[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Thursday, March 31, 2011 11:08 AM]
While pet insurance is extremely popular in the western countries, it is comparatively unknown in India. Notwithstanding the boom in pet care services in India, the notion of pet insurance has yet to become popular, reason being the unorganized nature of this area.

Pet insurance in India is still at the embryonic level. Generally, the people who keep pets are from the rich sections of society. However, still, very few of them go for pet insurance. Nevertheless, the insuring companies are anticipating a big surge in this sector in the very near future with the increased public awareness about the concerned schemes.

In a survey conducted across twenty-seven main Indian cities, pet insurers estimated the number of pets at over four million, the total value estimated at above Rs. 400 crores. Industry experts expect pet insurance sector to flourish with the enhanced public awareness about the related schemes.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 10:21 AM]
Private insurer ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is soon going to launch a new annuity product “ICICI Pru Immediate Annuity” which would target the NRI segment. This annuity solution would ensure a steady income to their ageing parents in India.

The product would offer an assured life-time income for the parents and in the event of the parent passing away, the original investment that has been used to buy the annuity will be returned to the NRI. The new product is attractive to NRIs as it is going to offer a higher rate of interest vis-a-vis their present country of residence, simple one-time transaction, immediate issuing with no need of medical check-up.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance's Ex. Vice-President, Tarun Chugh, said, "we have observed that one of the most important needs of NRIs across the globe is that of gifting financial freedom to their ageing parents in India while ensuring preservation of capital. The ICICI Pru Immediate Annuity is tailored to suit exactly these needs." He further added, "It fulfils multiple financial goals as it not only allows the NRI customer to potentially earn a higher rate of interest than that of term deposits in his country of residence, but very importantly the funds are repatriated on the expiry of the annuity."
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:38 PM]
Bank-promoted life insurers are planning to increase their agent base as they are finding no other substitute to pull in new business. Their bancassurance model has proven to be ineffective in attracting new clients, particularly for unit-linked plans.

These insuring companies are seeing that it is becoming difficult to sell insurance products through their bank branches. New companies such as IDBI Federal Life, IndiaFirst Life and Star Union Dai-ichi are preparing to increase their agent base substantially over the next twelve months to get more customers.

More than 50% of the industry business is coming through the agencies. Bancassurance accounts for nearly 30% of the business, while the remaining 20% is through brokers, corporate agents and direct marketing.

Private insurer Star Union Dai-ichi has already started enrolling 5,000 agents across twenty centres in the country. IDBI Federal Life is ready to increase its agent base to 18,000 over the next year and IndiaFirst Life is set to increase the number of agents to 8,000 from existing 1,000 in the coming year.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Monday, March 28, 2011 11:39 AM]
The whole world is shocked by the devastation caused by the twin natural calamities of earthquake and tsunami in Japan. There are no words to describe the huge loss of life. Nothing can bring it back. However, in case of property, steps can be taken to soften the blow the nature has dealt us. This happening in Japan has once again raised the issue of taking insurance...Life as well as property.

Maximum Japanese are insured against property loss, but in India the insurance scenario is bleak. Despite the fact that the cost of house insurance is very low, not many Indians have insured their houses against calamities. "The daily cost of covering your house for Rs 24 lakh is not more than the price of a cup of tea. The benefits far outweigh the cost," says Neelesh Garg, executive director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

The yearly insurance cover for a house is around Rs. 50/lakh. And if you opt for multiyear policies, many companies offer good discounts. "It is beneficial to opt for a long-term policy, which not only offers peace of mind but also discounts of almost 50%," says Garg.

In the basic home insurance policy, only the structural damage is included. To cover your house valuables such as furniture, T.V, fridge, computer, jewellery, etc., you will be required to purchase additional cover, depending on the value of the insured objects.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Sunday, March 27, 2011 11:38 AM]
Berkshire Hathaway’s company head (reinsurance), Ajit Jain said on Friday, the company’s designs to enter the Indian insurance market depend on the industry regulation. Berkshire Hathaway is already in the Indian market as the corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz General.

The American multinational has big plans for India and as part of its campaign, it has incorporated a company by the name of ‘Berkshire India’ with plans to distribute and sell general insurance products in India.

Presently, foreign investment in Insurance sector in India is limited to only 26%, which is a big deterrent for foreign companies, but it can increase to 49%, if the parliament passes the awaiting bill.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Saturday, March 26, 2011 11:36 AM]
Life Insurance Corporation of India continues to retain its position of the market leader for the eleven month period ended in February 2011. This financial year, LIC has collected a total premium of Rs. 73,122 crore compared to previous year’s Rs 54,320, showing an increase of 35%. Compared to the public sector insurer, private insurers combined together recorded only a slight growth of 4% during the same fiscal period.

