Online insurance

Online insurance refers to the buying and selling of insurance online. Insurance is subject to the principle of utmost good faith, which makes it convenient for people to conduct the business online, as both the parties have absolute duties to disclose all material facts otherwise any contract concluded is void.

Conducting a complete insurance transaction can be difficult for most commercial businesses, due to the necessity of underwriting, sales, and a whole network of employees to ensure the contract is up to company standards. For this reason, many types of personal insurance are now sold online, including car insurance, travel insurance, and medical insurance.^{[citation needed]}

In recent times, many online insurance providers now provide not only an insurance quote online, but perform the remainder of the selling process manually, and takes a large amount of paperwork out of the process. Some international insurance companies still require an actual physical process to take place. An example is purchasing car insurance in Dubai, where it is mandatory to give an Arabic certificate of insurance before registering the car. The certificate should bear a physical stamp of the issuing company, which means that the transaction cannot be completed online.^{[citation needed]}

Online niche insurance

Niche insurance is either sold directly to customers by an insurance carrier, or through a specialist broker. This has the advantages of consolidated marketing to a singular audience, the use of specialized coverage forms, and of a broader underwriting appetite. Online insurance reduces much of the paperwork otherwise required by niche insurers. Special event insurance has been particularly successful for many companies.

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