LIC south zone sees 50 pc premium growth in FY11

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India's south zone, which covers Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, has registered a total new premium income of Rs 13,000 crore in 2010-11, which represents a 50 per cent growth over the previous year.

According to AK Sahoo, zonal manager (south zone), LIC, around Rs 7,700 crore of this came from group schemes. It had settled 2.2 million claims in the year amounting to Rs 7,000 crore.

He told reporters that conventional policies were on the rise compared to unit-linked insurance policies (Ulips), with the ratio for LIC at 60:40. The recent regulations requiring a five-year lock-in period and a minimum guarantee of return had made ULIPs less popular, Sahoo said, adding that conventional policies were the flagship products of LIC.

Earlier, he launched the LIC Jeevan Arogya health plan, the public sector insurer's third health cover scheme in the conventional category. It offers hospitalisation benefits for parents-in-law of the insured person, in addition to his/her spouse, children and parents.

As a defined benefit policy, it would offer the benefits as a lumpsum irrespective of the cost of surgery and whether the insured is reimbursed under any other scheme.

It covers 140 major surgeries, and is available with an initial daily benefit of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000. The maximum surgical benefit would be 100 times the daily benefit. Premiums would depend on age, gender and the health cover option, among others.