General insurance companies' premium up 12% to Rs 19,290 crore in August

Life Insurers NBP continue to decline

The premium of general insurance companies in August 2023 rose by 12.8 per cent to Rs 19,290.70 crore from Rs 17,101.72 crore in August 2022.

Among the industry majors, Bajaj Allianz Insurance Company recorded the fastest growth of 64.27 per cent in premiums at Rs 16,77.87 crore compared to Rs 1,021.40 crore in the year-ago period.

New India Assurance Company, which has the highest market share, recorded a modest growth of 2.63 per cent at Rs 2,310.59 crore against Rs 2,251.27 crore in the year-ago period.

On a sequential basis, premiums for general insurance companies dropped by 17 per cent from July, which was Rs 23,259.23 crore.

According to a report by Jefferies, private players’ growth slowed from 26 per cent to 16 per cent, year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in August as compared to a growth of 5 per cent for state-run insurers.

Among the major players, growth of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company moderated to 16 per cent in August from 22 per cent in July.

SBI General Insurance Company’s August 2023 premium slipped by nearly 17 per cent to Rs 1,246.48 crore. It was Rs 1,500.75 crore in August 2022.

The premium of standalone health insurers rose by 25.65 per cent to Rs 2,590.88 crore from Rs 2,061.96 crore.

New business premiums of life insurance companies in August 2023 declined by 18.47 per cent to Rs 26,788.6 crore from Rs 32,856.38 crore during August 2022.

The country’s largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) recorded a 34 per cent fall in new business premium to Rs 14,292.53 crore. 

Similarly, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also recorded a near 5 per cent fall to Rs 3,124.61 crore from the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, other prominent players like HDFC Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance recorded healthy growth, cushioning the decline in new business premiums across the industry. 

For the April-August period, new business premiums of life insurers declined 12.33 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1.45 trillion, mainly due to 25 per cent fall in LIC’s first year premium.