For decades, despite being an essential product, insurance hasn’t been on top of the mind for Indian consumers. While most have heard of it, few have trusted it. The hesitation rarely stems from disbelief in protection, but from doubt in delivery. “Will what's promised truly arrive when needed?” People’s trust is one of the hardest things to earn, especially for the insurance sector.
While India has achieved deep digital penetration, with nearly 80% smartphone access and over 500 million internet users now consuming financial content in vernacular languages, financial literacy continues to lag. As per the RBI’s Financial Inclusion Index, India’s literacy component stands at just 73.5, indicating a significant gap between awareness and understanding. This is where communication becomes a policy priority.
For instance, let’s look at GIC Re’s recent campaign, “Accha Kiya Insurance Liya.” The campaign simplifies a traditionally complex concept through everyday storytelling, showing how insurance safeguards ordinary lives in relatable ways.
Insurance, by design, is a complex product. There are several factors that deter its adoption – procrastination, affordability or lack of product understanding. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it affects a million lives every single day and its importance needs to be communicated in a way that resonates with the Indian audience.
Driving change through meaningful communication
It takes years to shape policies. However, they don’t evolve in isolation. They are driven by a number of factors and all of which begin with clear articulation of what people need. Another example is the recent removal of GST on life and health insurance products. This is a move that directly reduces the cost of essential protection for millions of Indians. This landmark decision didn’t happen overnight. It was the result of sustained engagement between insurers, fintechs, and policymakers, and a unified effort to communicate one simple truth: protection must be affordable to be universal.
Constant dialogue through industry bodies ensured that the voice of the consumer was heard where it mattered most. This is the quiet power of consistent communication. It means bringing data, insight and intent into an alignment. Every meaningful policy reform, from the Bima Trinity framework to the GST relief, begins with the same principle: clarity drives change. The question now is, as an industry, are we pushing the right buttons that make protection simpler, affordable, and truly inclusive?
Establishing thought leadership for a low-trust category
In a low-trust category like insurance, people don’t buy products unless they are convinced. And conviction is built when a brand’s voice creates larger impact and drives awareness.
Thought leadership is about talking with sense. It’s about demystifying finance for an audience that has long been made to feel alienated by it. This means looking at the strategy from a 360-degree point of view. This also means simplifying the process, explaining what makes a claim valid or how risk assessment works. When voices that carry credibility speak consistently and clearly, they become the interpreters of an industry traditionally perceived as opaque.
The first and foremost strategy is to shape the narrative before others define it. In the absence of a story, people create their own. And when they do that, they do not always do it kindly. When consumers hesitate about financial products, it’s because they don’t see themselves in it. Thought leadership helps bridge that gap.
Meeting people where they are
Trust-building takes time and it’s worth the time. It is a slow-burn exercise that cannot be and should not be hastened. It takes handshakes, eye contact, and conversations in one’s own language. Insurance is inherently personal. After all, it speaks of life, health, and legacy. So, when a company’s leadership and communication teams step out of the boardroom and into the community, they don’t just market; they listen.
In this context, representation matters. Whether through regional leaders, local influencers, or community champions, the message must come from someone who mirrors the audience’s reality. That is how belief takes root.
Speaking the language of life
People connect with stories, not spreadsheets. A farmer in a tier-2 city or a homemaker in tier-3 city may not relate to ‘risk mitigation’, but they understand peace of mind for your family. Communication that uses everyday metaphors lands where jargon cannot. Technology has simplified complex processes and reduced the turnaround times significantly but they need to be communicated to the audience that says how it makes their lives easier, that how it impacts their lives.
The language of trust is simple. Local-language content, short explainers, testimonials from real claimants. These make communication credible. A well-told, relatable story can often achieve what the most expensive campaign cannot: emotional resonance. Companies that speak the language of life instead of the language of finance, are the companies that people most relate to and trust.
But external credibility begins with internal conviction. Every employee — right from front-line agents to top executives — should be able to articulate the company’s purpose with clarity and confidence. When internal communication is strong, external trust follows naturally. In a sense, every employee is a brand ambassador; every conversation, a moment of truth.
The way forward here is to expand access and to build a system where financial protection comes to people as second nature. As India steps into a more connected, confident future, clarity in communication is the glue holding every stakeholder together at every step of the process – right from risk assessment to underwriting to product designing to distribution. Communication can move insurance from being a promise to a product people actually believe in.
