Gross premiums of non-life insurance firms up 18% in Q1

The gross direct premium underwritten for general insurance companies reported an increase of 15 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 20,452 crore in June this year, compared to Rs. 17,809 crore in the same period last year, according to data from the General Insurance Council.

Gross direct premium of 24 non-life insurance companies grew 13 per cent at Rs. 17,638 crore in June 2023, against Rs. 15,639 crore in June 2022, while for the five standalone health insurers, it grew 24 per cent at Rs. 2,475 crore against Rs. 2,003 crore. Two specialised insurers — Agriculture Insurance Co of India Ltd and ECGC — more than doubled their combined gross premium at Rs. 339 crore (Rs. 167 crore in June 2022).

For the first quarter of FY24, the collective gross written premium of general insurers grew 18 per cent y-o-y at Rs. 64,263 crore, compared to Rs. 54,489 crore for the same period in FY23.

Gross written premium for 24 non-life players grew 16 per cent y-o-y at Rs. 56,917 crore (Rs. 48,860 crore in Q1 of FY23), while for the five standalone health insurers, premium rose 27 per cent at Rs. 6,657 crore (Rs. 5,261 crore in Q1 of FY23).

In Q1 of this fiscal, barring two PSU players — New India Assurance Co Ltd and United India Insurance Co Ltd — most of the other non-life players reported double-digit growth in their gross director premium underwritten (GDPW). Navi General Insurance and Raheja QBE reported a decline in GDPW.