In January 2017, the growth in total premium was Rs 13,138 crore, against Rs 10,284 crore in January 2016, a growth of 28 per cent.
Life insurers shifted their focus to selling high-value policies in October as the transition to new surrender value norms, effective October 1, limited their ability to roll out all products in their portfolio. This led to a 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in the number of policies sold in October. Additionally, distributors engaged in a fire sale of policies in September due to uncertainty about the impact of the new norms on their commission structures.
New business premium (NBP) growth of life insurers in March is expected to be weak owing to the high base effect in the year-ago period due to revision in taxation norms for high-value policies, insurers said. In the Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed that insurance policies (excluding unit-linked insurance plans or Ulips) with an aggregate premium exceeding Rs 5 lakh would be taxed. This rule came into effect on April 1, 2023. In March 2023, the NBP of life insurance companies witnessed a strong growth after the tax announcement. Premiums rose by 14.45 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 59,608.83 crore in March 2023 from Rs 52,081.12 crore.
Many life insurance companies are yet to see a sharp spike in the sale of high-value policies as was widely expected in the aftermath of the government's decision to tax income from insurance policies having an aggregate premium above Rs 5 lakh in a year.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has asked at least 10 general and life insurance companies to submit a detailed road map for their listing strategies by the end of this month, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter. "The regulator met four life and six general insurers last month and asked them to provide their listing strategies by the end of February," said one of the sources.
'While we expand into other areas, banca remains our primary channel, and we continue to be a banca-led organisation.'
The discount should be equal to interest rates on savings bank account deposit of State Bank of India.
Life insurance companies reported a 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) drop in new business premium (NBP) in February as state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India's premiums contracted 32 per cent during this period on account of a drop in its group single premium segment. According to data released by the Life Insurance Council, the industry earned an NBP of Rs 22,847.65 crore in February - a drop of 17 per cent from the same period a year ago.
Life insurers' new business premium (NBP) reported stellar performance in November after a poor showing in October, on the back of strong growth in group single premiums for both private insurers and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. In November, 24 life insurers, including LIC, reported NBP to the tune of Rs 27,177 crore, up 42 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from the year-ago period. Private insurers' NBP rose 58.63 per cent YoY to Rs 11,209.75 crore as group single premiums more than doubled during this period.
As of March 25, life insurers have paid Rs 1,986 crore towards 25,500 Covid death claims
The unclaimed funds within the life insurance sector are higher from policies sold by agents as against other channels like bancassurance or a digital platform, said analysts and officials from insurance companies. Unclaimed life insurance funds refer to the proceeds of insurance policies including death or survival benefits not claimed by the beneficiary or the policyholder. Bancassurance means selling an insurance product through banks.
The Indian insurance industry is set to focus on customer-centric technological adoption and expansion into rural areas to drive growth in 2025.
Interoperability with other insurance companies - apart from banks, medical centres, among others - would be the eventual goal
The Saral Jeevan Bima product to be offered by all life insurance companies will be a non-linked non-participating individual pure-risk premium life insurance plan.
Moving to a new company means losing out on continuity benefits
Self-employed individuals often face hurdles in buying term insurance due to financial documentation that doesn't fully reflect their earnings. This complicates underwriting.
Come October, life insurers may have to tighten their underwriting standards further for retail term plans at the behest of one of the largest reinsurers in the Indian insurance market, Munich Re. According to a source aware of the development, "Munich Re has been studying long-term mortality trends for the past few years, and has suggested some tightening in the underwriting process." "As far as financial underwriting is concerned, the reinsurer has suggested that insurers should ask for additional documents. "For example, apart from income proof, they can ask for bank statements of the prospective customer before issuing policies," added the source.
Life insurance companies assert that the blockchain being created has strict protocols to leave no room for manipulation and exploitation, or unauthorised use of customer data and personal information.
Life insurers, on the prodding of global reinsurers, are set to hike premiums on term plans because rising mortality after the second wave of the pandemic has led to an increase in the number of settlements. Some will do so next month while others may wait till January. Global reinsurer Munich Re had nudged its insurance partners on the hike in September and insurers have been engaged in negotiations with the reinsurer on the amount of the increase. Term plan prices in India were among the lowest in the world for a long period but in the past couple of years, they have been increased a few times.
While the proposed new tax regime is optional for taxpayers, the finance minister has said the government eventually wants to do away with all exemptions with a lower tax-rate simplified structure.
Putting together all the required documents and surmounting legal hurdles could be a challenge for the nominee.
Insurance company will bear the cost of digitising. It will in turn benefit from lower expenses on servicing policies.
Buy from an established agent rather than a novice who may not be around when you need his assistance.
But, neither were the big companies interested in growing inorganically nor were the smaller ones ready to offer themselves for sale.
This could impact their books in the third quarter of the current financial year.
The IPO filing-to-approval lapsing ratio this year is the best in three years, underscoring the improvement in the IPO market's buoyancy.
It might be a cheaper option, but lack of clarity is choking its growth
The good news is investors can make 5 to 6 switches during a year among funds depending on the insurance companies without incurring any costs.
Of the existing set of potential leaders, Bakhshi was clearly the only choice as he beat out other high-level candidates that included executive directors Anup Bagchi, Vishakha Mulye, NS Kannan, and Vijay Chandok who were lacking the all-round game that Bakhshi has.
Priya Nair finds out how investors of mutual funds, shares, unclaimed bank deposits, insurance policies can redeem long-forgotten investments.
Most insurers aren't comfortable with subscribing to the National Pension System as they see it as competition.
While 2017 was a record year for private equity investments in India after $23.5 billion in 660 deals, 2018 too has begun with a bang.
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