LIC south central sells 15.4 lakh new policies

The south central zone of LIC, which comprises of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, has sold about 15.4 lakh new policies up to October 2004 and has generated first premium income of about Rs 543 crore. First premium is the premium paid by the policyholder for the first time.

In Andhra Pradesh the south central zone sold a total of 9,19,681 policies and earned a first premium income of Rs 332.25 crore. In Karnataka the numbers were slightly lower and the zone sold a total of 6,19,942 policies while the total first premium income earned was Rs 211.45 crore.

The total individual assurance policies sold as of October end were around 15 lakh with the first premium income being Rs 409 crore. The single premium plan policies sold were 32,189 with the first premium income being around Rs 128 crore. The number of individual income plan policies sold was 4,857 with the first premium income being around Rs 5.38 crore.

The south central zone of LIC ranks second today, in the total number of policies sold by the corporation and contributes to about 16 per cent of the total LIC business. Unit-linked policies contribute to about 21 per cent of its total business and the zone is growing at a rate of 51.2 per cent.

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has come out with two new plans - Jeevan Anurag and Jeevan Nidhi. While Jeevan Anurag has been introduced to take care of the educational needs of the children, Jeevan Nidhi has been introduced as a pension plan.

Addressing a press conference, T Chattopadhyaya, zonal manager, south central zone, LIC, said, "This policy can be taken by a parent on his or her own life and benefits under the policy will be payable commencing three years from the date of maturity."

If the policy holder dies during the term, but before the commencement of the periodical payments, not only the full sum assured but even the periodical benefits will be payable for the benefit of the child, he added.

"More than eight crore people need pension today. Jeevan Nidhi plan, therefore, will ensure that life-long pension is payable every month to the policyholder as per current annuity rates," Chattopadhyaya said.

Both the policies carry optional rider benefits like accidental death and disability and critical illness.