Page 4 - Insurance Companies

Insurers should be allowed to invest in new asset classes: LIC Chairman

Mohanty called for a framework facilitating regular interaction among regulators

Life insurers' premium income rises nearly 13% to Rs 7.83 trillion in FY23

Premium income of life insurance companies grew 12.98 per cent to Rs 7.83 lakh crore in fiscal 2023 while that of general insurers increased by 16.4 per cent to Rs 2.57 lakh crore, as per the Irdai's annual report released on Wednesday. Private sector life insurers have clocked a growth of 16.34 per cent in premiums, while the public sector life insurer recorded a 10.90 per cent rise in premiums, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said in its Annual Report 2022-23. Renewal premium continues to contribute the majority of total premiums underwritten by life insurers at 52.56 per cent in 2022-23. The rest 47.44 per cent is contributed by the new business premium. However, the growth in new business premium was higher at 17.90 per cent compared to renewal business at 8.88 per cent, as per the report. During 2022-23, Irdai said, life insurers issued 284.70 lakh new policies under individual business, out of which public sector insurers issued 204.29 lakh

Approval for 19 General insurance cos applications in IRDAI's pipeline

Out of the 19 applicants, only Narayana Health Insurance Private Limited has reached the R2 stage of the application. Twelve of them are in their R1 stage

Unethical linkages in implementing PMJAY should be checked: Parl panel

A parliamentary committee said on Tuesday that the government should explore a robust monitoring mechanism to keep a check on unjustified profit-making and any unethical linkage between insurance companies and hospitals in the implementation of the PMJAY scheme. The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, in its 151st report presented in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, suggested that the government should push for the payment of insurance premium in instalments, preferably on a monthly or quarterly basis. Necessary mechanisms should be in place to ensure that the insurance companies are working in accordance with the objectives and norms of the scheme, it underlined. The panel also recommended expanding the outreach and base of the beneficiaries to be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme gradually till Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is achieved. Those states where the target set to cover the population under the ..

Banks, finance companies lost out in 2023 despite record earnings

BFSI firms hold a weighting of 34.5%, down from 36.7% at the end of Dec 2022

Lawmakers to hold discussions with select banks, insurance cos next year

Indian government, in 2019, announced the merger of 10 state-owned banks into four lenders

LIC to infuse Rs 25 crore into its subsidiary LIC MF Asset Management

LIC MF ranks 23rd among fund houses in terms of assets under management (AUM). In the September 2023 quarter, the fund house's average AUM was Rs 24,257 crore

LIC fourth largest insurer in the world based on reserves: S&P Global study

The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company and Nippon Life Insurance Company

COP28 at UAE: US, France to propose halt in pvt finance to coal-fired units

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou told the Indian government about the plan, called the "New Coal Exclusion Policy", for private financial institutions and insurance companies

Niva Bupa seeks to have gross written premium of Rs 10,000 cr by FY27

Health insurance company says Tamil Nadu among markets where it is seeking growth

Reliance Industries raises Rs 20,000 crore through 10-year bonds at 7.79%

The majority of the subscribers were large insurance companies, and pension funds, market participants said

Insurers to provide details of basic features to customers from Jan 1, 2024

Insurance companies will have to provide basic features of a policy like sum assured, what the policy covers as well as exclusions, and claim procedure, to policyholders in a prescribed format from January 1, for easy understanding of terms and conditions. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has revised the existing customer information sheet so as to convey basic information about the policy purchased in a manner that is easily understood. "The revised customer information sheet (CIS) shall be implemented with effect from January 1, 2024," the regulators said in a circular to all insurance companies. Irdai said that it is important for a policyholder to understand the terms and conditions of the policy that has been purchased. "Since a policy document may be fraught with legalese, it is imperative to have a document that explains in simple words, the basic features with regards to the policy and provides necessary information," the circular said. I

FinMin holds meet with heads of private general insurers on sector growth

Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with CEOs of private sector general insurance companies and discussed issues related to growth and development of the sector. Several critical issues having implications for the general insurance sector were discussed in detail, including awareness building through continuous interaction with states under State Insurance Plans to increase insurance penetration and coverage, the finance ministry said in a statement. Distribution channel rationalisation in opening up of the agency channel for the general insurance industry to increase insurance penetration and coordinating with state governments and the ministry of road transport and highways to initiate a special drive to ensure compliance of Motor Vehicles' Act were also discussed. Besides, collaboration with the ministry of health for increasing cashless facility and standardisation of treatment costs to boost growth of health insurance was also one of the ...

OECD urges India to pare govt ownership in banks, insurance companies

OECD advised the government to further increase the share of renewable energy by facilitating long-term investment in clean energy development projects

30-year sovereign green bonds may attract insurance companies, not banks

A report by Nomura expressed disappointment at the government's sporadic issuance of green bonds, stating it has led to a relative lack of liquidity in these securities

Govt considers financial creditor status for insurers issuing surety bond

To make surety bond business more attractive, the government is looking at making relevant changes in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to consider insurers as financial creditor in case of default of infra projects. The surety bond issued by a general insurance company is a three-party contract by which one party (the surety) guarantees the performance or obligations of a second party (the principal) to a third party (the obligee). The surety is a company that provides the financial guarantee to the obligee (usually a government entity) that the principal (business owner) will fulfil their obligations. According to sources, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is looking into concerns raised by the insurers that they should have recourse to recovery on par with the banks as forwarded by the Department of Financial Services under the finance ministry. The department is examining the issue and after careful examination, relevant changes would be made in IBC to provide financial

Under scanner: Insurance companies likely to soon face GST audits

Any mismatch in information across documents could raise a red flag

Reliance Nippon Life declares Rs 344 crore bonus to policyholders

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company on Monday announced an annual bonus of Rs 344 crore to its participating policyholders for FY23. The company reported Rs 108 crore in net income for the year, which is a 65 per cent growth over FY22. This bonus issuance will help over 5.69 lakh participating policyholders, Ashish Vohra, the chief executive said, adding the insurer has been giving out bonuses for the past 22 years. Reliance Nippon Life has assets under management of Rs 30,609 crore and a total sum assured of Rs 85,950 crore as of March 2023.

A subpar record

LIC's valuation is likely to remain compressed

Irdai asks insurance cos to lay down social media guidelines for employees

Regulator Irdai has asked insurance companies to lay down social media guidelines for their employees to ensure that no unverified or confidential information relating to the organisation is disseminated to the public through these platforms. An organisation's reputation is closely linked to the behaviour of its employees, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said, adding "Social media should be used in a way that adds value to the organisation's business". The Information and Cyber Security Guidelines, which were issued by Irdai to all insurers, have a specific section on 'Acceptable usage of social media' -- which states that the employees should be refrained from disseminating any unverified and confidential information on "any Blogs/Chat forums/Discussion forums/Messenger sites/Social networking sites". "Any information received, accessed or obtained by an employee, either in his/her official mail/personal mail/Media Forums or in any other manner,