LIC alone holds the market share of 70.39% while the other 29.61% share is divided between 22 private insurance companies. Altogether, life insurance industry posted a sound growth of 24% for the eleven month period of the current fiscal year.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Friday, March 25, 2011 12:26 PM]
The non-life insurance division of the Bharti group, Bharti AXA General Insurance is preparing a new strategy to cut its losses. The general insurance industry in India is suffering substantial losses.

“The strategy includes changing product/revenue mix, adopting fraud detection measures, and building data that helps assess the risk and rightly price policies,” Amarnath Ananthanarayanan, Bharti AXA’s CEO and managing director said in a statement.

According to Ananthanarayanan, the company expects its premium business to grow at least 60% next fiscal, he said they plan to bring down exposure to motor insurance to around 60% and the personal accident and health to around 20%. “The focus would shift significantly towards SME sector to around 20% from the existing 5%,” he said.

The company will adopt a three-pronged strategy to cut its losses. It is hoping that its claims ratio, will reduce by at least 200 basis points from 68 percent to approximately 66 percent by the end of the next fiscal year. The firm is also planning to add at least Rs. 200 crores to existing capital of Rs. 550 crores. The company is also planning to rope in Punjab National Bank as a partner.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:23 AM]
Insurance company Max Bupa Health Insurance is planning to launch three new products in the coming fiscal year. Max Bupa Health Insurance is a joint venture between health care provider Bupa of UK and Max India.

At present, Max Bupa Health Insurance has four products covering both group and individual insurance. Its main product 'Heartbeat' has been well accepted by the public. The Insurer has about 40,000 individual policy holders and the total premium collected by the company in the period March 31- Dec 31, 2010 was Rs. 15 crore, which is expected to increase substantially this year.

Max Bupa CEO, Damien Marmion said, "Max Bupa currently covers 740 hospitals for cashless options and the number is growing and we aim to cover about 1,000 hospitals across the country by year-end." He further added. "It’s very complex and there is a lot to understand about it. We need to understand how this will work from the consumer point of view before filing any recommendations."
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 1:48 PM]
With assembly elections of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry around the corner, the task of mobilizing the election workforce has started. Elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry will begin from April 16 and West Bengal assembly elections will begin on April 18.

Taking in view the apparent violence threat in these states during the election period, the insurance companies have decided to increase the premium of insuring polling personnel this year by 25%.

Insurers, as a rule, provide insurance cover for up to Rs. 10 lakh in case of permanent injury or death. Previously, the premium for insuring was about Rs. 200 per personnel, but it could increase up to Rs. 300 this year.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:44 PM]
India’s second largest air service operator, Jet Airways is seeking an insurance cover of around $5.5 billion from the PSU Oriental Insurance. Its present cover will expire on April 16th. As per industry sources, the premium will be 7% higher than the last year which will come around to Rs. 70 crores.

The reason, for the increase in premium, is being attributed to many big aircraft accidents all over the world and specifically Mangalore air crash, which has led to a global hike in aviation reinsurance. The other reason is the increase in fleet size of Jet airways. The insurance policy would cover aviation hull, terror and war cover.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Monday, March 21, 2011 1:44 PM]
The Indian e-commerce market is expected to achieve a rate of growth of 47% in the year 2011. The Indian e-commerce has seen an incredible growth from Rs. 19,688 crore by 2009 end to an approximated Rs. 31,598 crore in year 2010. This is expected to grow by 47% and touch Rs. 46,520 crore by the end of 2011.

The online travel market comprises approximately 81% of the aggregate e-commerce in India. Financial service sector is also one area that has shown substantial growth. Constituting about 8% of the e-commerce market, this segment is anticipated to grow by 34% and touch Rs. 2,650 crore this year.

Other areas showing promises are e-retailing and online download and are expected to grow quickly.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Sunday, March 20, 2011 1:43 PM]
The Chandigarh Union Territory district consumer disputes redressal forum has enjoined the general insurance company, New India Assurance to pay Rs. 4,37,131 to a complainant for holding up the accident claim for his car.

The plaintiff, Galish Kumar, hailing from Panchkula, had asserted that his Maruti Swift car was insured with the New India Assurance insurance firm from April 2009 to April 2010. On June 22, 2009, his car was involved in an accident near Sirsa. He reported to the matter to the respondent firm that assigned a loss assessor and surveyor. In spite of following all the instructions of the insurance company, the firm neglected the matter, he alleged.

