Life Insurance Council to spend ₹160 cr yearly on awareness drive
The three-year campaign aims to bridge the protection gap and improve life insurance penetration, which fell to 2.8 per cent in FY24 despite industry premium growth
 "Life Insurance Council to spend ₹160 cr yearly on awareness drive")
The Life Insurance Council on Wednesday launched the next phase of its nationwide campaign ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’ aimed at increasing insurance awareness and, consequently, life insurance penetration in the country. The council plans to spend up to ₹160 crore annually for the next three years on this initiative.
“We have planned to spend ₹150 crore to ₹160 crore every year for the next three years. The contribution of the companies is based on the annualised premium equivalent (APE). Going forward, as the volume keeps growing, the money available will keep on going up,” said Kamlesh Rao, Chairperson, Insurance Awareness Committee.
The Insurance Awareness Committee (IAC) representing 27 life insurance companies under the chairmanship of Rao gas launched this next phase of the national campaign.
“The campaign is planned as a year-long initiative to drive behavioural change among consumers and increase awareness and penetration of life insurance solutions,” the council said in a statement.
Life insurance penetration was down at 2.8 per cent in 2023-24 (FY24) from 3 per cent in FY23.
The total premium of the life insurance industry grew by 6.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in FY24 to ₹8.29 trillion.
Of the total premium in FY24, the new business premium stood at ₹4.52 trillion and the renewal premium at ₹3.78 trillion. But, the number of policies sold dropped 7.39 per cent Y-o-Y to 29.2 million.
“There is still a large protection gap for the people who have policies, and a large section of the population that still needs to be protected. All of the population needs to be protected. We have a long way to go to reach Insurance for All by 2047. This campaign is a major step by the Life Insurance Awareness Committee. It is a long marathon which should be consistently run over the years to make a meaningful impact,” said Swaminathan Iyer, Member (Life), Irdai.