-Day Insurance’ for Sri Lankans with an array of affordable insurance covers. We mainly operate three product lines which are ‘life insurance’, ‘hospitalization insurance’, and ‘accident insurance’. Large insurance companies in the country underwrite these as we have Softlogic Life for life insurance, FairFirst Insurance for hospitalization policy, and Ceylinco Insurance for the personal accident policy. Any Sri Lankan can now obtain an insurance cover starting as low as Rs. 7 per day and can go up to higher values depending on the cover they want. They can pay through any debit or credit card of their choice. If they are a Dialog customer, they can also pay through their mobile bills. Our innovative products and payment technologies are what sets us apart from others. This has helped to break the barriers to provide affordable insurance and health care solutions to any customer in any part of the country.Tell us about your hospitalization cover.

Our hospitalization cover is the highest selling policy and is the most popular policy too. We sell it as a bundle offer which includes the hospitalization insurance cover, and BIMA Doctor which is a 24/7 telemedicine service. A customer can pay as low as Rs. 11 per day going up to Rs. 35/- for this bundle offer.

The process of obtaining this product is extremely easy as one can simply dial the hotline number 1343 without needing to fill out applications like in traditional insurance products which require customers to fill out lengthy forms and require them to go through medical tests. In this cover too, the payment can be made through any credit or debit card that a customer has.

This product provides customers a cover of up to Rs. 6,000 per night of hospitalization and an additional amount of up to Rs. 12,000 per day, for accident hospitalization or the use of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Even though we call this product a ‘hospitalization cover’ because customers get a claim when they are hospitalized, this really is an income protection plan. Because you do not need to provide any lengthy bills of hospitalization as merely showing proof that the customer has been hospitalized will help claim the amount. It is a great benefit for the customer, particularly for someone who is a daily wage earner. If someone gets hospitalized the family income will get disrupted but this income will provide them relief.

Further, this cover can be claimed for hospitalization in any government or private hospital by providing proof that the person has been hospitalized. This also provides access to 24/7 high quality teleconsultation from a panel of doctors who are SLMC registered. Not only do they provide consultation, but they also provide the prescription for medicines and lab tests. If one requires any specialist appointment or purchase of medicines or lab tests that need to be carried out, we work with our partner company called ‘Doc990’ for that purpose. Doc990 has tied up with several hospitals, pharmacies, and laboratories in Sri Lanka for fulfilling these services.

What are the future plans of BIMA Lanka?

BIMA Lanka wants to contribute to BIMA’s global vision of providing affordable and high-quality insurance and healthcare service to 100 million people by the year 2026. In line with that vision, BIMA Lanka’s vision is to become the largest affordable insurance and healthcare provider in Sri Lanka by 2024, and within the next one and a half years we need to reach that position and significantly increase the number of families we are covering. We will continue to innovate and bring new products and services to our customers by partnering with leading insurance companies and healthcare companies in the country and we will continue to use technology in a big way to make it easy for our customers to access these services. This is the goal of BIMA Lanka and we want to be with the customer in their time of need. Healthcare and insurance are really underpenetrated in Sri Lanka but these two are critical requirements for people, more so at a time of crisis. Currently, people in Sri Lanka can really relate to that because we are all going through a tough period and if there is a loss of income or shortage of income, healthcare becomes a main concern. But when we have very affordable products in the market, it will definitely provide much-needed relief to more and more families.