Short-term insurance company Auto & General has announced that it will offer new and existing policy holders cheap Internet dial-up access as of the end of January.
The insurer says its only costs will be in administering client requests for access at R59 per month, which will be debited along with normal policy payments and paid in full to Internet Solutions, the Internet service provider (ISP) responsible for the service.
"It will cost us what we charge the client," says Auto & General director Angelo Haggiyannes. "We will not be taking a slice of it."
Auto & General`s only ongoing connection to the service will be in collecting the access charges from its clients.
"The primary reason for taking this decision was to create added value for our policy holders," says Haggiyannes. Some policy-holders have requested that the company communicate with them via e-mail, and he expects the cost savings of doing so to increase as more clients take up the service.
He also foresees that the company will eventually offer options such as filing claims electronically via its Web site.
Subscribers who cancel their insurance policies with the company will still be able to retain their access and e-mail addresses, albeit at an increased rate.
Auto & General also believes the perception of added value among clients taking up the offer will increase customer loyalty. The company shares that belief with banking group Absa, which still provides access free of charge to its clients.
Although Auto & General has claimed that its R59 offering will be "the cheapest Internet option currently available in SA," smaller and regional ISPs offer full access packages at below R50.
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