Page 6 - Insurance Industry

Around 700 surety bonds worth Rs 3,000 cr issued by Insurance cos so far

About 700 insurance surety bonds valued at around Rs 3,000 crore have been issued by different insurance companies so far, an official statement said on Wednesday. The statement further said state-owned NHAI has so far received 164 insurance surety bonds, consisting of 20 bonds for performance security and 144 bonds for bid securities. Insurance surety bonds are financial instruments, where insurers act as 'surety' and provide the financial guarantee that the contractor will fulfil its obligation as per the agreed terms. Wider adoption of such instruments will help to strengthen infrastructure development in the country. According to the statement, the Ministry of Finance has made insurance surety bonds at par with bank guarantees for all government procurement, and NHAI has been urging insurance companies and contractors to use insurance surety bonds as an additional mode of submitting bid security, and /or performance security. NHAI on Wednesday organised a workshop in New Delhi

Non-life insurance premium up nearly 16% at Rs 29,561.82 cr in April

Industry leader, The New India Assurance Company saw nearly 3.93 per cent Y-o-Y improvement in premium to Rs 5259.01 crore

Go Digit General Insurance IPO price band set at Rs 258-Rs 272 per share

Offer opens on May 15, closes on May 17

LIC's premium collection in April at Rs 12,384 crore, highest since 2014

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Friday said its premium collection in April was Rs 12,384 crore, the highest for the month since 2014. Quoting Life Insurance Council's latest figures, the insurance behemoth said the total premium collected by LIC in April 2024 was Rs 12,383.64 crore -- 113.14 per cent higher than the Rs 5,810.10 crore premium collected the same month a year ago. The achievement can be attributed to LIC's implementation of innovative marketing strategies and its strong reputation for reliability and customer-centric services, the insurer said in a statement. These factors effectively reached a wider audience, resulting in increased policy uptake and premium collections, contributing significantly to LIC's success in posting its highest premium in 12 years, it said. Under the individual premium category, LIC collected a total premium of Rs 3,175.47 crore in April 2024 -- an increase of 25.17 per cent from Rs 2,537.02 crore in the same month a

Fairfax-backed insurance firm Go Digit set to float IPO on May 15

Go Digit General Insurance Ltd, a firm backed by Canada-based Fairfax Group, is set to launch its initial public offering on May 15. The initial share sale will conclude on May 17 and the bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on May 14, according to the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP). Go Digit's proposed IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 1,125 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 5.47 crore equity shares by a promoter Go Digit Infoworks Services and existing shareholders. At present, Go Digit Infoworks Services owns an 83.3 percent stake in the company. Proceeds from the fresh issuance have been proposed to be utilised for the augmentation of the company's capital base and maintenance of solvency levels and general corporate purposes. Cricketer Virat Kohli and his wife and actor Anushka Sharma are among the investors in the firm. They are not selling any shares in the IPO. In March, Go Digit secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of

'Pet insurance market in India to reach Rs 6,500 crore mark by 2025'

As the pet care market in India is growing at about 14 per cent and is expected to become over Rs 6500 crore by 2025, insurance companies are aggressively trying to take a share of this sector. Industry experts said insurance companies are trying to address this rapidly evolving market with bespoke plans to cater to the increasing rate of adoption of pets and the rising cost of medical treatment incurred to protect these furry companions. Future Generali India Insurance Chief Distribution Officer Ramit Goyal, said, "While pet insurance products have been in existence in India for some years now, it has witnessed a significant progression over the last few years post Covid with the rising pet ownership and affection for pets translating into a higher demand for pet insurance." India is considered to be one of the fastest-growing pet markets in the world clocking an annual growth rate of nearly 14 per cent and the country's pet care market is likely to touch USD 800 million by ...

ICICI Prudential Life pays Rs 1,867 crore towards death claims in FY24

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance on Tuesday said it has settled 99.17 per cent of death claims in just 1.27 days, with the total such payout at Rs 1,867 crore in 2023-24. In a statement, ICICI Prudential Life said the company's claim settlement ratio for the June quarter of FY24 was 97.94 per cent, for the September quarter at 98.14 per cent and for the December quarter at 98.52 per cent. "The claim settlement ratio of ICICI Prudential Life stood at 99.17% in FY2024, one of the best in the industry. Significantly, the average turnaround time taken to settle a genuine death claim was just 1.27 days," it said. For the fiscal year ended in March 2024, the company paid a total of Rs 1,867 crore in death claims, it added. The company said it has enabled its digital touchpoints such as WhatsApp and the mobile app providing convenience to claimants to lodge and track claims. Also, the company provides home pick-up of claim documents. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Senior Executive Vice .

