Page 7 - Life Insurance

Life insurers' new business premium rises 14% to Rs 35K cr in September

Life insurers recorded a 14 per cent rise in underwriting new business with a premium collection of Rs 35,020 crore in September. New business premiums stood at Rs 30,716 crore in same month a year ago. The new business premium collection in the first half of FY25 rose 19 per cent to Rs 1,89,214 crore from Rs 1,58,377 crore in the same period last year, as per the monthly data released by the industry body Life Insurance Council. Driven by a strong demand for enhanced insurance protection from individual consumers, new policy issuances too increased by 45.49 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the month, resulting in the addition of new 32,17,880 policies vis--vis 22,11,680 policies in the year-ago period, it said. According to data released by the Life Insurance Council, the life insurance industry saw individual single premiums growing 13 per cent to close at Rs 5,142 crore for September while year-to-date growth stood at 14.99 per cent. Meanwhile, Life Insurance Corporation (LI

Result preview: High Ulip share may weigh on life insurers' Q2 margins

Industry players had previously indicated that their margins will take a hit because of the revised norms

Surrender value norms: Life insurers begin rolling out revised bestsellers

Most major life insurance companies have products in excess of 30. It was becoming difficult for the companies to revise all their products, in accordance with regulations by the deadline

LIC earmarks Rs 600 crore for digital shift; to be 'paperless' in 2 years

LIC has appointed Boston Consulting Group as a consultant

GST Council forms GoM to review tax rate on insurance; report by Oct 30

The GST Council on Sunday constituted a 13-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to suggest GST rate on premiums of various health and life insurance products and submit its report by October 30. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is the convenor of the GoM. The members of the panel include members from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The 54th GST Council meeting on September 9 decided to set up a GoM to examine and review the present tax structure of GST on life and medical insurance. A final call by the Council on the taxation of insurance premiums is likely to be taken in the next meeting in November based on the GoM report. Currently, 18 per cent of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied on insurance premiums. The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the panel also include suggesting tax rate of health/medical insurance including individual, group, family floater and other medical ..

54th GST Council meet: GoM to decide future of GST compensation cess

Relief to foreign airlines, secretaries panel on IGST

Life Insurance companies' new business premium rises 22% in August

Non-life insurers report muted growth in premiums in August

Life insurers' new business premium rises 22% to Rs 32,644 cr in Aug

Life insurers have recorded a 22 per cent rise in underwriting new business with a premium collection of Rs 32,644 crore in August. The new business premium collection for the first five months of FY25 rose 21 per cent to Rs 1,54,194 crore from Rs 1,27,661 crore in the same period last year, as per the monthly data released by the industry body Life Insurance Council. New business premiums expanded from Rs 26,788.55 crore in August 2023 to Rs 32,644 crore in August 2024, with year-to-date collections growing even more from Rs 1,27,661 crore to Rs 1,54,194 crore this year, according to the council data. Despite the underlying demand for enhanced insurance protection from individual consumers and corporate clients alike, new policy issuances decreased by 1.44 per cent to 23,94,007 in August 2024 compared to 24,28,895 policies sold in the same period last year. Life insurers made net additions of 1,08,147 individual life insurance agents in August 2024 alone, contributing to an overal

ACKO enters life insurance market with Flexi Term Life Insurance Plan

ACKO term life plan provides customers with flexibility by incorporating the changes in coverage amount or tenure as per the need

LIC ordered to pay Rs 50 lakh to Covid policy premium payer's family

A district-level consumer disputes commission in Kerala has ordered Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), India's largest insurer, to pay Rs 50 lakh in compensation to the family of a policy premium payer who succumbed to COVID-19, citing the insurer's technical lapse. The commission fined LIC Rs 50 lakh for violating its own guidelines, which require policy issuance within 15 days of receiving premium payment. In this case, LIC received over Rs 20 lakh as premium, but refunded it only after nine months. The Kottayam District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission further observed that LIC failed to inform the applicant about the temporary suspension of life insurance policies for non-resident Indians during the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to his demise. This omission denied him the chance to secure alternative coverage, constituting a grave service lapse, it said. According to an official release here, Jemon, a London-based expatriate, had purchased a Jeevan Umang life insurance policy f

Life insurance premium are rising: Here is how consumers may save costs

By understanding your financial goals and risk tolerance, you can tailor your insurance policies to meet specific requirements