The forum found that there was definitely negligence on the part of the insurer and when the plaintiff had approached the forum, the respondent tried to blame the complainant for delay. The forum, in its order, has directed the firm to compensate the complainant because of unfair trade practice and deficiency in their service.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Saturday, March 19, 2011 1:14 PM]
With the help from LIC, the first year total premium collection by life insurers has increased by 23.8% in the April-February period of the current financial year as compared to previous year.

During the period of April-February, 2009-10, the total first-year premium collected by the life insurance industry was Rs. 83,891 crore which has now increased to Rs. 1,03,878 crore which amounts to 23.8% increase. In it, private insurers’ contribution is Rs. 30,756 crore and LIC’s is Rs. 73,122.

LIC posted a 34.6% rise in the premium collection as compared to private companies’ 4%.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Friday, March 18, 2011 4:07 PM]
Global venture capital firm, Walden International has invested $6 million in BankBazaar.com, an on-line shop for insurance products and consumer loans. BankBazaar.com deals in direct-to-consumer services. Presently, the company has a workforce of only 40 employees.

BankBazaar has associations with leading commercial banks such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. It offers consumers minimum interest rates on loans, insurance products and credit cards.

Before also, Walden has invested in Indian companies Co-Options Technologies and Quattro BPO. For BankBazaar.com, this is the second round of funding, as it had previously raised $ 1.2 million from AVT InfoTech.

"We will use this round of funding to aggressively hire and advertise our portfolio of services, including the lowest rates of insurance that we will soon introduce," says Adhil Shetty, chief executive officer of BankBazaar.

Managing Director of Walden India, Rajesh Subramaniam said, "This investment was driven by two factors- the quality of the team and the complete business model that spans from real-time offers on lowest rates to sealing the transaction for the consumer."
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Thursday, March 17, 2011 2:28 PM]
ONGC India, the largest insurance policy holder in India, is expected to face a stiff market when it will go for its $28.5 billion insurance policy renewal. Previous year, ONGC got lucky, as it got its policy renewed weeks ahead of BP Deepwater Horizon blow-up, which caused an enormous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. For year 2010-11, ONGC got its offshore assets insured for $30 million.

But then, Reliance Industries, which is the biggest private sector insurance policy holder in India, has managed to get its policy renewed without any substantial increase in rates, as its contract got renewed much ahead of Japan earthquake. The company got its policy renewed by ICICI Lombard and New India Assurance.

This year, ONGC has chosen United India Insurance, which has chosen broking firms- Aon, Marsh and JWT to help it secure insurance cover from international reinsurers.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 6:31 PM]
IndiaFirst Life Insurance, a joint venture between India’s Andhra Bank and Bank of Baroda along with Britain's Legal & General, has set up an online website by the name of 'LifeStore'. A complete "Do-it-Yourself" on-line shop for buying insurance.

The aim of this website is to help clients conduct all their insurance requirements at one place from the convenience of their home. "Through LifeStore, we aim to reach out to millions of internet users-a sizable number of whom are either active and/or potential customers, thus widening the scope of the market across the country," the company said in a statement.

This unique platform is full of essential information on all types of insurance products. It will make available highly value-added services and convenience of on-line purchase.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 12:59 PM]
Those who want to hear Warren Buffett don’t need to fly 8,218 miles to U.S to meet him. They just have to pay $48 for their car insurance to guarantee an invitation to meet him in New Delhi.

“Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett will meet clients of berkshireinsurance.com on March 25th in Delhi on his first visit to India. Invitations are not transferrable and are limited to one per policy holder and will be available on a first-come-first-served basis. The event will give Indians an opportunity to hear Buffett’s folksy wisdom.

The meeting will be held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 25th.

Managing director of Enam Securities Pvt. of Mumbai, N.G.N Puranik said, “It’s a great experience. If people are getting an opportunity to meet him by buying a policy, they should definitely do it.” Puranik paid more than $4,000 to attend Berkshire’s annual meeting in Omaha in year 2007.

Forbes's magazine has declared Buffett’s total worth being $50 billion, ranking him as the third- richest person in the world after Carlos Slim of Mexico and Bill Gates.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Monday, March 14, 2011 3:01 PM]
Insuring companies are concerned that the proposed five percent service tax on centrally air- conditioned hospitals and diagnostic services would hike the cost of health insurance premium.

In the Union Budget of 2011-12, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed a service tax of five percent on all services furnished by centrally air conditioned hospitals having more than twenty-five beds for in-patient treatment. Furthermore, this tax would also be imposed on consultant doctors functioning from the premises of these hospitals.

