Mumbai:
Indicating green shoots of recovery amidst Covid-19 Pandemic,the domestic general insurance industry, led by state owned New India Assurance(NIA), has returned to the positive growth trajectory in premium income in June,after continuously recording negative growth in March, Apr and May, .
However,for first quarter ending in June,the industry with 33 players ,have remained in the negative zone in its premium income.
The industry, at Rs13,961 crore,has seen a growth 8 per cent year- on- year (Y-O-Y) growth in June but at Rs 39,392 crore has recorded a degrowth of 4.24 per cent y-o-y in June quarter.
As Covid-19 Pandemic has pushed the sales of health covers in the country, the role of the six stand alone health insurers, led by Start Health,have been prominent, in maintaining the premium growth, both for the month of June and for the June quarter.
In June, all the stand alone health insurers have remained positive in their premium growth and have grown by almost 30 per cent y-o-y to Rs 1311 crore during the month,while for the June quarter,these companies have expanded by 16 per cent y-o-y to Rs 3232 crore.
The NIA,the country’s largest general insurer,at Rs 2534.02 crore,has seen a marginal growth in its premium income in the month of the June and during the June quarter,the company has grown its premium income by 5.29 per cent y-o-y to Rs 7,156 crore.
The general insurance multinational,which along with another PSU United India Insurance balked the trend and has consistently maintained its postive premium growth in the last two months,has seen its market share spurting to 19.11 per cent in June quarter from 17.38 per cent in the year-ago period…
The month of June has witnessed a lot mid and large private sector companies, which had recorded a negative premium growth in the last three months- March, Apr and May-have returned to the positive growth path.Some of these companies are- ICICI Lombard General Insurance, the largest private sector general insurer, HDFC Ergo Genera Insurance,IFFCO Tokio General Insurance,Reliance General Insurance,SBI General Insurance Company, Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company, Magma HDI General Insurance Company and Universal Sompo General Insurance, .
However except Kotak Mahindra General Insurance and Universal Sompo General Insurance Company, rest in the pack has degrown their premium in June quarter.
“The recent trends have been positive as economic activity restarted in several parts of the country. Further, segments such as health insurance witnessed demand amid the heightened health concern. With regard to Covid-19, it has accelerated the digital adoption journey for the industry and introduction of contactless ways to service customers, which should become the norm going forward,”said Sanjay Datta, Chief-Claims, Underwriting and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard.
Among the new comers Go Digit General Insurance,set up with the collaboration of Indian born Canadian billionaier Prem Watsa and insurance professional Kamesh Goyal,,has grown its premium by 51 per cent y-o-y to Rs 223 crore in June.
State owned National Insurance Company(NIC),at Rs 973 crore, has now joined other public sector general insurers NIA and United India Insurance to record a positive growth in premium income in June.
Analysts point out the overall market composition of the domestic general insurance market has undergone changes in the last two months.
Health insurance business has overtaken motor insurance business to emerge as the largest portfolio in the industry.As of May at Rs 9122 crore, the segment has contributed 36 per cent(30 per cent in the year ago period) of the domestic general insurance premium while motor portfolio at Rs 6753 crore has seen its market share shrinking to 26 per cent(37 per cent in the year ago period) in the same period.