e27 sat down with Raunak Mehta, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Singapore-based insurtech firm Igloo, a leading insurtech startup, to discuss how the company is leading the way in making insurance accessible to everyone.

“Igloo started focusing on the gig economy segment around the same time that the pandemic began. In Southeast Asia, 70% of the workforce belongs to the informal sector. With the pandemic this segment got disproportionately hit — a lack of health or income protection when they lose their jobs, fall sick, or run into accidents, can have far-reaching consequences for their ability to make ends meet.”

Igloo recognised that gig economy workers — particularly food or goods delivery riders — now had to meet a surge in demand for deliveries resulting from nationwide lockdowns across the region. With more time spent on the roads fulfilling orders also came increased risk and exposure to accidents.

The gig economy — a growing, vulnerable segment

According to the 2018 International Labour Office report on the Informal Economy, 68.2% of the labour force in Asia belongs to this segment, beyond the global average of 61.2%. Industry 5.0 and digital transformation have revolutionised the way people work and live, as demands and opportunities presented to today’s workforce ushered in by technology have enabled changes in higher velocities, and has provided a wider array of options for people.

Digital adoption has spurred the growth of demand for ride-hailing, food delivery and e-commerce services, providing more flexible jobs to people. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this has also made the gig economy a rapidly growing sector, either for people who choose more flexible ways of work, to augment their income, or for those who undertake gig work by necessity.

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Gig work comes with its corresponding risks; much has been made, worldwide, about the lack of protection and benefits like unemployment insurance, medical and accident insurance usually covered by traditional employment models. Exacerbating the problem is a lack of awareness;  gig workers may not even know the risks they face, thereby reducing their likelihood of getting insured. For example, personal liability insurance may have loopholes when covering certain accidents and coverage. In instances where insurance is provided, it may not be robust and commensurate to protect gig employees from the risks, liabilities and damages they may take on in the line of work.

“The severity of these disparities are well documented,” said Mehta. “So much so it’s a key focus for Singapore, to look at increased  protection for gig workers and ensuring a more balanced relationship between platforms and platform workers.”

Changing the protection game for the gig economy

Igloo is revolutionising protection for the gig economy by making insurance accessible and affordable to this segment — one step at a time, but at a clipped pace. In 2019, partnering with foodpanda Thailand, Igloo created the competitively-priced PandaCare protection – comprising motor, personal accident and hospitalisation income protection – covering riders while providing a seamless claims process and customer service support.

The partnership has now extended to foodpanda in Singapore and The Philippines. In Singapore, PandaCare covers Accidental Death, Accidental Medical Expenses, Accidental Mobile Phone Screen Damage, Daily Hospital Cash, Permanent Total/Partial Disablement and Temporary Disablement. PandaCare is available through monthly coverage plans for as low as S$9/mth, instead of the typical annual plans in the market. It even covers riders when they are off-duty and can be purchased by immediate family members as well.

Besides food delivery riders, Igloo has also tailored insurance solutions for delivery drivers in Vietnam through its partnerships with one-hour-delivery e-commerce platform Loship and on-demand delivery company Ahamove.

The former allows Loship to offer first-of-its-kind failed delivery insurance to its 70, 000 delivery drivers so they can complete their jobs at ease. At an affordable rate of US$1.25/month, the protection covers shipping costs incurred for returned goods should consumers return their orders due to product discrepancies. The protection mitigates the problems brought about by delivery and fulfilment hiccups especially when Vietnam saw a 25% surge in online shopping during COVID-19 (Deloitte’s 2020 report).

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Meanwhile, Igloo’s partnership with Ahamove has it offering Personal Accident Cover and Hospital Cash Allowance protection to over 120,000 Ahamove drivers through a seamless and easy-to-purchase journey via Ahamove’s driver app.

Beyond these, Igloo’s suite of products geared for gig workers includes COVID-19 insurance, natural calamities insurance, and family relief insurance. What sets Igloo apart from other players are its digital native offerings, a wide array of microinsurance options, and the ease of buying and claiming insurance benefits. This will increase as gig work options continue to expand from digital disruption.  Raunak further elaborated on the growth of the gig economy, “That is what I’ve seen over the last 2-3 years and I believe this trend is only going to continue as the economy opens up. We are already seeing the great resignation; people are, for various reasons, choosing flexible gig arrangements that may allow them to focus on other aspects of their lives.”

Mehta added, “Our products have one striking similarity: in the event that there is a claim, none of the policyholders have to call up an insurance company and try to file for a claim and then receive their compensation after a long time. Almost all these products are end-to-end digital which means that in the event someone has an accident, they just need to go to a portal, submit their claim, and the claim gets processed at a fairly fast pace. This is what has enabled us to build a very strong business, which I believe more than the quantifiable monetary numbers, tells you how much of a societal impact that we are bringing forth.”

Financial inclusion for all

Igloo has other insurance product offerings that address various segments, apart from gig workers. A truly regional player, it has a substantial Southeast Asian footprint through key strategic partnerships — over 30 to date that help offer products that address the needs of the workforce across various industries. Their partners include Shopee, PhilInsure, GCash, Bukalapak, Lazada, RedDoorz, Lotte Finance and key regional insurance partners with Allianz, Baoviet, Mercantile, and Sompo.

They are optimistic in their mission to further cement their position as a leading regional insurtech and expand their offerings in the region. Raunak explained, “If 20 million policies are being facilitated just in the gig economy segment, Igloo itself is building a network effect to the forefront. We are able to come up with a good portfolio of products and services so that the next driver and the next to whom our solutions are offered benefit from it even more.

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“We are working with that mindset, deploying a lot of data and tech in ensuring that we come up with new, relevant products to match the inherent and new risks that populations face with socio-economic changes, as well as when consumer behaviour trends evolve and change.”

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Igloo

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