It is not often that a young company sets itself the goal of positively influencing an entire market, especially in a more conservative sector like finance. The ambitious task, which is not just a dream, belongs to "Instinct" Ltd. It aims to be different and not just talk about "customer-centric solutions", but to truly focus all its energy, experience, and knowledge of the insurance market and consumers to bring about this change. The company obtained an insurance license in February of this year and began its operations on June 19th. It is part of the Management Financial Group (MFG) conglomerate, which is definitely beneficial for its rapid development, as it already has 20,000 clients.
Necessary Changes
CEO Evgeni Benbasat is not afraid to admit that insurance in Bulgaria remains largely misunderstood, slow, and sluggish.
Overall, MFG data shows that there is a significant degree of misunderstanding and low awareness regarding insurance and insurance products, especially among certain social groups, particularly those with lower educational attainment. This serves as a barrier to higher levels of insurance service utilization, informed choice, and associated consumer satisfaction.
"At the group level, we believe that with the entry of the insurance company 'Instinct' into the insurance market and given the knowledge and experience of the MFG group, we will contribute to increasing citizens' awareness of the specifics and benefits of insurance products," explains the company's perspective. They emphasize that this is especially true for those Bulgarians who have a secondary education or lower and who are most often at risk of financial hardship in case of property loss, accidents, or illnesses.
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Therefore, the young company will strive to increase trust in the sector and understanding of the protection offered by various types of insurance. It will develop and offer innovative insurance products to the market or enhance existing ones according to the needs and expectations of consumers. Its desire is to change the overall perception of insurance companies in the market by being:
- Faster - making quick decisions, paying promptly, or providing feedback quickly;
- Simpler - not complicating processes and speaking in an easy and accessible language;
- More caring - doing everything with the customer in mind - decisions, products, processes;
- More transparent - with clear terms, openly stating what is covered and what is not;
- More innovative - creating new and different solutions that are in line with modern trends.
Target Audience
The insurer's products are currently offered to existing and potential customers through the trade network of the group's credit institutions ("Easy Asset Management", "Viva Credit", "Access Finance"). The profile of the clients served by them is of the sub-prime category, who are outside the interest of banks, with 88% of them having a secondary education or lower. "This specific group of clients prefers to receive information through direct channels for the sale of financial services, and thus direct contact with our consultants helps to achieve a higher level of customer engagement in explaining the benefits of insurance," explain the company's representatives. At present, the company offers credit protection and credit card protection to them.
The penetration of non-compulsory insurance products into the potential target group of MFG is extremely low due to the objective difficulty in sales resulting from the low financial culture and limited financial capabilities of these consumers. "We started working with this customer segment on June 19 and already have 20,000 clients, which we consider a serious achievement and a clear signal that this segment has potential and requires much more work," say representatives of "Instinct" Ltd.
Development Plans
The company's ambition is to surpass the already established markets of other companies in the group. The company's management explains that sales will begin with external partners such as brokers, travel agencies, etc., which are outside the group's own trade network and customer base of MFG, in October, and will also seek higher segment clients.
The company is prioritizing the development of its online sales channel, targeting customers who mainly use technology through computers, phones, or other devices. The next products it plans to offer to the market are related to home protection and travel protection.
At this stage, there are no plans for entering the mandatory insurance market. The focus will be on non-compulsory insurance products directly related to health and personal material well-being risks, such as: fire and natural disaster protection and other property damage; accident and illness; financial losses; legal expenses; travel assistance, etc.
The company promises to offer products that are unique to our insurance market very soon.
As part of MFG, the company will subsequently seek development in EU countries where other companies from the group operate - Romania, Poland, Croatia, Spain. And it plans to do so soon.