Every growing economy eventually reaches a point where prosperity creates a new question: how do we protect what we are building?
India is approaching that moment. As household incomes, aspirations, and business investment rise, so does the value at risk. Homes, vehicles, factories, inventories, data and livelihoods are being built faster than the protection surrounding them. Growth without adequate protection can therefore create hidden fragility. For India’s insurance industry, this is not merely a sales opportunity. It is a responsibility.
The next chapter of insurance in India should not be defined simply by the number of policies sold. It should be defined by whether individuals, families, and businesses hold protection that is adequate, relevant, and clearly understood. That requires a fundamental shift in perspective: from selling a product to helping customers understand risk, prevent avoidable loss, and recover when the unexpected happens.
Three disasters, one enduring lesson
I have experienced this reality personally. I was in Tokyo when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck in March 2011. Years later, while working in Hawaii, I witnessed the impact of the Maui wildfires in 2023. And in July this year, Kumamoto, in western Japan, was struck by another major earthquake. While I have been in India since November 2024, Kumamoto has a special place in my heart: I worked there from 2002 to 2007, and my thoughts remain with the people and communities affected.
The scale of the Great East Japan Earthquake was extraordinary. Japan’s Reconstruction Agency reports approximately JPY 16.9 trillion in direct financial damage, while the World Bank estimated that the economic cost could reach USD 235 billion. The disaster also exposed a critical protection issue: earthquake damage in Japan requires specific earthquake insurance attached to fire insurance, because ordinary fire insurance does not cover fire damage caused by an earthquake.
The 28 July 2026 Kumamoto earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum seismic intensity of 7, is a recent reminder that catastrophe risk is not an abstract possibility. The Maui wildfires offered another powerful lesson. As of 30 June 2024, more than 10,000 insurance claims and estimated insured losses exceeding USD 3.29 billion had been reported. Recovery has continued to evolve: by mid-April 2026, nearly 22,000 claimants had filed more than 94,000 legal claims under the wider USD 4 billion settlement process. These are different measures, but together they show the continuing human, financial and legal consequences of a catastrophe long after the flames are extinguished.
These experiences strengthened my conviction that recommending appropriate insurance cannot be a matter of compromise. If we know that a customer faces a material risk, our mission is not fulfilled by issuing any policy. We must help the customer secure the right protection, at an adequate level, with a clear understanding of what is covered and what is not.
India’s protection gap is both an opportunity and a responsibility
India’s relatively low level of insurance penetration is often described as a gap to be closed. But penetration alone is not enough. A policy that is too narrow, underinsured, or poorly understood may create the appearance of protection without the resilience the customer expects.
As India grows wealthier, the value at risk grows with it. A family that has accumulated savings, purchased a home, or financed a vehicle has more to protect. A small business that has built inventory, invested in equipment, and employed people needs not only asset cover, but also a continuity plan when operations are interrupted.
Therefore, this industry is not just about participating in India’s growth journey, but also an opportunity and obligation to make that progress more resilient and sustainable.
From insurance placement to risk partnership
For the industry, this calls for a change in mindset. Products, premiums and distribution remain important, but they are not the purpose of insurance. The purpose is to protect the customer’s ability to recover and continue.
For natural catastrophes, appropriate insurance and adequate sum insured are indispensable because no organisation can eliminate the hazard itself. But for many non-catastrophe losses, our responsibility must begin before a claim occurs. Fire, electrical failure, machinery breakdown, workplace accidents and operational disruption often leave room for prevention and mitigation.
This is why loss prevention and loss mitigation must become a larger part of the insurer’s value proposition. Risk surveys, thermography, electrical-safety reviews, maintenance discipline, fire protection, employee training and business-continuity planning can help reduce the probability of a loss or limit its severity. Insurance should not be called financial recovery after the event; it should rather help prevent avoidable damage before the event.
This evolution is already taking place in Japan. Our parent, Tokio Marine Group, is developing solutions as a distinct business pillar alongside insurance underwriting and asset management. Its ambition is to support customers not only in an emergency, but also in their everyday efforts to identify, prevent, mitigate, and recover from risk. I see this not as a departure from insurance, but as an evolution of its purpose. Japan’s insurance industry is moving to the next level, from paying for loss to helping customers avoid loss and build resilience.
