Non-life insurance gross premiums up 14% to Rs 15,800 cr in Feb

Specialised PSU insurers in agri business and export covers see impressive 200% growth; general and standalone health insurers see 9% and 2% growth, respectively

The gross premium underwritten by non-life insurers rose 14 per cent in February with premiums of Rs 15,767.09 crore compared to Rs 13,805.82 crore in the same period, a year ago. This follows a 6.7 per cent growth in premiums in January, 12 per cent in December, and low single-digit growth in November.

The non-life insurance industry is made up of general insurers, standalone health insurers, and specialised PSU insurers. In February, general insurers' premium collection rose almost 9 per cent to 13,159 crore compared to 12,088.2 core in the same period last year. But, the standalone health insurers saw their premiums rise by only 2 per cent to Rs 1,426.26 crore. Last month they had seen a contraction in the premium collection as premiums de-grew by 1.33 per cent. Post-October, which saw standalone health insurers' premium collection rise 32 per cent year-on-year (YoY), their premium growth has slowed down.

On the other hand, the specialised PSU insurers -- Agricultural Insurance Company of India Limited and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India -- have seen impressive growth of more than 200 per cent in February to Rs 1,181 crore.

Of the four state-owned general insurance companies, New India Assurance recorded a 15 per cent growth in premiums. Others, except National Insurance Company (NIC), reported marginal YoY growth in premiums. NIC, on the other hand, reported a 20 per cent de-growth in premiums in February.

Among the large private general insurers, HDFC Ergo’s premium collection increased 42 per cent YoY in February, while IFFCO Tokio saw its premium collection go up by 13 per cent in the same period, and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance’s premium went up by 10 per cent. But, ICICI Lombard, which is the largest private sector general insurer, reported only a marginal rise in premium collection.

As far as year-to-date (YTD) premiums are concerned, general insurers have shown a 2.47 per cent growth to Rs 1.54 trillion and stand-alone health insurers have registered a 7.4 per cent growth. Overall, the non-life insurance industry registered a 3.67 per cent growth in its YTD premiums to Rs 1.79 trillion compared to Rs 1.73 trillion in the same period of the last financial year.