Expert Zone
Straight from the Specialists
Life insurance still struggling, non-life continues to grow
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
The lean half of the financial year for insurance sales is behind us and the numbers for the life insurance vertical are not impressive. But the general insurance or non-life vertical has shown a healthy growth rate. Highlights are given below.
LIFE INSURANCE
– New business premium collection overall dipped by 4 percent in the first half of the year
– LIC continues to garner 75 percent of new business premium collected. Their premium collection dropped by 4 percent though, when compared to the first half of last year.
Banks as a shop for insurance
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
The concept of insurance plans being sold through banks is called ‘bancassurance’ and there is a lot of interest in this distribution channel from all the stakeholders - customers, banks, insurance companies and the regulator.
Selling insurance through kirana stores
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
India is considered to be a large untapped market for insurance products. There seems to be enough scope for improvement on the insurance density and insurance penetration counts for the country. While this is true, the challenge lies in reaching out to the large population in the rural areas where the traditional financial distribution channels just don’t make economic sense.
FDI in insurance — to hike or not to hike?
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
FDI in insurance might just be increased to 49 pct. This sounds way too familiar and has been the situation for quite a long time now. Or we could do some scenario building and even see it being delayed by a few more years.
Can we provide more cover at lower costs?
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
When it comes to financial products, does the general rule “low cost = low quality” hold true? By quality, I mean the quality of experience and service levels that should be expected from a standardised product.
Health insurance in new, improved avatar
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
“Till now our focus was to work as a development authority but now it has been more than a decade and it is time to act as a regulatory authority,” Hari Narayan, the chairman of India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was quoted as saying in a recent interview.
Slow death for push marketing of insurance?
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Just five of the 23 life insurance companies in India (I have excluded Edelweiss Tokio as they are new entrants) could increase their premium collection in 2011-2012 over the previous year. In fact, none of the top 10 premium collectors of 2010-2011 could increase their sales in 2011-2012. Why so?
Tax breaks only if insurance cover is 10 times annual premium
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Tax exemption under Section 80C is one of the major drivers of insurance sales. In fact, it has become a trend to launch a new variant of single-premium plans in February-March to cater to those who just want to make some investment to avail tax benefits.
Can someone force an insurance product on you?
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Often, you may think you are getting a great deal on an insurance product. Chances are you might not have given this much thought.
Lack of retirement planning options
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
Unlike people in developed nations such as the U.S. and Europe, people in India are known for their conservative habit of saving. The need for regular income after retirement is a concern that haunts most Indians.