Insuring companies are saying that they will pass these increased costs to policyholders."The increase in service tax would have some impact on the insurance premium. But the extent to which policies will turn costly would depend on how much burden the insurers are passing on to consumers," Bharti AXA General Insurance Chief Executive Amarnath Ananthanarayanan said.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Sunday, March 13, 2011 3:01 PM]
As Japan is hit by tsunami and severe earthquakes, insurers feel that, next year onwards, cost of calamity insurance will increase substantially.

While the magnitude of the damage is yet to be measured, the re-insurers would have to compensate for the loss. The reinsurance firms acts as insurers of last resort for general insuring companies and generally take up the tab when the claim to be settled is too high. These companies would be covering bulk of the losses in Japan.

Future Generali India Insurance MD & CEO, K G Krishnamoorthy Rao said, "Since most of the re-insurance treaties in India are due for renewal in April, there may be some impact on the premium rates, especially for the catastrophic cover."
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Saturday, March 12, 2011 11:20 AM]
Japan's devastating earthquake has led to unspeakable damages to property and life. Initial figures for the losses for insurers and reinsurers across the globe are being estimated from $10 to $50 billion.

India’s state-owned companies - General Insurance Corporation of India and New India Assurance have some stakes in Japan and may have to cover some claims springing out of the earthquake in Japan. Chairman of GIC, Yogesh Lohiya said, "We are still assessing our exposure to Japan." He added "Right now the only information that we are getting are the images that we see on the television screen".

GIC may suffer losses on account of providing cover to insurers, while New India's coverage is direct. Chairman of New India Assurance, M. Ramadoss said, "We have six branches in Japan and my immediate concern is the well-being of our employees. I have spoken to our local office and I am told that they are all ok although many of them are stuck in their work places" "Our insurance there is largely cars and small shops and we expect some claims. There is reinsurance protection, but the cover kicks in only after claims cross a certain level" he further added.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Friday, March 11, 2011 2:56 PM]
According to the reliable sources, Japan’s Nippon Life is to buy 26% stake ($720 million) in Reliance Life in a proposal to advance overseas business. If the deal is finalized, this would be one of the biggest overseas investments by a Japanese insurer in Asia.

Nippon Life Insurance Company is the largest life insurer (by revenue) in Japan. Reliance Life is the only private life insurer in India, which does not have a foreign partner and is completely owned by Reliance Capital Ltd.

Japan’s Asahi Newspaper today reported the deal. This information has not been made public yet by the both parties. Representative for Reliance Life in Mumbai as well as Nippon Life has refused to comment on the subject.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Thursday, March 10, 2011 10:48 AM]
Now it’s good news for those who are investing in the unit-linked pension plan. They have various new options because IRDA is planning to come out, very near in the future, with four to five types of pension plans with assured guarantees.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is planning to revise a rule that will authorize insuring companies to offer guaranteed benefits on ULIP plans to promote sales of these policies as the current policy holder get a minimum 4.5 percent return per annum which is not appealing for investors. So, for boosting the sales of these products, IRDA will bring out new guide lines on pension policies offered by insuring companies, which will come into force from April 1 of this year.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 10:56 AM]
India’s largest financial institution and the state-owned insurer, Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) has dropped its plan to issue infrastructure bonds worth Rs. 5,000 crore.

LIC already has a huge stake in the infrastructure sector and is worried that more exposure possibly will lead to bad assets and may hinder its responsibilities towards policy holders. LIC has already communicated its decision to the government.

The government has allowed LIC and several other companies to issue tax free infrastructure bonds and collect money to put in its infrastructure projects. These bonds give a return of 7 to 8 percent. They have tenure of ten years with a minimum lock in period of 5 years. A person can invest up to Rs. 20,000 every year in these tax-free bonds.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 12:59 PM]
SBI Life Insurance has launched a new ULIP which guarantees, from the very beginning, a pre-determined NAV (net asset value) applicable at the closing of the ten year term. By choosing Return Guarantee Fund, the policy holder can form a long-run term investment amount based on lowest pre-determined NAV or prevalent NAV at the maturity date, whichsoever is higher. Furthermore, the policy holder can choose from Equity Fund or Managed Fund.

CEO and MD of SBI Life Insurance, M. N. Rao said, "Our aim is to build a sizeable and attractive suite of “Simple and Smart” products so as to allow our customers to choose relevant solutions that best meet their needs, aligned to their income and risk profile.

“Smart Wealth Assure” also offer policy holders non-obligatory Accidental Death benefit. With the launch of this single premium ULIP, SBI Life now has eight ULIPs in its stable.

