When GENRIC Insurance Company agreed to bring a new insurance product to market - Pandemic Shield - to protect consumers against the financial ramifications of a Covid-19 hospitalisation, they knew time was of the absolute essence.

The Pandemic Shieldinsurance policy is underwritten by GENRIC Insurance Company and administered by Sirago Underwriting Managers. ‘Pandemic Shield’ pays out a lump sum stated benefit if the policy holder is hospitalised as a result of a Covid-19 diagnosis, or any other WHO-declared pandemic illness in the future. The benefit trigger is a hospital admission longer than 48 hours. 

“We needed an Insuretech partner that understood the absolute need for speed, simplicity and regulatory compliance. GENRIC was already far down the line in piloting programmes on certain portfolios prior to the lockdown.  With the opportunity to bring ‘Pandemic Shield’ to the market, we engaged with Genasys Technologies and deployed its “Build” toolkit, providing an underwriting platform and online portals that were fully compatible with our existing systems and processes using an open API.  Key for us is that Genasys was willing and able to build a partnership model with GENRIC outside of the traditional models of insurer partnerships, and we were not constrained by existing or rigid processes of legacy systems,” explains Cornel Schoeman, Chief Operating Officer of GENRIC Insurance Company.

“The Genasys technology has been a significant enabler for GENRIC to be highly responsive to needs and gaps in the market. Typically, insurance product developments can take months to bring to market, but by working with Genasys and deploying its BUILD toolkit, we could construct our product ourselves, write up the product rules, complete the quality assurance, test and roll it out in a matter of days and avoid the delays that typically come with complex configurations and coding.  In fact, the entire process from the initial product concept to launching live in the market was completed in 50 days, of which the technology rollout and development based on the Genasys platform took just 10 days.  This kind of speed and cost efficiency is unheard of in the financial services sector, and in fact sets a new record for GENRIC when it comes to launching a new product,” adds Schoeman.

Genasys Chief Growth Officer, André Symes adds: “Rather than develop a technical tool, BUILD is a business-focused solution that allows anyone in the insurance value chain to create and modify product configurations themselves, rather than having to rely on their software house to do it for them. It’s a game changer for the pace of change and meaningful innovation in the insurance sector.  When faced with sudden and unanticipated market changes, insurers and product developers can be highly responsive and develop customised product solutions without the need for expensive and time-consuming coding and developer skills. Genasys provides an open platform that can integrate with innovative and diverse technologies and provides for agility in bringing solutions to market.”

From GENRIC’s perspective, the insurer has invested heavily into the digital transition of its service channels for brokers, consumers and our internal teams – this was of course given massiveimpetus by Covid-19.  From automated underwriting, policy fulfilment, claims handling and internal workflow management, GENRIC has already been well advanced in this process. 

“Bringing Pandemic Shield to the market in record time, and the simplicity and speed of working with the BUILD toolkit and open API from Genasys sets a new benchmark for our insurance business, and our ability to be highly responsive at a critical time.  At the same time, in doing so, we are also conscious of the need to incorporate our brokers and clients into this journey to ensure a seamless experience across the insurer-broker-client relationship,” concludes Schoeman.

For more info visit: https://pandemicshield.co.za

NB: This is not a medical scheme and the cover is not the same as that of a medical scheme. This cover is not a substitute for a medical scheme membership. Pandemic Shield is a product of Sirago Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd, an Authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP: 4710), underwritten by GENRIC Insurance Company Limited (FSP: 43638). GENRIC is an Authorised Financial Services Provider and registered Short-term insurer.