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Taking a leaf out of the mutual fund (MF) playbook — famous for the tagline "Mutual Fund Sahi Hai”, which successfully encouraged the common public to invest in MFs — the non-life insurance industry has launched the campaign "Acha Kiya Insurance Liya" to boost insurance penetration in the country, which remains abysmally low.
The industry has committed ₹120 crore for the first year and is expected to allocate additional funds to ensure the campaign’s success. The campaign highlights the importance of general insurance and how it preserves hard-earned savings during emergencies, accidents, and unforeseen circumstances.
However, this campaign does not cover life insurance. The life insurance industry is separately planning a similar campaign.
The General Insurance Council (GIC), an industry lobby for non-life insurers, has set up an Insurance Awareness Committee comprising industry heavyweights such as Anuj Tyagi (MD&CEO, HDFC ERGO General Insurance), Mayank Bathwal (CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance), Shanai Ghosh (MD&CEO, Zuno General Insurance), B S Rahul (CMD, United India Insurance), Krishnan Ramachandran (MD&CEO, Niva Bupa Health Insurance), and Anand Roy (MD&CEO, Star Health and Allied Insurance). The committee will focus on boosting insurance awareness across the country.
To increase penetration, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has also set an ambitious target of “Insurance for All” by 2047, whereby every citizen would have life, health, and property insurance cover, and every enterprise would have insurance solutions.
The push behind this was the fact that almost 25 years after the sector was liberalised, insurance penetration has not happened much.
Insurance penetration in the country remains low despite best efforts of Irdai. As per official data, insurance penetration in financial year 2023-24 (FY24) slipped to 3.7 per cent, down from 4 per cent the previous year. The non-life insurance penetration was stagnant at 1 per cent while life insurance penetration declined to 2.8 per cent, compared to 3 per cent in FY23. The world average for insurance penetration is 7 per cent.
“If we can make insurance affordable and accessible, there will be an uptake. Unless there is awareness of the benefits of insurance, unless people are aware of what is available to them and how it suits them, the uptake perhaps may not be as much as we would like it to be, and that is not good for the nation. I am very happy about this campaign that has come about. It will really build awareness,” said Deepak Sood, member (non-life), Irdai.
“The amount of data, claims, and customers that the general insurance industry handles is phenomenal. But the stress on the customer’s mind is the highest when they are interacting with the general insurance industry... so even the slightest of unpleasant experience will get blown up to a very high magnitude. Having said that, we are not shying away, we have to keep pushing ourselves. This campaign is an endeavour to make a difference for the country,” said Tapan Singhel, MD&CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
He added, “The Council has approved for a five-year period that all companies will contribute to this fund to sustain the campaign. It will be a constant source of contribution from the industry to keep this on.”
Unlike life insurance, non-life insurance covers a broader range of areas — health, motor, crop, property, marine, and hull insurance, etc. While motor and health are the predominant and most well-known segments of the industry, enjoying wider coverage, other segments see comparatively lower demand, largely due to a lack of awareness and other contributing factors.
“We are looking at over ₹100 crore for the first year, and we are expecting a similar or slightly increased amount to be spent every year. Right now, we have a horizon of three years, but it is a continuous effort. We in the industry and in the Council recognize that,” said Shanai Ghosh, MD&CEO, Zuno General Insurance.
Insurance for all
* Non-life insurance industry has launched a campaign “Achha Kiya Insurance Liya” to boost penetration
* The industry is expected to allocate additional funds to ensure the campaign’s success
* The life insurance industry is separately planning a similar campaign
* Irdai has also set an ambitious target of “Insurance for All” by 2047
