Non-life insurance companies report 15.5% increase in May premium

Among the companies, the industry leader, New India Assurance Company, saw a marginal drop of 0.67 per cent Y-o-Y in premium to Rs 2,404.34 crore

Non-life insurers posted 15.47 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in gross direct premium underwritten to Rs 20,822.29 crore in May 2024, latest data released by the General Insurance Council showed.

The premium of general insurers grew by 14.05 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 18,170.64 crore.

Public sector general insurers clocked 7.28 per growth in premium to Rs 6,696.24 crore, whereas private counterparts witnessed 18.4 per cent improvement to Rs 11,474.4 crore.

Among the companies, industry leader New India Assurance Company saw a marginal drop of 0.67 per cent in premium to Rs 2,404.34 crore.

The premium of leading private sector players like ICICI Lombard General Insurance grew by 21.64 per cent to Rs 2,104.51 crore. And, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance's premium increased by 9.26 per cent to Rs 1,093.23 crore during the time period.

Among other key insurers, the premium of HDFC Ergo General Insurance dropped by 4.76 per cent to Rs 969.98 crore

United India Insurance Company’s premium rose by 15.75 per cent to Rs 1,696.05 crore and Oriental Insurance’s premium rose to Rs 1,601.09 crore, up 15.75 per cent from the year-ago period. 

In terms of market share, public sector general insurers took 33.82 per cent of the overall insurance industry in May 2024 against 36.45 per cent in May 2023.

The private insurers, on the other hand, witnessed an increase to 55.67 per cent in the reported month. This compares to 53.92 per cent in the year-ago period. 

In May 2024, gross underwritten premiums of the five Standalone Health Insurers (SAHI) increased 26.24 per cent to Rs 2,651.65 crore.

Among the SAHIs, segment leader Star Health & Allied Insurance Company posted 16.09 per cent Y-o-Y growth to Rs 1,160.26 crore.

The gross underwritten premium of specialised insurer — Agriculture Insurance Co of India — was down 125.9 per cent Y-o-Y. ECGC posted 16.64 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premium during the period.