After reeling under losses for almost a decade, life insurance companies are now turning the tide. Four life insurers have, so far, posted profit, while three of them have brought down their losses.
Some products offer terrorism cover as part of the base offering, while in others it is an optional cover.
Data released by the Life Insurance Council reveals that the total pension premium for the life insurance industry saw a growth of 159 per cent at Rs 22,268 crore (Rs 222.68 billion) for FY07 compared with Rs 8,568 crore (Rs 85.68 billion) in FY06.
Life insurance sector grew by 58 per cent in April as private players kicked off fiscal 2006-07 by increasing their market share to over 32 per cent.
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.
Rural Postal Life Insurance, a scheme administered by the Department of Post for the rural populace, has grown manifold to develop business worth Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) for the 2003-04 fiscal from Rs 550 crore (Rs 5.50 billion) in 1999.
In October last year, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India had approved life insurance companies to issue IPOs.
Bupa and Axa have already declared their intention to raise stakes.
The JV, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance (ETLI), will soon apply to the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority to get its nod to start operations, which may take eight months to one year time from now, Edelweiss Capital's Chairman Rashesh Shah said.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
If you quit or change jobs in your 40s, buying an individual term plan will be expensive. You might not even get one if you have health problems, says Priya Nair
Why is life insurance important? Is it something that you should consider? Have you thought about your family's financial state, or your security after you've retired? How will you take care of them, or yourself? Before we get into the whys of life insurance, here's a brief overview:
Health premiums have picked up again after a slight moderation in growth, taking the non-life insurance industry's growth to 22 per cent in November, and to almost 17 per cent so far this financial year. Health premiums grew by 22.54 per cent in the April-November period, driven largely by group health plans, which have seen good growth due to rationalisation of discounts in premiums caused by adverse claim ratios in prior periods, medical inflation, and enhanced coverage. Health premiums grew by 29 per cent in the same period last year.
SBI is expected to mop up almost $202 million via the share sale.
'The retail industry is still growing in double digits.'
The discount should be equal to interest rates on savings bank account deposit of State Bank of India.
Life insurance protects the income generator, and only when income generation is secured can one build wealth.
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.
The Life Insurance Council has made a representation to the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda), seeking some revisions pertaining to unit-linked products.
Private life insurers have entered into their eighth year of operations in the country but they are yet to generate profits.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of corruption and land grabbing, promising action if the Congress party wins the upcoming elections in Assam. Gandhi also criticised the BJP's governance and economic policies.
Players seek separate deduction for long term savings, or alternatively hike in exemption limit U/s 80 C; also seek longer period of carry forward of losses under Income Tax Act and also to increase FDI limit from 26% to 49%
To reiterate, individuals should evaluate their needs first and then build a life insurance portfolio. In the tax planning exercise, the long-term financial goals should not be lost.
Life insurance sector in India grew by 41 per cent in 2005-06 due to better performance of country's largest life insurer, LIC, and private players like Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Prudential.
Led by state-owned LIC, new business for the life insurance industry recorded a growth of 25 per cent during 2009-10, overcoming the decline witnessed a year ago on account of the global financial meltdown.
Tata AIG Life set to approach regulator soon on the 'e-life' tablet; to be launched in metros initially.
If the oil infrastructure is attacked by the United States, the whole area could be flooded with oil, spilling into the Persian Gulf.
Unit-linked life insurance offers the interesting option of combining protection and tax advantages of life insurance with the attractive prospects of investing in equities.
Wipro, India's fourth-largest IT services company, has secured an eight-year deal with Singapore-based Olam group, valued at over $1 billion, and will also acquire Olam's IT and digital services arm, Mindsprint, for $375 million, marking one of its largest contracts to date.
After its successful launch of telecom business, Reliance is likely to revive its plans to foray into yet another green-field area -- life insurance -- by March this year.
The new-look traditional products will have higher surrender value and lower commission.
Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday cleared Bajaj Group's proposed acquisition of a 26 per cent stake each in its insurance joint ventures, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, from its partner Allianz SE for a total of Rs 24,180 crore. "The proposed combination involves acquisition of 26 per cent paid-up equity share capital of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd (BALIC) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd (BAGIC) by Bajaj Finserv Ltd (BFS), Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd (BHIL) and Jamnalal Sons Pvt Ltd (JSPL) from Allianz SE," the regulator said in a release.
In a major move after becoming a universal banker from a development financial institution, IDBI Ltd was in the process of floating an insurance company in the life category, its chairman V P Shetty said.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
After a slump in sales in January, life insurance companies saw 36 per cent rise in new premium income during February.
Regulator wants all existing products to be refiled.
Term plans are products which are plain vanilla (no frills) that give us very high life covers for very low premiums.
In this financial year so far, insurance companies have invested around Rs 36,000 crore in the stock markets against around Rs 60,000 crore invested by the FIIs.
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