Cover Genius Strikes Partnership with Agoda to Offer Customers Embedded Travel Protection in South East Asia

Follows Research that Reveals 38% of Travellers Across South East Asia Intend to Switch to an Alternative Channel for Travel Protection Due to Dissatisfaction with Pandemic-Related Insurance Coverages and Claims

December 16, 2021 Cover Genius, the leading global insurtech for embedded insurance, today announced a strategic partnership with Agoda, the digital travel platform with a global network of over 2.9 million properties worldwide, to offer travellers comprehensive travel protection. Agoda’s consumers will enjoy peace of mind with protection that is curated for their itinerary and instant claims payments.

This partnership follows a recent travel insurance survey that shows that 38% of travellers across South East Asia plan to switch from their current travel insurance channel due to dissatisfaction with coverage and claims experiences. This is according to a survey, conducted by Momentive.ai, and commissioned by Cover Genius that observed 1,597 travellers across South East Asia (Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia) to better understand sentiments regarding travel insurance, their preferred channels for obtaining it, and their experience when making a claim. 

In comparing recent purchases versus future purchase preferences for travel insurance, a majority of travellers across South East Asia (47%) would prefer to purchase travel insurance directly from their travel provider or agent for their next trip. 34% of travellers who previously purchased protection from an online insurer said they’d switch to another source of protection next time.

Findings show that 68% of travellers got travel insurance to protect themselves from pandemic-related issues since March 2020, with 13% of these travellers having pandemic-related claims rejected. 

“Since the start of COVID-19, our network of travel partners have seen a 647% increase in attach rates, showcasing the accelerated need for protection,” said Arijit Chakraborty, Managing Director, APAC for Cover Genius. “In today’s environment, the nation’s leading digital and digitally-enabled companies — whether airlines, OTAs, cruise lines or even banks and fintechs — need to lean on insurtechs for tailored protection suitable for their customers, rather than relying on traditional insurers and legacy systems to administer protection to their customers in their time of need.”

When asked to rate their claims experience, customers scored an NPS of 0 for all sources of travel insurance (travel provider/agent, online insurer, health insurer, or credit card). However, online insurers delivered the poorest outcomes for their customers, with a post-claims NPS measuring -15, and taking 10 days to process. Cover Genius’ post-claims NPS stands at +65, the highest independently monitored score for any insurance company worldwide.

The study also showed a correlation between NPS and resolution time for claims, suggesting that claims backed by faster payments, clearer policy wordings, online status updates, online filing and avoidance of data re-entry can all increase satisfaction rates.

“As customers expect a digital-first experience, now is the time for major brands to step up and protect their customers with embedded, hyper-relevant products that reduce friction and are fit for a future where customers increasingly want their protection to come from their favourite brands,” said Chakraborty. 

The study follows on from two groundbreaking reports that showed customers — universally because it’s more convenient — have a strong preference for bank-embedded protection based on transaction monitoring, and they want the peace of mind knowing that their favourite retailers can tailor warranties and shipping insurance to their underlying items.

Download the full report, “A consumer-focused survey on claims experience and embedded offers for the travel industry“.

about cover genius

Cover Genius is the insurtech for embedded insurance that protects the global customers of the world’s largest digital companies including Booking Holdings, owner of Booking.com and Agoda, Intuit, Skyscanner, Ola, and Descartes ShipRush. We’re also available at Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, Wayfair, and Shopee. Cover Genius’ vision is to protect all the customers of the world’s largest online companies through XCover, an award-winning global distribution platform for any line of insurance or warranty, and XClaim, an API for instant payment of approved claims that delivers an NPS of +65, a result that has been independently recognized as the highest for any insurance company globally.

Cover Genius and partners co-create solutions that embed protection that’s licensed or authorized in over 60 countries & all 50 US States.

ABOUT agoda

Agoda helps anyone travel anywhere with its great value deals on a global network of 2.9M hotels and holiday properties worldwide, plus flights, airport transfers and more. Agoda.com and the Agoda mobile app are available in 39 languages, and supported by 24/7 customer support.

Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs more than 4,000 staff in 25 markets, dedicated to leveraging best-in-class technology to make travel even easier.