Insurance Dashboard

DEFINITION of Insurance Dashboard

An interactive digital tool that combines and manages all aspects of a user’s insurance policies in one platform. An insurance dashboard provides much needed transparency within the insurance sector, and is used by both insurers and the insured to track and monitor activities related to an insurance account.

BREAKING DOWN Insurance Dashboard

Technology in the insurance sector (Insurtech) has surged following customer demand for more transparency and lower premium rates. Before the proliferation of technology in the insurance sector, significant time had to be invested by brokers and individuals in getting quotes from insurance companies. Traditional insurance shopping for best rates requires calling as many insurers to cross-reference the types of coverage each offers with their subsequent rates. With an insurance dashboard, a shopper avoids this lengthy process since the required information is readily available on the digital board. Dashboards provide immediate transparency, interactivity, and convenience—important traits that are much needed for financial inclusiveness.


Dashboards are used by online brokers to display rates quoted by different insurance companies for certain types of coverage. Insurance dashboards provide a one-stop comparison shop for consumers who can easily access information about insurance products quickly. Providing immediate quotes where clients can conveniently decide on the right coverage for their needs is one of the benefits of the insurance dashboard.

Users who are already covered by a policy can access their personalized dashboard online through a cell phone, tablet, or laptop by logging onto the insurer’s site. An customer with multiple coverage under the same insurance firm, say for car, home, health, and travel, will see information pertaining to all policies on the same dashboard. From the dashboard, the insured can file for and monitor the progress of an insurance claim without the step of making multiple calls to the claims department. Some insurance dashboards have an upload feature for claimants who would like to attach pictures or documents to their claims file. Information included on the dashboard include annual premium, status of claims if any, effective policy date, and other basic information like name and address of the policy holder.

Insurance companies use dashboards to gather the necessary data on its users. Data analytics involves using insurance data to determine the relationship between earnings through premiums collected and losses that arise from claims filed. Information that is retrieved by insurance analytics provides insurers with insight on the demographics of their policy owners that are more expensive to insure. For example, an insurer that reported losses in the previous year can analyze its dashboard metrics for the purpose of improving its operations. If it sorts through its available data and the numbers reveal that policy owners that are male between the age of 25 and 30 have the most claims on file, the company might decide to increase the premium paid by this group to cover for costs incurred. Dashboards used within insurance firms include information such as name and policy ID of policy holders, age, gender, claims history, claim type, risk assessment, loss ratio, and type of coverage provided.

Information on a dashboard can be filtered and sorted to make corporate decisions, converted to graphs and charts for visual communication, and shared with third party companies like banks. 

Through advancements in insurtech and fintech, dashboards have provided a means where brokers, insurers, insurance shoppers, and policy owners can readily access insurance information with little to no out-of-pocket costs.

Best Age to Get Life Insurance

The optimal age for purchasing life insurance is technically right after birth. Life insurance is age-banded, which means that as each year passes, a policy becomes more expensive. There are arguments for and against a parent or relative purchasing life insurance for a newborn. Here's a look at the options.

A whole life insurance policy can be prepaid via lump sum for an infant or minor. When the minor child turns 18, policy ownership can be transferred to the insured, at which point the policy can be funded further, or cashed in if it holds any equity.

Life insurance cash values grow tax-deferred. Premium contributions to whole life policies purchased at early ages can accumulate considerable value over long-term time horizons, as the cost of insurance is fixed for the entire term of the policy. Cash values can be used as a down payment for a first home purchase. If held long enough, accumulations may supplement retirement income. However, the primary function of personal life insurance revolves around two major categories: income and debt.

Life Insurance and Debt

A college graduate entering the workforce may, in the absence of savings, obtain a credit card to fund relocation or housing costs. The acquisition of unsecured debt immediately places a burden on the debtor's estate, as card balances require payment upon the death of the holder. Ideally, the 22- to 23-year-old graduate purchases a life insurance policy to cover the debt assumed. However, most individuals under age 25 are more concerned with paying current bills than acquiring additional ones.

While the optimal age to purchase life insurance is under 35, Millennials are the least likely to purchase a policy. In 2015, individuals between 18 and 35 overestimated the cost of a policy by 213%. Among the 57% of U.S. citizens who own life insurance, more than half of those policyholders are 45 or older. With marital rates decreasing 21% from 1960 to 2010, life policy purchases are being delayed despite the inherent advantages of buying at a younger age.