SBI Life Insurance Q4 results: PAT rises 4.4% to Rs 811 cr, VNB up 9%

The value of new business (VNB) - the expected profit from new policies - rose 9.5% to 55.50 billion rupees ($666.1 million). The VNB margin contracted to 28.1% from 30.1% a year earlier

SBI General Insurance result: Net profit jumps 30.4% to Rs 240 cr in FY24

SBI General Insurance on Thursday reported a 27.6 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 240 crore for the financial year ended March 2024. The non-life subsidiary of State Bank of India had recorded a net profit of Rs 188 crore in the previous financial year. The company also demonstrated strong growth in overall business clocking a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs 12,731 crore, registering a growth of 17 per cent over the previous year, SBI General Insurance said in a statement. The diverse product portfolio, distribution reach, brand and cost optimization has helped deliver these numbers, it said. "The retail business led by Motor and Health have shown strong growth. SBI General Insurance continues to be No. 1 in the Personal Accident segment in the private market, along with its strong presence in various lines of business including Health, Home, Crop, Commercial and Motor," it claimed. Its solvency ratio stood at 2.25, signifying its strong financial position against the minimum

HDFC Life Q4 results: Net profit up 15% at Rs 411 cr on back book gain

One of the key factors is our back book profits and our costs which have been in control, said HDFC Life Insurance MD

Good Q4, commentary perk up ICICI Lombard General Insurance stock

Investment yields could be around 8.1 per cent in FY25 rising to 8.5 per cent in FY26

Engineering insurance premium doubles in 4 years on infrastructure push

Partly aided by premium rates that up by 10-15% since FY20

Growth path: Premium of non-life insurance companies grew 12.78% in FY24

Private general insurers gain market share

Increased reinsurance capacity keeps April reinsurance renewals flat

Globally, the reinsurance contracts between primary insurers and reinsurers are renewed in January

LIC to keep offices open on March 30, 31 to facilitate tax saving

Life Insurance Corporation will keep its offices open on March 30 and March 31 to facilitate taxpayers to complete tax saving exercise before the closing of the fiscal year. LIC's measure follows the announcement by banks that their branches will remain open on Saturday and Sunday. The RBI had earlier this month directed banks to keep their designated branches open for government transactions up to the normal working hours on March 30 and March 31, 2024. In a statement, the public sector insurer said as per the advisory by the insurance regulator IRDAI, LIC has decided to extend this special measure to the policyholders. "It has been decided that the Offices under the jurisdiction of zones and divisions will be kept open for normal operations as per official working hours on 30.3.2024 and 31.3.2024, in order to avoid any hardship to the policyholders," LIC said in a statement.

CarDekho Group eyeing 40% consolidated growth in FY25, says Amit Jain

Autotech and financial solution provider CarDekho Group is eyeing over 40 per cent consolidated headline growth in FY25 and is on the prowl for value-accretive acquisitions, chief executive and co-founder and Shark Tank India judge Amit Jain has said. Jain who leads CarDekho and is a familiar face on the business reality series Shark Tank India told PTI in an interview that the automobile marketplace (CarDekho) has been profitable for years now and hoped that profitability at a group level would come by in FY25, after which an IPO would follow. Jain described CarDekho as a "growth story with sustainability" and said the Group expects to notch 50 per cent growth (CAGR) in the current fiscal, with businesses like InsuranceDekho (insurtech platform) and Southeast Asia Business aiding growth. The South East Asian market (Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia) is yielding strong numbers, he said, adding that the company is evaluating the Middle East market (UAE and others) as the next

Natural calamities pushed disaster damages above $100 billion in 2023

In the US, homeowners are already struggling under rising insurance premiums

IRDAI approves Bima Sugam, 7 other regulations in 125th board meet

The board of the insurance regulator approved the 'Bima Sugam' platform where the policyholders can compare premiums and purchase a wide array of insurance products

Galaxy Health gets Irdai approval to launch health insurance business

According to the regulator, this is the sixth registration granted by IRDAI in around one year across the Life, Non-life, and Health segments

Insurance sector received Rs 54,000 crore FDI in 9 years, says DFS Secy

The government increased the permissible FDI limit from 26 per cent in 2014 to 49 per cent in 2015 and then to 74 per cent in 2021, he told PTI in an interview