LIC premium collection share at 73%

Total premium collected by all life insurance cos during 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 was at Rs 8.88 lakh cr

India's largest life insurance company LIC had about 73 per cent share in the total premium collected over the last three financial years amounting to Rs 6.48 lakh crore.

The total premium collected by all the life insurance companies during 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 was at Rs 8.88 lakh crore, according to official data.

Among private players, ICICI Prudential had the highest share in life insurance premium collection at Rs 39,988.47 crore, followed by SBI Life - Rs 34,322.37 crore, HDFC Standard - Rs 33,587.98 crore, Max Life - Rs 20,307.77 crore and Bajaj Allianz - Rs 20,219.64 crore.

Besides, Birla Sun Life had a gross premium collection of Rs 15,934.71 crore during the previous three fiscals, while Reliance Life collected Rs 13,826.41 crore.

The collective claims settlement by all the 25 life insurers, including individual and group insurance, stood at Rs 36,155.53 crore for the past three fiscals.

There have been instances of complaints regarding delayed settlement as well as demand for additional documents at the time of settlement, and the government has taken various remedial measures to check this, as per the data.

"Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) constantly monitors the claims payment position of the insurance companies by collecting the claims payment data on quarterly basis.

"IRDA has formed an Integrated Grievance Management System for real time monitoring of the consumer grievances including complaints pertaining to claims," said the Finance Ministry data.

As per IRDA's regulatory framework for the protection of policyholders' interest, insurance companies are required to acknowledge grievances within three days and resolve complaints within two weeks, provision of 17 insurance ombudsman to different geographical areas for addressing grievances of policyholders.