Health, motor top charts in non-life premium collection

Health and motor insurance continue to top the charts of insurance companies in terms of premium growth, show sector-wise data. Industry players say this is because the demand in other segments is still low.

Motor insurance is the top-most segment with respect to premium collection, according to industry data for April to June 2014. Motor insurance has higher premiums from the Motor own damage (OD) insurance segment. OD is a mandatory cover, while third party (TP) cover is compulsory, according to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda). TP cover pricing  is regulated by Irda.

There was a 14.46 per cent rise in the motor OD premium collections as compared to a 6.3 per cent rise in TP premium collections. General insurance executives said this would due to the fact that OD covers are more popular.

"We have the freedom to price the product, hence premiums collected are higher. Further, the penetration of TP covers are low and only 40-45 per cent of vehicles plying on the road have mandatory insurance," said a senior insurance executive.

According to non-life insurers, health insurance saw a 14.2 per cent rise in premium collections on the back of the increase in group health business. Company executives said while premiums have not seen a significant change compared to the last year, increase in competitive pricing in this space has led to an increase in business volumes.

Segments like project insurance segment are still seeing a lower up-tick as several stuck projects are yet to take off. The industry is also awaiting new business from larger infrastructure companies.

Areas like aviation have not seen a big rise in premiums, leading to a flat growth in premium collection. Miscellaneous segment that includes event insurance, liability covers and other corporate products has seen a drop in premium collection, owing to some rationalisation in the business.

		Gross Premium underwritten by non-life insurers in April to June 2014 period (Provisiona) in Rs crore
Insurer	Fire	Marine	Engineering	Motor	Health	Aviation	Liability	Personal Accident	All Others	Grand Total
Grand Total	2,689.88	1,005.56	656.79	8,772.57	5,283.44	93.12	468.32	497.37	1,376.02	20,843.07
Previous year	2,614.93	1,047.69	656.48	7,973.49	4,624.71	104.14	413.11	440.45	1,640.16	19,515.15