Life insurance companies in India reported new business premium (NBP) rose almost 22% year on year in August to ₹32,644.09 crore on a 1.44% decline in number of policies issued at 23.94 lakh.
In the year earlier period, the life insurers had clocked a NBP of ₹26,788.55 crore and the number of new policies sold by them totalled 24,28,895. New policy issuances decreased despite an underlying demand for enhanced insurance protection from both individual consumers and corporate clients, the Life Insurance Council said, announcing August numbers.
The de-growth in new policy issuance highlights current life insurance demand consolidation and concurrent shift towards products offering higher levels on insurance protection, it said.
For the five months ended August, NBP of life insurers increased 20.78% to ₹1,54,193.76 crore (₹1,27,660.52 crore). Number of policies issued by them was 6.27% higher at 1,01,50,976 (₹95,52,103).
LIC’s NBP surges 35%
Market leader, the State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) posted a 35.10% increase in its NBP for August to ₹19,309.10 crore (₹14,292.53 crore). For the five months of the fiscal, it reported NBP collection rose 27.73% to ₹95,180.63 crore (₹74,516.31 crore).
Number of policies and schemes issued by LIC in August was 4.45% lower at 16.36 lakh (17.12 lakh). For the five months ended August, it posted a 3.65% increase in policies and schemes issued at 68.35 lakh (65.95 lakh).
Private life insurers NBP for August rose 6.71% to ₹13,334.99 crore (₹12,496.02 crore), while for first five months of the fiscal it increased 11.04% to ₹59,013.14 crore (₹53,144.22 crore).
Life Insurance Council data showed, for the life insurance sector as a whole, individual single premium grew 8.35% to ₹4,302.58 crore for August, while the year to date growth stood at 15.54%.
Individual non-single premium increased 10.38% for the month under review at ₹9,160.08 crore. For the five months of the fiscal, it was 17.25% higher than the year earlier period.
In the Group policy segment, single premiums grew by 37% with the monthly collection at ₹17,894.61 crore. In contrast, non-single premiums shrunk by 85.43% in August, tempering YTD premium growth figures for the Group policy category that settled at 32.11%.
Published – September 09, 2024 10:19 pm IST
