Top News

• A new trend in gifting
• Insurance appointment option from CoverSure
• Target 1 million households in 12 months

Mumbai: Coversure, a customer-centric insurance platform and IRDAI licensed corporate agent, has today entered the corporate, social and personal gifting space as a new avenue for insurance distribution. The company has launched a range of insurance gift cards, based on the belief that insurance can be the most meaningful gift one person can give to another. These cards are co-branded with RBI licensed prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuer Oxymoney.

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The tradition of gift giving in India has now moved beyond traditional boxes of sweets and generic gifts to more personal and meaningful options. Insurance fits naturally into this change as it was originally an option that promised protection and longevity; But it never became part of India's gifting tradition like gold or cash given on festivals. In simple words, an insurance gift card is a stored value card, which can be used by the recipient to purchase the best insurance cover for his/her life. The decision and timing of this is made by the person seeking protection, rather than the visitor.

CoverSure aims to reach Rs 100 crore worth of insurance gifts in the next 12 months, aspiring to reach 1 million households. The company aims to establish this mode of gifting as a growing and additional avenue of insurance distribution rather than just a one-time campaign. “Insurance has always been sold, never gifted. We wanted to change this picture,” said Saurabh Vijayvargiya, founder and CEO of Coversure. “Everything that conveys concern like gold, sweets, blessings has a place in celebrating the ones we love in India. Security should also have a place. We are working to make this possible without words today.”

Instead of purchasing a pre-selected policy on someone else's behalf, the visitor provides stored value, which the recipient can use for insurance. The recipient has full freedom to choose the insurance company, type of policy, nature of cover and duration. Also, this amount can be used to purchase a new policy or renew an existing policy. This eliminates a quiet, but persistent problem with insurance gifting, which is the giftee not knowing the recipient's previous policies, financial obligations, insurance needs, or renewal dates. So the insurance decision, as it should be, rests with the person actually seeking protection.

Insurance gift cards are available in four formats for different occasions and gifting needs. The Corporate Closed-Loop Gift is a customized card, which can be used exclusively at Coversure on various insurance products, including savings and wellness benefits. It is designed for employee rewards, festive gifts, customer engagement and partner programs. An open-ended gift card of up to Rs 1,000 allows recipients to use the amount in stages towards eligible insurance or non-insurance options on Coversure, making it suitable for personal gifts and employee appreciation. An open-ended gift card above Rs 1,000 offers additional coversure benefits and insurance management and protection services, making it suitable for family gifts and special occasions. The DIY Insurance Gift Card allows the visitor to choose the type of insurance, occasion and message with options from term, health, motor, travel and personal accident insurance. All four types offer different ways to support the recipient's insurance needs and leave the final decision up to them.

The cards have been launched at a time of major change in the way the country's citizens view long-term health. In our country, considered the diabetes capital of the world, the Central Board of Secondary Education has directed Central Board of Secondary (CBSE) schools to set up “Sugar Boards” to educate children about the dangers of excess sugar in the blood and encourage healthy options. Coversure sees this as a sign that health and safety, both at the national and family levels, are being looked at consciously rather than taken for granted. The company is considering this way of gifting as a way of thinking differently.

India issued 41.84 crore insurance policies in FY 2024-25, but still the insurance coverage remained only 3.7 percent of GDP compared to the global average of 7.3 percent. This difference highlights the need for greater availability as well as the need for more reasons for individuals to act on their security needs.

This difference clearly shows that both industries are growing at different rates. The gifting industry in India is currently worth around $75 billion, growing at an annual rate of around 14 percent. The opposite picture is in the insurance sector, where the number of policies is showing negative to very low single digit growth. According to Coversure, this situation can only change when the insurance sector is not only independent as a financial product but also linked to larger traditions that are already rich.

“We are looking at gifting as an additional way through which existing insurance customers i.e. insurance brand ambassadors can introduce insurance to new people. We are not looking at it as just a festive product,” added Vijayvargiya. “A company, family member or friend provides an initial amount, but the recipient decides when and where to use that amount, including health, life or motor insurance. It's a small gift that can start a lifetime of security.”

The initiative is part of Coversure's earlier awareness campaign #ChitthiAayiHai with India Post. The campaign saw more than 10,000 barcode-enabled domestic letters sent to households in 15 cities, urging policyholders to share their insurance information with those who might need it in the future. These gift cards carry forward the same belief, that insurance is spread not through advertising, but through care expressed in visual form.

Coversure expects the corporate sector to be the main focus of this initiative. Companies can incorporate these cards into employee rewards and recognition initiatives, or extend them to customers and channel partners, thereby reaching households that are often more financially vulnerable than assumed. When it comes to personalized gifts, these cards are perfect for festivals, birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other important occasions. This initiative falls under Coversure's claim-first and customer-first model, where the claims experience is kept simple and transparent rather than bogged down in terms and conditions.

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