DILSHAN PERERA
INSUREME.LK
FOUNDING: 2017
EMPLOYEES: 20

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ONLINE INSURANCE BROKING SEES HIGH OFFLINE VALUE

The benefits of an online business are many: for customers, it offers convenience, better choices and visibility. For the online company, unencumbered by overheads of traditional brick and mortar establishments, it allows space to offer cheaper prices and grab market share. However, when the fintech InsureMe. lk, an online broker and insurance aggregator launched in early 2017, it hired several people to play a crucial role: customer service.

It hired 20 customer service staff to assist customers with buying insurance from an online broker. Ironic as it may seem, staff were assisting customers most capable of navigating InsureMe’s platform and buying an insurance policy online without any assistance.

“People buy third-party insurance policies online without any intervention from our staff,” said InsureMe’s Co-Founder Dilshan Perera. “For high value coverage like comprehensive insurance for premium-range cars, customers tend to attempt to contact someone,” he says.

InsureMe was founded by Vipula Dharmapala and Indika Prematunga, both former Chief Financial Officers of insurance companies, and Dilshan Perera, also from the same industry. They appreciated the idiosyncrasies of Sri Lanka’s insurance industry. Affluent customers tend to enjoy leverage, negotiating better terms, and they expect no less. Although the startup hopes every transaction will eventually be initiated and concluded online, having people conclude transactions offline is still lucrative.