Life Insurance and Income

Fewer people are tying the knot, and the number of dual-income households has more than doubled from 1960 through 2012. More than 60% of U.S. households contained two wage earners in 2012, a 35% increase from 1960. With life insurance existing to protect households from the death of a breadwinner, direct written life premium has nevertheless remained flat between 2012 and 2014. Monthly life premiums take a backseat to retirement savings among U.S. residents 25 or older. Furthermore, 40% of Americans don’t own life insurance. Among that population, more than half of them say that payments for conveniences such as cell phones, cable and internet service take precedence over prospective life insurance premiums.

Cost of Waiting

Forgoing life insurance purchases at a young age can be costly over the long term. The average cost of a 30-year level term policy with a $100,000 face amount is about $156 per year for a healthy 30-year-old male. By contrast, the annual premium for a 40-year-old male is about $216. The overall cost of delaying the purchase for 10 years sits at $1,800 over the life of the policy.

Additionally, the cost of waiting to purchase life insurance can have a greater impact on an attempt to purchase a policy. Medical conditions are more likely to develop as an individual grows older. If a serious medical condition arises, a policy can be rated by the life underwriter, which could lead to higher premium payments or the possibility that the application for coverage can be declined outright.

Life Insurance Policies: How Payouts Work

Life insurance is a popular part of long-term financial planning. But to effectively incorporate this tool into your portfolio, you must understand how and when life insurance payouts are delivered to beneficiaries. This includes understanding how quickly benefits will be paid and designing the policy with the payout option that works best with your estate planning.

When Benefits Are Paid

Typically life insurance benefits are paid when the insured has died, and the beneficiaries file a death claim with the insurance company, submitting a certified copy of the death certificate. Many states allow insurers 30 days to review the claim. Then they can pay it, deny it or ask for additional information.


Most insurance companies pay within 30 to 60 days of the date of the claim, says Chris Huntley, an insurance agent and director of marketing at JRC Insurance Group in San Diego, Calif.

“There is no set time frame," adds Ted Bernstein, CEO, Life Insurance Concepts, Inc., a life insurance consulting and auditing firm in Boca Raton, Fla. "But insurance companies are motivated to pay as soon as possible after receiving bona fide proof of death, to avoid steep interest charges for delaying payment of claims."

What Could Delay Payouts

Several situations can result in later payment of a claim. If the insured died within the first two years after the policy was issued, beneficiaries could face delays of six to 12 months. The reason: the two-year contestability clause, says Huntley. “Most policies contain this clause, which allows the carrier to investigate the original application to ensure fraud was not committed. As long as the insurance company cannot prove the insured lied on the application, the benefit will normally be paid,” says Huntley. Most policies also contain a suicide clause that allows the company to deny benefits if the insured commits suicide during the first two years of the policy.

Another scenario that could delay payment, not surprisingly, is when “homicide” is listed as the cause of death on the death certificate. In this case, a claims representative may communicate with the detective assigned to the case to rule out the beneficiary as a suspect. “If the beneficiary is a suspect, the benefit will be held until charges are dropped or he/she is acquitted of the crime,” says Huntley.

New Choices in Payout Options

Since the inception of the industry more than 200 years ago, the payout to the beneficiary was always a lump-sum payment of the proceeds. The default payout option of most policies remains a lump sum, says Richard Reich, President, Intramark Insurance Services, Inc.

Installments and Annuities

Modern life insurance policies have seen a monumental improvement in how payouts can be delivered to the policy’s beneficiaries, says Bernstein. These included an installment-payout option, or an annuity option, in which the proceeds and accumulated interest are paid out regularly over the life of the beneficiary.

These choices give the policy owner the opportunity to select a pre-determined, guaranteed income stream of between 5 and 40 years. “For income-protection life insurance, most life insurance buyers prefer the installment option to guarantee the proceeds will last for the necessary number of years,” says Bernstein.

Pre-death Benefits

Traditionally, life insurance policies only pay out at the time of the policy holder’s death. “However, some life insurance companies have designed policies that allow their policyholders to draw against the face value of the policy in the event of a terminal, chronic or critical illness. These policies enable the policyholder to be the beneficiary of their own life insurance policy,” says Bernstein.

The term for this is accelerated death benefit. (For related insight, take a closer look at accelerated benefit riders.) Talk with your insurance agent about whether this option makes sense for you.

Filing a Claim

The life insurance company should be contacted as soon as possible following the death of the insured to begin the claims process. The claims representative will request paperwork to process the claim.

