Life insurance premiums jump 24% in Apr-May

The life insurance industry's total premium collection grew 24 per cent to Rs 13,651 crore in the first two months of the current fiscal, driven by group single premiums.
LIC made a smart recovery with a 21 per cent growth in total premium mop-up at Rs 9,384 crore in the said period. The Corporation's business stood at Rs 7,757 crore in the year-ago period.
In the year-ago period, the industry's total business stood at Rs 10,984 crore, according to Life Insurance Council data released today.
The volume of business in group single premium, which is transacted when a corporate house buys pension products by paying one-time premium, shot up 64 per cent to Rs 7,694 crore in April-May, from Rs 4,683 crore a year ago.

Market leader LIC has seen its business under this segment rising by 61 per cent in the first two months of the fiscal, the Council data showed.
In the remaining segments, including individual single, individual non-single and group single, the industry has seen either a flat or a negative growth.

"Life insurers collected total premium of Rs 13,651 crore in April-May this year against Rs 10,984 crore a year ago. It includes Rs 7,694 crore under group premiums," Life Insurance Council secretary general V Manickam told PTI.
"Life insurers have increased their group insurance business as it involves fund management too. Also, the lapses are quite less in this segment," he said.

The growth was overall led by 23 private sector players, which collectively logged a 32 per cent growth at Rs 4,267 crore, up from Rs 3,227 crore a year ago.
In volume terms, the industry grew 15.26 per cent to 25,04,502 from 21,72,918 a year ago. LIC has grown its number of policies by 20 per cent to 19,71,713 in the reporting period from 16,36,831 a year ago.