LIC pulls life insurers’ new biz premium down by 5%

After recording impressive growth in September, new business premiums (NBP) of 24 life insurance companies degrew 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in October, mainly due to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India’s muted performance.

In October, the industry received NBP to the tune of Rs 21,606 crore, down 5.14 per cent YoY from the year-ago period. While private insurers’ NBP recorded double-digit growth of 12 per cent to Rs 8,105.46 crore, LIC’s NBP degrew more than 13 per cent to Rs 13,500.78 crore due to massive decline in individual single premiums and muted growth in group single premiums.

NBP is the premium acquired from new policies in a particular year. Among large private players, HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life, and Max Life reported double-digit growth in NBP in October. SBI Life, onthe other hand, saw its NBP grow 6 per cent in the same period.

On an annualised premium equivalent (APE) basis, private insurers reported 19 per cent growth in total APE.