Non-life insurers’ premium falls 3.7% in August after 10 months of growth

Non-life insurance companies’ premium fell 3.7 per cent on-year in August, after rising for 10 straight months, led by a substantial fall in crop insurance premiums. In the year-ago period, premium had risen by 11.9 per cent, as per industry data.

“The growth was subdued due to a fall in the crop insurance and liability segments and as the fire segment continued to report subpar performance compared with last year. Interestingly, public sector premiums have now reduced to approximately a third of the aggregate premium highlighting the growth differential between the public and private sectors,” CareEdge said in a note.

The market share of private non-life insurance companies has increased to 65 per cent for FY24 so far from 62 per cent in FY23 and 59 per cent n FY22, highlighting the growth differential between the public and private sectors, it added.

Gross direct premium underwritten for the month was Rs. 23,558 crore, driven largely by Health and Motor Insurance. For the financial year so far, growth continued to be in double digits at 11.7 per cent, but was lower than 18.6 per cent for the corresponding period in the previous year.

Within Non-Life Insurers, premiums for general insurers was up 12.8 per cent, higher than 9.3 per cent a year ago, on the back of a rise in renewals and passenger vehicle sales. Year-to-date (YTD) however, growth fell to 16 per cent from 19 per cent due to slower growth in the fire segment.

Premium growth for Standalone Health Insurers was at Rs.2,591 crore, slowing down to 25.7 per cent from 28.1 per cent on a y-o-y basis, and to 25.8 per cent from 27.3 per cent on a YTD basis. As such, over 25 per cent growth was led by improvement in retail health renewal numbers and increased government schemes across both retail and group health segments.