IndiaFirst Life becomes 1st Indian life insurer to start ops in GIFT City

IndiaFirst Life has become the first Indian life insurer to commence operations in Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT City), the company said in a release on Wednesday. The company inaugurated its IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) at the country's international financial gateway on Wednesday, it said. Speaking on the occasion, Managing Director and CEO, IndiaFirst Life, Rushabh Gandhi, said, "We are delighted to be the first Indian life insurance company to commence operations in GIFT City IFSC. Our IIO will offer foreign currency-denominated life insurance solutions to international customers of our partner banks and our preferred broker partners". IndiaFirst Life's IIO will have a dedicated team involving specialists who will cater to the needs of GIFT City's global audience, said the release, adding that the company offers a specially designed ULIP product for global Indians -- IndiaFirst Life Wealth Wise plan. This US dollar denominated plan is ideal for international ...

Here is why SBI Life, HDFC Life, LIC shares rallied up to 4% on BSE today

Insurance stocks in focus: LIC has approached Irdai to increase the interest rate assumption and plan-based G-Sec assumption for the calculation of surrender value, reports say

Target GST relief on life, medical insurance smartly to boost accessibility

Tax relief should target pre-packaged term and health policies, ensuring availability to seniors and those with impaired health, thereby reducing their costs

Pvt insurers ceded ground in rural areas in FY24; Tier-II,-III saw growth

LIC share of rural policies more than doubled; ULIPs witnessed increased demand in urban areas

Interest rate derivatives to get boost as top insurer LIC enters market

Forward rate agreements (FRA) are contracts between banks and insurance firms that allow the latter to lock in rates for a future date, protecting them from volatility

LIC drives new biz premium growth of life insurance companies in July

The growth in the premium was driven by LIC, while a high base effect impacted the improvement of private life insurers, analysts said

Oppn demands for caste census, tax on rich, GST removal on insurance in RS

Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday pressed for a caste census, imposition of super rich tax, and removal of GST levy on life and medical insurance premiums. Participating in a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation No. 3 Bill, 2024 in the Upper House, Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party expressed happiness at the indexation benefit being "partially restored". However, he said, this poses a "huge question mark" over the central government's tax policies. "... How confused is our country's taxation policy. On 23 July 2024, you say that you are taking away the indexation benefit from investors and exactly after two weeks, you say that you are not taking it away but restoring it. This shows that when you, without thinking, not acting on the advice of an economist, if you devise the Budget on the advice of those who do not have economic knowledge, these kind of flip flops will be witnessed," he said. Taking away indexation from an Indian investor is equivalent to

Oppn slams govt for not withdrawing GST on health, life insurance premiums

Opposition members in Lok Sabha on Wednesday slammed the government for not taking up an amendment in the Finance Bill to withdraw the 18 per cent GST levy on medical and life insurance premiums. Opposition MPs staged a walkout from Lok Sabha after an amendment moved by RSP member N K Premchandran seeking removal of 18 per cent GST on medical and life insurance premiums was not taken up by the House during the passage of the Finance Bill. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who piloted the Finance Bill, said any amendment in GST has to be approved by the GST council. "Specific demand of the entire opposition is to withdraw the 18 per cent GST on life and health insurance schemes for which I had given an amendment. Normal procedure of the House is that the amendment is circulated only if it is admitted," Premchandran told reporters outside Parliament after the walked out by the opposition MPs. "This was circulated yesterday itself. This gives a message that it has been accepted, or

Opposition's walkout on GST issue a 'face-saver', says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday criticised the opposition parties for their walkout from the Lok Sabha after their amendment to withdraw GST levy on medical and life insurance premiums was not taken up and said they did so as a "face-saver" after she addressed all their issues in her speech. Speaking to reporters in Parliament House Complex, Sitharaman said the GST Council, which is a constitutional body, can take up any matter related to the GST and such an amendment could not be moved in Parliament as demanded by the opposition parties. "They were given appropriate response to all their issues. They were looking for a face-saver and picked on this to stage a walkout. It was an afterthought," she said. RSP member N K Premchandran had moved the amendment during the passage of the Finance Bill, seeking removal of 18 per cent GST on medical and life insurance premiums. Normal procedure of the House is that the amendment is circulated only if it is admitted, he told .