WinSocial: an innovative insurance platform for diabetics

Brazil's population this year topped 210 million but the insurance industry remains very traditional. Less than 10% of Brazilians have life insurance and people with diabetes - estimated to number 16-17 million - are refused coverage.

Enter WinSocial & Diabetes, which was created in 2017 to offer life insurance, accident disability insurance and funeral coverage for people with diabetes.

Social inclusion

Part of Aegon's Brazilian business Mongeral Aegon, WinSocial describes itself as a start-up that specializes in social inclusion through technology. This involved the eight-person WinSocial team becoming near experts in the different types of diabetes and the applicable medical terminology.

'We validated the assumption after a few months that people with diabetes understand that it's important to look after your health and to have life insurance to benefit family members should the worst happen,' says WinSocial director Rafael Rosas. At a later stage WinSocial may also expand coverage to other groups excluded from traditional insurance cover because of another medical condition, such as HIV or cancer.

How it works

WinSocial isn't a purely Brazilian undertaking. Aegon's Global Underwriting team, based in the Netherlands, develops and maintains the digital underwriting model leveraging Aegon's global scale and Blue Square Re, also part of Aegon, provides re-insurance.

WinSocial operates through an app and website. Users answer a number of general questions about themselves, their medical condition and fitness. A unique feature is a video tool, developed by Philips that measures heart rate. The app is also integrated with Appel Health and Google Fit.

The process ends with the user being awarded a certain number of points- the higher the better - to get a tailored life insurance quote from Mongeral Aegon. Applicants must subsequently submit the results of a glucose test before a policy is agreed.WinSocial is now working with a third-party provider to create a medical clinic voucher to make it easier for users to arrange the glucose examination.

Performance

There were 20,000 website visits, 390 app downloads and 725 health checks between March and August 2019 alone.

Conscious that not everyone is ready to buy directly online, WinSocial also distributes leads - outlined in the customer disclaimer - to call centers and agents who continue what can sometimes be a difficult conversation with potential clients.

WinSocial is also working with social media influencers and health and financial blogs on digital channels. Having studied how other start-ups operate, Rosas and his team are using 'offline' methods such as radio to reach their audience. 'We will see what approaches work best,' Rosas says.

Try WinSocial yourself

The WinSocial app is available in English and can be downloaded via Google Play. Bear in mind the insurance policies are currently exclusively for people living in Brazil!