The beneficiary of the insurance policy must obtain a certified copy of the death certificate. This can usually be obtained through the county in which the named insured dies. If the insured died in a hospital or nursing home, the institution may have completed the certificate, says Luke Brown, a retired insurance lawyer in Tallahassee, Fla., who operates YourProblemSolvers to help consumers with insurance, healthcare and consumer issues.

“The death certificate has to be submitted to the insurance company address listed in the policy along with a statement of claim, which is sometimes called a "request for benefits," signed by the beneficiary,” says Brown.

Policies owned by revocable or irrevocable trusts must ensure that the insurance company has a copy of the trust document identifying the owner and the beneficiary, adds Bernstein.

The Bottom Line
Life insurance policies provide both policyholders and their loved ones' peace of mind that financial difficulties may be avoided in the event of a person’s death. To expedite the claims process, and avoid errors and delays, Reich stresses that accuracy is essential when submitting any documentation or communicating with the life insurance company. “A person’s life insurance agent can help make sure that the claim form is filled out correctly and help answer questions throughout the process,” he says. (For more insight, read about how life insurance proceeds are taxed.)

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need ?

Very few people enjoy thinking about the inevitability of death. Fewer yet take pleasure in the possibility of an accidental or early death. If there are people who depend on you and your income, however, it is one of those unpleasant things you have to consider. In this article, we'll approach the topic of life insurance in two ways: First we'll point out some of the misconceptions, then we'll look at how to evaluate how much and what type of life insurance you need.

Does Everyone Need Life Insurance?

Buying life insurance doesn't make sense for everyone. If you have no dependents and enough assets to cover your debts and the cost of dying (funeral, estate lawyer's fees, etc.), then it is an unnecessary cost for you. If you do have dependents and you have enough assets to provide for them after your death (investments, trusts, etc.), you still do not need life insurance.

However, if you have dependents (especially if you are the primary provider) or significant debts that outweigh your assets, you likely will need insurance to ensure your dependents are looked after if something happens to you.

Insurance and Age

One of the biggest myths aggressive life insurance agents perpetuate is "insurance is harder to qualify for as you age, so you better get it while you are young." To put it bluntly, insurance companies make money by betting on how long you will live. When you are young, your premiums will be relatively cheap. If you die suddenly and the company has to pay out, you were a bad bet. Fortunately, many young people survive to old age, paying higher and higher premiums as they age (the increased risk of them dying makes the odds less attractive).

Insurance is cheaper when you are young, but it is no easier to qualify for. The simple fact is insurance companies will want higher premiums to cover the odds on older people, but it is a very rare that an insurance company will refuse coverage to someone who is willing to pay the premiums for their risk category. That said, get insurance if you need it and when you need it. Do not get insurance because you are scared of not qualifying later in life. (For related reading, see: How old should you be to get life insurance?)

Is Life Insurance an Investment?

Many people see life insurance as an investment, but when compared to other investment vehicles, referring to insurance as an investment simply doesn't make sense. Certain types of life insurance are touted as vehicles for saving or investing money for retirement, commonly called cash-value policies. These are insurance policies in which you build up a pool of capital that gains interest. This interest accrues because the insurance company is investing that money for their benefit, much like banks, and are paying you a percentage for the use of your money.

However, if you were to take the money from the forced savings program and invest it in an index fund, you would likely see much better returns. For people who lack the discipline to invest regularly, a cash-value insurance policy may be beneficial. A disciplined investor, on the other hand, has no need for scraps from an insurance company's table. (For related reading, see: Is Life Insurance a Smart Investment?)

Cash Value vs. Term

Insurance companies love cash-value policies and promote them heavily by giving commissions to agents who sell these policies. If you try to surrender the policy (demand your savings portion back and cancel the insurance), an insurance company will often suggest that you take a loan from your own savings to continue paying the premiums. Although this may seem like a simple solution, keep in mind that if the loan is not paid off by the time of your death, it will be subtracted from the death benefit.

Term insurance is insurance pure and simple. You buy a policy that pays out a set amount if you die during the period to which the policy applies. If you don't die, you get nothing (don't be disappointed, you are alive after all). The purpose of this insurance is to hold you over until you can become self-insured by your assets. Unfortunately, not all term insurance is equally desirable. Regardless of the specifics of a person's situation (lifestyle, income, debts), most people are best served by renewable and convertible term insurance policies. They offer just as much coverage, are cheaper than cash-value policies, and, with the advent of internet comparisons driving down premiums for comparable policies, you can purchase them at competitive rates.

