General insurers expect 10 per cent growth rate to continue in Q4

Amid the economic slowdown, the premium collections of the general insurance industry grew by 10.24 per cent during April-December 2008.

In December alone, the general insurance premium collections rose 13.88 per cent to Rs 2,612 crore, according to data released by the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda).

Company executives said that the growth rate is expected to stay around the 10 per cent level in the fourth quarter also as insurers focus on selling more health and motor covers. But the fall in premium rates is showing on industry sales, especially in the fire and engineering segment. “The number of policies sold has gone up even if premium collections were lower,” said ICICI Lombard Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Bakshi. In December, the company’s premium collections fell 9.53 per cent to a little over Rs 250 crore.
 

Gross premium underwritten during Apr-Dec 2008 in Rs Crore
Company	2007	2008	% change
Public sector	12,466.04	13,421.65	7.67
New India Assurance	3,883.44	4,112.58	5.90
National Insurance	2,922.10	3,198.40	9.46
United India	2,765.60	3,139.74	13.53
Oriental Insurance	2,894.90	2,970.93	2.63
Private sector	8,304.60	9,475.57	14.10
ICICI-Lombard	2,624.67	2,721.87	3.70
Bajaj Allianz	1,712.89	1,997.34	16.61
Reliance General	1,524.47	1,495.20	-1.92
Iffco-Tokio	800.13	1,041.46	30.16
Tata-AIG	589.48	670.87	13.81
Only top five  among 12 private players mentioned  Source: Irda

Reliance General Insurance was the only insurer to see a fall in sales in the nine-month period ended December 2008. The company has, however, decided to go slow in acquiring new business and is focusing on profitability to save capital.

Private insurance companies, which have seen their business grow at nearly twice the pace, compared with the public sector players, said that their sales have got a boost due to focus on the retail segments.

In recent months, insurance companies have been complaining of a slowdown in premium growth as automobile sales have been hit. Motor insurance accounts for as much as 50 per cent of the business for some of the general insurers.

“Motor and health have been our focus area for this year. We expect 25-30 per cent growth to Rs 1,400 crore premium income for this financial year,” said Iffco Tokio CEO S Narayan.

Iffco-Tokio General Insurance grew 30.16 per cent to Rs 1,041 crore against Rs 800 crore in April-December 2007.