Then a tragedy struck. His son, who was sick, died and he didn’t have an insurance cover. Jeewanjee then hit upon the idea of starting a health insurance company to help International travelers. He started Zain Jeewanjee Insurance Agency in 1985. As the business began to flourish, he started offering corporate benefits to large companies. “Zain is a professional, experienced businessman with excellent contacts and rapport with many insurance and financial leaders. I have had the great pleasure of working with Zain on several projects and have enjoyed a productive and profitable result,” says Jim Greth, Senior Vice-President of Word and Brown, one of the largest developers and distributors of health benefit plan models and solutions to licensed brokers.

In 1999, Jeewanjee took a bold step—a step no one else had taken earlier. It was the first instance of an insurance agent going online and hosting a suite of travel health insurance products for international customers visiting the U.S. “Nobody had done that before,” says Jeewanjee.

Customers have been very receptive to his idea. “They can come online, see the price, quote and buy the insurance,” Jeewanjee adds. And the best part is insurance can be claimed instantly. Imagine your manager tells you to travel abroad on a short notice. It’s a Friday evening and you need to pack up bags for the travel the next day. You need a travel medical insurance and can’t go anywhere as insurance offices are shut for the weekend. Traveling without insurance is a risky proposition. What do you do in such a scenario? Your best bet would be online insurers like g1g.com. As they operate 24X7, your chances of going without insurance are slim. What makes it even more important is the ease of use. Customers need to key in only a few details. “Absolutely no paperwork is involved and it’s hassle free,” he says.

He knew customers would buy their insurance needs only if he offered them what they needed. So he partnered with some of the country’s biggest corporations like Metropolitan Life Insurance, insure.com, Word and Brown and gotrump.com to help people during their travel, both domestic and outbound.