IFFCO Tokio also advances in the same direction, in a way that is relevant to India. We will further strengthen our Risk Engineering function and deepen its partnership with underwriting, claims and distribution. We aim to move beyond one-off inspections towards practical, data-informed risk improvement: helping customers identify critical exposures, prioritise corrective action, strengthen business continuity and reduce both the frequency and severity of losses.
Technology will change the experience; trust will define it
Technology is already reshaping how consumers discover, compare, purchase and renew insurance. The next wave will be even more transformative.
Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Analytics, digital ecosystems and increasingly sophisticated claims platforms are transforming the insurance landscape. These technologies can enable more personalised, responsive and efficient insurance by enhancing the way risks are assessed, products are designed, and claims are managed.
However, there is an important principle that must remain at the heart of this transformation: insurance is ultimately a business built on trust.
Technology can reduce friction, accelerate processes, improve accuracy, and make insurance more accessible.
Yet, when a customer faces an accident, loss, disruption or an unexpected financial setback, what matters most is the confidence that their insurer will stand by them when it matters most. Insurers that consistently earn and uphold this trust will be better positioned to build lasting relationships.
Technology can strengthen this partnership when applied thoughtfully and responsibly. Artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and digital claims platforms can help insurers identify emerging risk patterns, personalise protection, strengthen risk selection and respond to customers more quickly. Technology can also enable insurers to provide more timely, relevant and practical guidance to help customers prevent or mitigate risks.
The next wave will come from beyond the metros
India’s insurance opportunity also lies in its geographic diversity. The next generation of customers will increasingly come from emerging cities, smaller towns and rural markets. These consumers are becoming digitally connected, financially ambitious and increasingly aware of the need to protect their economic progress. Reaching them will require more than simply replicating existing models.
Digital distribution can provide scale. Local networks can provide relevance. Financial Education can provide understanding. Together, these can help bring insurance closer to communities that have historically remained under-protected.
The opportunity is particularly significant for India’s growing base of small and medium-sized businesses. A single fire, machinery failure or interruption can affect not only physical assets, but also employees, suppliers, customers and cash flow.
Helping these businesses identify critical exposures, improve controls, choose adequate cover and prepare for continuity is not just good insurance. It strengthens the resilience of the broader economy.
The bigger opportunity: Making protection aspirational
Perhaps the most important change India needs is cultural. Insurance should not be associated primarily with fear, obligation, or paperwork. It should increasingly be associated with confidence.
- The confidence to build a business
- The confidence to buy a home
- The confidence to plan for the future
- The confidence that an unforeseen event does not have to undo years of hard work.
This is where the industry has an opportunity to redefine its role.
The vision of “Insurance for All by 2047” provides a powerful national ambition. But meaningful inclusion should not be measured only by how many people hold a policy. It should also be measured by the quality of protection: whether coverage is relevant, sum insured is adequate, exclusions are understood, prevention is practiced, and claims are handled fairly and promptly. That is a more demanding standard, and in my view, the right one.
India can build its own insurance model
India does not need to replicate Japan or any other mature market. We can build an Insurance Ecosystem suited to the realities of a young, aspirational, and increasingly digital economy. We have the scale. We have the technology. We have a rapidly expanding formal economy. And, most importantly, we have millions of individuals and businesses whose economic journeys are still unfolding.
The opportunity before the industry is to become an enabler of that journey. If the first phase of India’s insurance growth was about expanding access, the next phase must deepen relevance, adequacy, and prevention. If the past was about selling policies, the future must be about understanding risks. Our work begins with honest advice, continues through loss prevention and mitigation, and is tested when a claim occurs. At every stage, trust must be earned through action.
India’s insurance runway is long. But the most exciting opportunity is not simply the size of the market we can create. It is the difference we can make by helping a nation that is building more, earning more, and aspiring for more protect what it has worked so hard to achieve. That is our mission, and it is one on which we should not compromise.
