 "Life insurance")
The overall premium of the general insurance industry dropped by 4 per cent to Rs 23,550.2 crore in August 2023 from Rs 24,472 crore in August 2022. The fall in crop insurance puts an end to a 10-month rising streak.
Excluding crop insurance, the premium stood at Rs 18,549 crore in August 2023, 15.35 per cent higher than Rs 16,186.5 crore in August 2022, supported by healthy growth across the retail, group health and motor segments, noted analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities.
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The core retail segments—health and motor—clocked double-digit growth. The health segment recorded 15 per cent growth to Rs 6,372.8 crore as compared to Rs 7,320.2 crore, whereas, the motor segment registered 16 per cent growth to Rs 7,352.9 crore from Rs 6,330.7 crore.
Overall, the group health segment registered a 14 per cent increase to Rs 3,760.1 crore from Rs 3,296.4 crore in August 2022 due to better coverage.
Whereas, retail health grew by 20 per cent to Rs 3,386.4 crore from Rs 2,819.6 crore.
Among the insurance companies, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd's ex-crop premium increased to 18 per cent in August from 15 per cent in July 2023. The improvement in overall premium growth was driven by a 31 per cent increase in group health. ICICI Lombard's market share in the retail health segment (premium up 19 per cent year-on-year) remains stable at 2.9 per cent.
Further, Bajaj Allianz General reported strong 22 per cent growth in premium (ex-crop) driven by 42 per cent growth in group health, similar to ICICI Lombard. Bajaj has fared better in the motor own damage (OD) segment, reporting 26 per cent year-on-year growth in August 2023.
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HDFC Ergo continued to report muted 6 per cent growth (ex-crop) in August 2023. High pricing from new age players might be the possible cause of the dull growth.
Meanwhile, the Standalone Health Insurance Companies in India (SAHI) clocked a healthy double-digit growth in premium of 26 per cent to Rs 2,591 crore from Rs 2,959.4 crore, owing to an improvement in renewal numbers of the health segment and enhanced government schemes.
