Non-life insurers see 10% rise in August premiums

Non-life insurers, which include general insurers, standalone health insurers and specialised PSU insurers, have seen a 10.38 per cent growth in premiums in August. They have amassed premiums to the tune of Rs 17,623.25 crore in August compared to Rs 15,964.74 crore in the same period a year ago. General insurers – 25 in total – have seen their premium collection go up 5.57 per cent in August 2020 to Rs 13,139.63 crore, compared to Rs 12,445.83 crore in the same period a year ago. State-owned general insurers saw their premiums decline 0.5 per cent in August 2020 to Rs 4,690.92 crore compared to Rs 4,714.42 crore in August last year. Private general insurers’ premiums for the reporting month rose almost 10 per cent to Rs 8,448.83 crore. The biggest gainer in premiums has been standalone health insurers, as they saw a 36.42 per cent rise in premiums during the period to Rs 1,462.92 crore, against Rs 1,072.32 crore. This is driven by the fact that demand for health insurance has been on the rise due to the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Also, the regulator’s drive to nudge insurers to sell standardised health products has done the trick as there is huge demand for the Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak policies. These schemes were launched specifically to provide protection against the virus. Despite good growth in premiums in August, cumulative premiums collected in the April-August period of FY21 were mostly flat. Premiums of non-life insurers grew 3.58 per cent to Rs 73,965 crore in that period. General insurers also saw flat growth with premiums at Rs 62,669.21 crore in the April-August period, up 0.02 per cent. This is due to a fall in motor segment premiums and no hike in motor third-party premiums. Standalone health insurers saw 25.85 per cent growth in the same period, indicating high demand for health insurance. In fact, the health segment for general insurers has become the biggest line of business, overtaking the motor insurance segment. And, experts are estimating that by the year end, the health segment may be far ahead of the motor segment