According to the latest IRDA report, SBI Life stands first among private players in new business premium having a market share of 18.9 percent among private players and a total market share of 5.6 %.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Monday, March 7, 2011 4:39 PM]
According to reliable sources, American investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffett will be coming to India soon to publicize his charity ‘Giving Pledge’. Warren Buffet has requested a meeting with the chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Mr. J. Hari Narayan.

Warren Buffet owns Berkshire Hathaway, which is the parent company of many insurance and reinsurance companies all over the world. Berkshire Hathaway is reportedly set to move into India’s insurance market as a corporate agent for Bajaj Allianz General Insurance products.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Sunday, March 6, 2011 4:38 PM]
In year 2009-10, out of total premium collected by insurance industry in India, Health segment had contributed over 21%. The total premium collected was over Rs. 8,000 crore. It is expected to multiply at the rate of 30% over the next five years.

Notwithstanding the growth potential, good healthcare quality is limited in the private sector. Out of India’s total population, only 16% has any form of medical cover.

The break-up of this coverage is as follows:
? Employers contribute 14%
? Voluntary insurance/for-profit schemes accounts for 18%
? Community insurance schemes accounts for 38%
? Compulsory health schemes/Govt schemes/Social insurance policies contribute 30%
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Saturday, March 5, 2011 12:45 PM]
The non-life insurers are going to lose nearly threefold the profit it made yesteryear due to extra provisions for third party motor insurance claims. The authorities also said that the non-life insurance industry may collapse if motor insurance premiums are raised.

Previous year, non-life industry’s profits were approximately Rs. 1204 crores. This year, insurance companies would lose about Rs. 2,500-3,500 crore on account of extra provisions for third party motor insurance claims of which a significant percentage will be borne by the public sector insurance companies.

The reason for this loss is because the companies had grossly under provisioned for third-party claims by underestimating the compensation granted by the courts.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Friday, March 4, 2011 12:31 PM]
The country’s second largest public sector bank, Punjab National Bank on Thursday declared that it is planning to buy stake in a domestic life insurance company to start a new beginning in the insurance sector. Presently, PNB is the only prominent public sector bank, not having a life insurance subsidiary. It had tried to enter the life insurance sector through a joint venture with Vijaya Bank and Berger Paints, but it was not successful.

In a statement, the bank said, “The bank has decided to participate in the life insurance venture through a corporate agency tie-up, along with equity participation in an existing Indian life insurance company.”

For this purpose, the bank has invited proposals from ten life insurance companies. The short listed companies include Aviva India Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life Insurance, Aegon Religare Life Insurance, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, DLF Pramerica Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance, Future Generali Life Insurance, Met Life Insurance, Reliance Life Insurance and Max New York Life Insurance.

The quotations will be accepted only till March 25 and the tie-up will be finalized during April-June, 2011.
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Thursday, March 3, 2011 11:59 AM]
Life Insurance Corporation’s new Unit Linked Insurance Plan 'Samridhi Plus' has proven to be a big success. Within just four days of its launch, LIC has sold around 54,000 policies and collected premium of over Rs. 213 crores. This product would be available only for a limited period.

Samridhi Plus’s premium ranges from Rs. 2,500 (monthly) to Rs. 30,000 (Single premium).
This policy is for those people who want to guard their investment from market fluctuations, besides insurance protection, safety and growth
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 11:57 AM]
Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is all set to move into India’s insurance market as a corporate agent for Bajaj Allianz General Insurance products. Berkshire India, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway will distribute and sell general insurance products through its on-line delivery portal and a tele-marketing channel on behalf of Bajaj Allianz. The initial focus will be on motor insurance.

The company is planning to extend top notch services at attractive rates in selling insurance products. If the results are good, Berkshire India will expand its portfolio to life, health and travel insurance, besides other products.

In a statement, Berkshire India's director Kara Raiguel said, “We’ve been tracking the Indian insurance turf for years and are thrilled about the emerging retail insurance opportunity. Berkshire Hathaway has a successful online and direct distribution model in the US and as corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz, it would like to replicate that success in India.”
[Posted by: InsuringIndia News on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 12:31 PM]
On Monday, while delivering the country's 80th and his 6th budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated that the economic sector reforms initiated in 1990s have given good results, and he intends to continue with them.

The Central government also announced the launching of a string of legislations that would raise the FDI (foreign direct investment) in the banking, insurance and pension sectors. Currently, the FDI limit is 26%, which will be raised to 49% when the new insurance legislation will come into force. The LIC bill would also raise the share-capital of LIC to Rs. 100 crores from Rs. 5 crores.

Pranab Mukherjee declared that the government aims to move Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, LIC Amendment Bill, Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Bill, and the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act.