Page 3 - Insurers

McKinsey agrees to $78 mn settlement with insurers over opioids crisis

Consulting firm McKinsey and Co. has agreed to pay USD 78 million to settle claims from insurers and health care funds that its work with drug companies helped fuel an opioid addiction crisis. The agreement was revealed late Friday in documents filed in federal court in San Francisco. The settlement must still be approved by a judge. Under the agreement, McKinsey would establish a fund to reimburse insurers, private benefit plans and others for some or all of their prescription opioid costs. The insurers argued that McKinsey worked with Purdue Pharma the maker of OxyContin to create and employ aggressive marketing and sales tactics to overcome doctors' reservations about the highly addictive drugs. Insurers said that forced them to pay for prescription opioids rather than safer, non-addictive and lower-cost drugs, including over-the-counter pain medication. They also had to pay for the opioid addiction treatment that followed. From 1999 to 2021, nearly 280,000 people in the US di

Private general insurers expand market share to 53.58% in H1FY24

Private general insurers increased their combined market share to 53.58 per cent in gross direct premium underwritten in the first half of the current financial year from 50.81 per cent in the year-ago period. As many as 31 insurers from the non-life industry had underwritten gross direct premiums of Rs 1.43 lakh crore in the first half of the current financial year, according to data on segment-wise gross direct premiums up to September 2023 released by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Private insurers registered an annual increase of 14.86 per cent in gross direct premiums. The non-life industry had underwritten gross direct premium (GDP) of Rs 1,25,194 crore in the April-September period of 2022-23. "Private general insurers have a combined market share of 53.58 per cent YTD September 2023 with a growth rate of 21.13 per cent as compared to a market share of 50.81 per cent YTD September 2022 with a growth rate of 21.33 per cent," Irdai said. PSU

Insurers must curb product mis-selling: Insurance Ombudsman Delhi

Insurance companies have to keep a check on incidents of mis-selling, Insurance Ombudsman Delhi region Sunita Sharma said on Monday. Stressing that customers are the king and insurers are in existence because of customers, she said companies should avoid mis-selling products. Sharma, a former LIC MD, said usually companies engage customers till the free look period and disappear after that as they cannot make a claim of mis-selling after that. Policyholders are allowed a period of at least 15 days (30 days in case of electronic policies and policies sourced through distance mode) from the date of receipt of the policy to review its terms and conditions and to return the same if not acceptable. Insurance Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial grievance redressal machinery to redress complaints of insured persons against life and non- life insurance companies. Observing that the Self Contained Note (SCN) does not come on time from insurers, she said it is advised that these should be sent to

Debut of 50-year bond in India leaves insurers hungry for a share

The government plans to sell Rs 10,000 crore ($1.2 billion) of a 2073 bond on Friday, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Sikkim floods: IRDAI asks insurers to ensure quick settlement of claims

Regulator Irdai on Wednesday said it has asked general insurers and standalone health insurance companies to ensure expeditious settlement of claims arising out of the havoc caused by the floods in Sikkim. The flash floods in the Teesta river, triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of October 4, caused widespread devastation and 40 people were killed. Insurers have been asked to mobilise all resources to ensure immediate service response, including engaging the services of surveyors, loss adjustors and investigators, for "quick settlement of claims arising out of the havoc created by the floods", Irdai said in a release. "Insurers are advised to respond/assist the claimants through their 24x7 helplines, special claims desks at district level with delegated Claims Settlement Authorities for speedy processing and settlement of claims," Irdai said. Further, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said insurers have been advised to settle claim payments/on

Strategy shift at top insurer LIC aids in lowering govt borrowing costs

The shift, previously unreported, has helped states reduce costs by more than 40 basis points (bps) over the past 15 months

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

Biparjoy: Irdai directs insurers to fast-track claim settlement process

Insurance regulator Irdai has asked insurers to settle claims in the states affected by cyclone Biparjoy in an expeditious manner. In a circular to CEOs of all general insurance companies, and standalone health insurance companies, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said it needs to be ensured that all claims are surveyed immediately and claim payments/on account payments are disbursed at the earliest and in any case not exceeding the stipulated timeline. "The insurer shall encourage the policyholder to use electronic communication wherever possible for correspondence while initiating the claim and filing all the relevant documents. Efforts shall be made to ensure that digital processes are resorted to the extent possible for assessment of claims," it said. Cyclone Biparjoy is likely to have caused loss to property (homes and businesses) and infrastructure in various states. The regulator has asked the insurers to mobilise all resources to ensure ..

UK students pledge job boycott of insurers over fossil fuels: Report

In the letter, the students said they will pay special focus on insurers that decide to work with TotalEnergies and Equinor

Irdai forms task force to facilitate ease of doing KYC using Aadhaar

Regulator Irdai has constituted a task force to facilitate ease of doing Know Your Customer (KYC) by insurers using Aadhaar, the 12-digit individual identification number. In a circular, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said presently, the UIDAI framework allows insurance companies to indentify the customer by using his/her Aadhaar with consent management. "In the absence of the Unique Customer Identification in the insurance sector, insurance companies are facing various issues while providing the services and claims apart from ease of onboarding the customers, circumventing possible frauds, etc," it said. The 12-member task force is being headed by Member (F&I), Irdai. The panel has been asked to suggest measures to ease of onboarding of customers using Aadhaar, and steps for fraud management at underwriting and claims stages. It has also to suggest measures for improving the traceability of customers/beneficiaries to reduce unclaimed amounts .

Have dependent family members? Buy return of purchase price annuity

Buy without return of purchase price plan if your retirement corpus is small

Insurer can't transfer liability to another party

The National Commission said even if the landlord is the tortfeasor, the insurer should settle the claim and then take legal action to recover the amount from the latter

IRDAI's new rules to affect PSU insurers, legalises actions of pvt players

What was being done in a clandestine manner by the industry players, the the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has legalised the same with the new norms

Govt to infuse more capital in public sector general insurers next year

The government may have to infuse more capital in the three public sector general insurance companies to improve their financial health, a senior government official said. The government last year provided Rs 5,000 crore capital to three insurers --National Insurance Company Limited, Oriental Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company. Based on the performance in the FY23, the finance ministry would take a call as to how much capital they would require to meet regulatory requirement, the official said. They are not in good financial health and fund would be infused in these entities to augment their solvency margin, the official added. The solvency margin is the extra capital the companies must hold over and above the claim amounts they are likely to incur. It acts as a financial backup in extreme situations, enabling the company to settle all claims. As per the regulator IRDAI's mandate, the minimum solvency ratio insurance companies must maintain is 1.5 to lowe

Buy comprehensive home insurance, with add-ons, for all-round protection

A standard policy is simpler and makes premium comparison across insurers easier

Spike in frauds cost insurers $6 billion annually, says Deloitte survey

These frauds cost insurers about $6 billion annually, and they lose about 10 per cent of their overall premium collection to frauds

Irdai to allow insurers to auto renew FRN of cross border reinsurers

Move aimed at improving ease of doing business; reinsurers must first meet regulator's criteria for obtaining renewal, which would be available FY24 onwards

Higher claims pushed up non-life insurers' underwriting losses: Report

Life insurers paid benefits to the tune of Rs 5.02 trillion in FY22, says regulator's annual report

Several insurance companies exceed limit on expenses in FY22: Irdai report

The expense of management of regulations (2016) for life insurers prescribes the allowable limits of expenses of management taking into account the type and nature of product,

Regulatory changes may bring new dawn for insurers: BFSI Summit panelists

Globally, insurance is moving to a risk management and a risk service business. India also has to do the same