Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has hastened the process of claims settlement in the travel and motor segments by leveraging on blockchain technology.

“This is helping us to bring down the current settlement turnaround time for some plans from days to minutes,” Sourabh Chatterjee, Head-IT, Web Sales and Digital Marketing, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, told BusinessLine.

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger or decentralised data base that keep records of digital transactions. People generally use a trusted third party like a bank to make a transaction.

But blockchain removes the need for a third party by directly connecting the customers and suppliers on the same platform.

“This technology allowed us to integrate with different travel providers to initially start the offering from travel alliance,” Chatterjee added.

Bajaj Allianz has launched ‘Travel Ezee’ to cater to overseas travel policy customers to proactively inform customers about their payout eligibility in case of an overseas flight delay.

The existing standard claims process entails that the customer registers the claim followed by submission of the certificate of delay from the airline along with the claim form.

Travel Ezee, on the other hand, uses blockchain to initiate the claims process and to notify the customers. It allows customers to receive their claims instantly without actually filing for an overseas flight delay.

It also launched the ‘On The Spot’ facility for motor claims. “Typically, it takes five-seven days to settle motor accident claims, including those as small as ₹20,000. Motor ‘On The Spot’ brings this period down to a mere 20 minutes, ruling out any human intervention,” the executive said.

Under this, a customer is allowed to self-inspect and file a claim through the company’s insurance wallet app along with pictures of the damaged vehicle and policy/bank details.

“Over 65 per cent of the motor claims that we receive are minor claims with loss amounts of less than ₹20,000. The new initiative not only speeds up the claims process for these claims, but also the process for bigger claims,” Chatterjee said.