Millennial vehicle owners aware of insurance but need to realize importance of third party liability aspect says ICICI Lombard Survey

Chandigarh, January 20, 2016: The Indian Millennial’s choice of transport is driven ease of conveyance.  The freedom to choose routes and travel at all hours is one of the key drivers, reveals ICICI Lombard Survey on “Habits & Attitude Research – Road Safety & Motor Insurance 2016”.  The study looks at understanding the Millennial’s driving habits and attitude towards road safety and motor insurance. The survey conducted among 1,073 respondents, across an age group of 25-35 years, spread over Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, reveals interesting road habits of the Indian Millennial. Divided into two groups, car and bike owners, the survey respondents were profiled on the basis of owning a first-hand hatchback/ sedan/SUV, with a car price up to Rs 18 lakh and motorcycle owners with 100cc-250cc vehicles. 

Millenials from Kolkata (71%) emerged as least inclined to sharing their car with others, followed by Pune (54%), while Mumbai showed the highest inclination to car pool. Among bike owners, Delhi followed Kolkata as being least inclined to share space with pillion-riders, while Mumbai reigned as the most generous. In matters of road safety, almost 40% of car/bike owners claimed that they never drove rashly, but when they did, most blamed medical emergency as the cause. At least 38% of car owners and 41% of bike owners said that travelling with friends was a major occasion of rash driving, followed by 37% of car owners and 35% of bike owners revealing that driving on the expressway was another major occasion for rash driving.

Commenting on the Survey, Mr. Sanjay Datta, Chief- Underwriting, Claims & Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd. said, "The ICICI Lombard survey reveals that the Indian millennial is concerned about maintaining his/her vehicle through regular servicing. However, when it comes to adopting the right safety approach in term of insuring their vehicles and being aware of the processes for example claims, not many seem to be in the know how. It is important that multiple stakeholders including insurers work towards increasing awareness in such cases.’

Some common road safety violations among car owners were ‘playing loud music’ (39%), ‘overtaking’ (46%) and ‘talking on mobile while driving’ (39%). Among bike owners, ‘not wearing helmet’ (41%), ‘lane crossing’ (40%), ‘jumping signals’ (39%) and ‘talking on mobile while riding’ (39%) were the more common causes. 

Interestingly, as bike owners showed lesser awareness with regards to motor insurance, they also needed their vehicle to be serviced more frequently (59% getting it serviced once in three months) than car owners, where fifty percent of the latter required their vehicle to be serviced once in six months. Further, more bike owners (68%) serviced their vehicle by freelance mechanics, while 57% of car owners trusted only OEMs with their vehicle. Among those who had purchased insurance, only 23% bike owners and 28% car owners purchase insurance keeping in mind the third party liability. 

However, despite the apparent differences between car and bike owners, the one thing common is that own damage (80% bike owners and 76% car owners) and third party insurance (38% bike owners and 41% car owners) policies scored the most among awareness levels. Incidentally, familiarity about an insurance claim process is the highest in Ahmedabad (52%), followed by Bangalore (46%).

Only 60% of Millennial vehicle owners initiate a claim only when there is a major damage to the vehicle, but more car/bike owners in Kolkata (69%) state that they would initiate a claim even if there is a minor damage.