The renewable clause in a term life insurance policy allows you to renew your policy at a set rate without undergoing a medical exam. This means if an insured person is diagnosed with a fatal disease just as the term runs out, he or she will be able to renew the policy at a competitive rate despite the fact the insurance company is certain to have to pay a death benefit at some point.

The convertible insurance policy provides the option to change the face value of the policy into a cash-value policy offered by the insurer in case you reach 65 years of age and are not financially secure enough to go without insurance. Even if you are planning on having enough retirement income, it is better to be safe, and the premium is usually quite inexpensive.

Evaluating Your Insurance Needs

A large part of choosing a life insurance policy is determining how much money your dependents will need. Choosing the face value (the amount your policy pays if you die) depends on:

• How much debt you have. All of your debts must be paid off in full, including car loans, mortgages, credit cards, loans, etc. If you have a $200,000 mortgage and a $4,000 car loan, you need at least $204,000 in your policy to cover your debts (and possibly a little more to take care of the interest as well).
• Income replacement. One of the biggest factors for life insurance is for income replacement. If you are the only provider for your dependents and you bring in $40,000 a year, you will need a policy payout that is large enough to replace your income plus a little extra to guard against inflation. To err on the safe side, assume that the lump sum payout of your policy is invested at 8% (if you do not trust your dependents to invest, you can appoint a trustee or select a financial planner and calculate his or her cost as part of the payout). Just to replace your income, you will need a $500,000 policy. This is not a set rule, but adding your yearly income back into the policy (500,000 + 40,000 = 540,000 in this case) is a fairly good guard against inflation. Once you determine the required face value of your insurance policy, you can start shopping around. There are many online insurance estimators that can help you determine how much insurance you will need.
• Insuring others. Obviously there are other people in your life who are important to you and you may wonder if you should insure them. As a rule, you should only insure people whose death would mean a financial loss to you. The death of a child, while emotionally devastating, does not constitute a financial loss because children cost money to raise. The death of an income-earning spouse, however, does create a situation with both emotional and financial losses. In that case, follow the income replacement calculation we went through earlier with his or her income. This also goes for any business partners with which you have a financial relationship (for example, shared responsibility for mortgage payments on a co-owned property).

Other Ways to Calculate Your Needs

Most insurance companies say a reasonable amount for life insurance is six to 10 times the amount of annual salary. Another way of calculating the amount of life insurance needed is to multiply your annual salary by the number of years left until retirement. For example, if a 40-year-old man currently makes $20,000 a year, under this approach, the man will need $500,000 (25 years x $20,000) in life insurance.

The standard of living method is based on the amount of money the survivors would need to maintain their standard of living if the insured died. You take that amount and multiply it by 20. The thought process here is the survivors can take a 5% withdrawal from the death benefit each year (which is equivalent to the standard of living amount) while investing the death benefit principal and earning 5% or better.

Alternatives to Life Insurance

If you are getting life insurance purely to cover debts and have no dependents, there is another way to go about it. Lending institutions have seen the profits of insurance companies and are getting in on the act. Credit card companies and banks offer insurance deductibles on your outstanding balances. Often this amounts to a few dollars a month and in the case of your death, the policy will pay that particular debt in full. If you opt for this coverage from a lending institution, make sure to subtract that debt from any calculations you are making for life insurance—being doubly insured is a needless cost.

The Bottom Line

If you need life insurance, it is important to know how much and what kind you need. Although generally renewable term insurance is sufficient for most people, you have to look at your own situation. If you choose to buy insurance through an agent, decide on what you'll need beforehand to avoid getting stuck with inadequate coverage or expensive coverage you don't need. As with investing, educating yourself is essential to making the right choice. (For related reading, see: Is Your Employer-Provided Life Insurance Enough?)

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Health insurance brings smile to RMG workers

Garment worker Mira breathed a sigh of relief when she learnt last November that she would no longer have to bear her healthcare bills.

Paying an annual premium of Tk 100, the worker of Millennium Textiles (Southern) and Fashion House Ltd in Ashulia became the holder of a healthcare insurance policy.

The policy would cover her inpatient medical bills amounting to Tk 12,000 and outpatient bills, including medicine, of Tk 3,000 for the year.

Within three months of enlisting in the scheme, she fell ill with abdominal pains and nausea. Without much fanfare, she headed on over to the company designated hospital -- Centre for Woman and Child Health in Ashulia -- and was quickly treated by the doctors and handed over medicine worth Tk 1,000. The scheme took care of the bills.

“I had never heard about an insurance policy before,” she told The Daily Star, sitting with her co-workers at the factory. “Otherwise, I would have to wait till I got my next month's wages before I could go see a doctor.”

