Health insurance segment clocks a higher rate of growth

Touted to emerge as the leading verticle in general insurance

Health insurance is likely to become the largest sub-segment of general insurance in the next seven to eight years, overtaking the motor vehicle insurance segment.

Currently, motor insurance accounts for about 43 per cent of the general insurance pie, trailed by health insurance with 25 per cent.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance MD and CEO Tapan Singhel told Business Standard, “The motor vehicle insurance segment is growing by 17-18 per cent, while health insurance is growing at much higher 35 per cent rate.”

With the growing awareness among people about health insurance benefits, the segment would continue to grow fast, he said. Rural market was also contributing handsomely to it, he added.

“The rural market is doing quite well in the health insurance segment. While, most urbanites treat the group medical insurance cover in their companies as sufficient, the rural populace subscribes for the cover exclusively,” he informed.

However, he stressed the general insurance companies were facing the challenges of under pricing of products, which had a strong impact on their financial health.

“There is a consensus among general insurers that pricing should improve for sustainability of the companies in providing better customer services,” Singhel added.

Meanwhile, Bajaj Allianz is preparing to launch various customer-centric initiatives, such as providing on-the-spot insurance cover and settlement of claims.

“We would be using information technology tools to combine documentation and procedures to weed out unnecessary delays in providing insurance certificates and settling claims,” he said.

The company, which has six per cent market share among private life insurers, is targetting a 22 per cent growth and total premium income of Rs 4,000 core this financial year.