Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched two new mobile applications, MyLIC for policyholders and Super Sales Saathi for its sales intermediaries, aiming to enhance digital agility and cater to the younger generation's needs. The apps, part of LIC's DIVE digital transformation platform, offer features like policy management, premium payments, and personalised recommendations.
How high or low will be your policy premium depends upon these.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that raising the FDI limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector will help attract more capital, improve competition and increase insurance penetration by making policies more affordable.
The gross premium of the non-life insurers stood at Rs 2,456.64 crore (Rs 24.56 billion) in April-October against Rs 2,383.28 crore (Rs 23.83 billion) in the corresponding period last year.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The data for individual weighted received premium (WRP) showed divergent trends for life insurers in December 2024. Overall, the industry's individual WRP grew 4.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y); LIC's individual WRP declined 13 per cent while private players saw 11.4 per cent growth.
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.
'We are expected to grow at above 28 per cent this year, higher than the industry.'
With a view to provide flexibility to insurance companies, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has said that life insurers will be allowed to change the premium quotes from what they have filed with the regulator for group business.
Young buyers often underestimate future health risks.
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India has the wherewithal to acquire a composite license, a top source aware of the development told Business Standard, adding that the insurance behemoth may look into entering the health and general insurance segments. "LIC has the scale, capacity, IT infrastructure, and the distribution reach to take advantage of the composite license. "LIC is looking at organic as well as inorganic growth opportunities.
SBI General Insurance aims to achieve a 10 per cent market share among private and standalone health insurers within approximately five years, up from its current 7.17 per cent, said Naveen Chandra Jha, managing director and chief executive officer, SBI General Insurance.
While investments are typically reviewed annually, risk cover is often left unchanged for years.
'It will support our growth aspirations. It's very positive as it helps expand the market in a segment that really needs it.'
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Recent changes to tax exemptions and allowances, including increased education, hostel, and HRA limits, have made the old tax regime more competitive against the new regime, prompting salaried employees to re-evaluate their choice for the current financial year.
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.
In the rush to complete tax-saving investments at the end of the financial year, many taxpayers choose instruments that do not match their long-term financial goals.
According to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority recommendations, a uniform grace period of 30 days is extended for annual, half-yearly and quarterly renewals, and 15 days for monthly renewals.
The rise in premiums could be in the range of 5-25 per cent, depending on the features that each insurance company adds on its products. Insurance firms have been given time till September 30 to include modifications mandated by the regulator.
It's an undeniable fact that after enactment of GST, buying insurance will become a little expensive impacting your term plans, health plans and motor insurance plans the most. But you should not ignore the importance of insuring your life, health, vehicle, says Harjot Singh Narula
General insurance sector has also demanded exemption from MAT, claming that they do not enjoy any tax incentives.
'Reviewing terms such as war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies or hostilities, which often appear in industry exclusion lists, can help avoid surprises at the time of claim.'
All the four listed private life insurance companies recorded a drop in value of new business (VNB) margin in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as compared to FY23. This is because of a higher share of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) in the product mix. VNB is a measure of the economic value of profits expected to emerge from a new business.
Make sure the rider adds value rather than just adding to cost.
Life insurance offers dual benefits: financial security to your family in case of the policyholder's death as well as helps you save tax, says Alok Patnia.
'The retail industry is still growing in double digits.'
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
Non-life insurance companies say premium charged on policies sold by them is likely to increase from next year because of a proposed change in the way their income is calculated.
Private players failed to make a significant dent into the business of Life Insurance Corporation, which still commands over 89 per cent of the Rs 4,335 crore premium income mopped up by 13 companies till August 2003.
The 2023 Budget set off a downtrend in the listed life insurance company stocks. The key reason was a proposal to tax income from insurance policies (other than unit-linked insurance plans or ULIPs) with a premium, or aggregate premium, of above Rs 500,000 per annum. This impacted the traditional savings profile since it affected the returns for these products.
'LIC will reduce but not fully exit its stake in IDBI Bank, which remains an important bancassurance partner,' says LIC of India' MD and CEO R Doraiswamy.
Regulator Irdai on Friday directed SBI Life Insurance Company to takeover the policy liabilities of around two lakh policies along with assets of Sahara India Life Insurance Co Ltd (SILIC) with immediate effect. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in view of deteriorating financial health of the SILIC. "The Authority has identified SBI Life Insurance Company Limited (SBI Life), which is one of the largest life insurers in the country with satisfactory financials, as the acquirer insurer of the life insurance business of SlLIC.
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State-backed Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) recorded strong growth in the value of new business (VNB) margin in the third quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) while major listed private life insurers reported a weak performance. VNB refers to the profit that an insurer is likely to garner from new business, which comes from policies sold in a particular period. VNB margin is the profit margin of the insurer.
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