“I did not ignore my health from then on.”

A total of 10,000 workers from five factories in Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur have enlisted in the insurance scheme.

Of the yearly premium of Tk 575 per worker, Tk 375 comes from Carrefour Foundation, a non-profit organisation working against exclusion. The remainder is divided between the workers and factory owners.

Of the 2,200 employed at Millennium Textiles, 1,600 have already enrolled in the scheme. It is mostly the women who have enrolled to address their gynaecological issues, said Basu Dev, its assistant general manager.

According to a study by the Institute of Health Economics, Dhaka University, published earlier this year, the factories experienced fewer work absenteeism since this scheme was rolled out.

Workers are less reluctant to switch jobs as well, said Syed Abdul Hamid, the institute's director. 

Encouraged by the study results, Hamid suggested initiating a life insurance policy for the workers.

Millennium Textiles adopted the life insurance policy recently, where the workers will receive Tk 30,000 in the case of death in addition to the health insurance.

“I will be paying Tk 150 this month as annual premium that will include both health and life insurance,” said Mira.

Under the project 'Working With Women II', the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation has been providing technical support to cover the cost of health care services for garment workers and create awareness among them on health insurance.

Farhtheeba Rahat Khan, team leader of Working With Women II, said, “In 2015-16, we piloted the Health Insurance Plus in three factories and after the initial positive responses, we are now scaling it up for adoption across the garment sector.”

The Carrefour Foundation will fund the project till 2019. The 'Working With Women II' will extend financial support till 2021.

Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said donations given by the foundation would phase out at a point. It was not possible to include 40 lakh apparel workers in the health insurance scheme, he added.

The BGMEA and the labour and employment ministry have a welfare fund for the garment workers. The trade body disburses the fund according to the needs of a worker, if he/she applies for it, he added.

Moreover, the BGMEA provides group insurance for workplace injuries or death.

Babul Akhter, a labour leader, said if a worker becomes paralysed or suffers from an injury, he/she can apply to the welfare fund.

However, to receive the funds, the worker has to go through a lot of paper work that passes through the board meetings, which make it a lengthy process.

The health insurance policy by SNV ensures primary health care, which is an important part; but it should be made legally binding by the government, he said.

Apparel workers are subject to a variety of diseases due to long working hours, lack of sanitation and a nutritious diet. Workers mostly suffer from tonsillitis, influenza, common colds, diarrhoea, headaches, sleep disorders and acute bronchitis, said Col MD Shahjahan [Rtd], a consultant medicine doctor at the Centre for Woman and Child Health.

Tuberculosis is also an epidemic among the garment workers, he added.

According to the Labour Act (amended), 2006, it is compulsory to have 'group insurance' for workers if an establishment has more than 100 permanent employees.

Health insurance initiatives will be more successful if all stakeholders -- the government, owners, international brands, buyers and workers come forward to contribute, said Abdul Alim, lead trainer of Social Accountability International -- a New York-based not for profit organisation for human rights at work.

Though health insurance is not compulsory by law, it should be introduced for the betterment of factories since it boosts productivity, reduces workers' absence and encourages less migration, said Syful Alam Mallick, regional compliance manager at Auchan Retail International.

Two thirds insured on 'wrong' health insurance plan, says study

New research has found that two in three people with health insurance are potentially on the wrong plan.

The findings from TotalHealthCover.ie say that, as a result, people are either paying too much for health insurance or do not have sufficient cover.

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The data of more than 1,000 health insurance policy-holders also shows that public hospitals continue to charge patients with health insurance at a higher "private rate".

Policy-holder concerns around travel cover claims were also highlighted.

Dermot Goode, Managing Director of Totalhealthcover.ie, said: “Buyer behaviour within the health insurance market continues to change with increasing numbers open to reviewing their cover and switching for better value. However, our analysis shows that still too many people do not review their health cover annually and as a result, are either paying too much for health insurance or do not have sufficient cover, or often both."

Mr Goode said that many older members, in particular, are still over-paying for themselves and are also unaware of reductions available for young adult dependents and the savings that could be made in this regard.

He said: “For example, some Laya members on dated plans are paying full adult rates for their 18-20-year-old dependents, whereas they could be saving hundreds of euro by putting these dependents on plans with young adult rates, e.g. The Laya Flex 125 Explore costs €1,654 for an 18-year-old, whereas the Laya Simply Connect Plus corporate plan charges a young adult rate of €625.

"That’s a huge difference in price and the cover on the new plan is arguably better than the existing scheme.”