Bangalore: ING Vysya Life Insurance, a leading private sector insurance company, proposes to open 53 new branches in India during the current fiscal, thus taking its total number of branches to 330 from the present 277 spread out in 186 cities.
Speaking to newspersons here today, after announcing company's new product 'ING Positive Life' a unit linked insurance plan, company Associate VP and Head (Product Development) Y V D V Prasad said the bank had opened 130 branches during the last nine months all over India, besides making tie-ups with Cooperative Banks for sale of the ING Vysya products.
An application had also been filled with the Regulator to introduce 'Group Policy' in rural areas. This policy, under micro insurance, would be linked to loans issued by private finance institutions in rural areas.
Explaining the salient features of the new plan 'ING Positive Life', he said it was an attempt to reach all the segments and was developed based on feedback received from the customers. The main features included flexible premium paying options and investment options, no medical under-writing, systematic investment benefit and partial withdrawal option.
He said the ING Positive Life, for individual customer in the age group of 0-50 years, was targeted at the regular savings segment.
The policy terms would be 10, 15 and 20 years. The plan would service as a 'Systematic Investment Plan' mode of investment.
The premiums paid could be invested in a choice of five - Debt, Secure, Balanced, Growth or Equity - fund options, based on an individual's risk appetite.
During the policy term, the customer could switch between these funds or redirect future premiums into the available options.
Source: UNI
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Insurance products likely to become cheaper
Kolkata: Prices of general insurance products in the detariff regime are slated to fall by over 60 per cent with the onset of the second phase of reforms in the next couple of months.
Aggressive pricing is already beginning to trigger serious price wars in the market. This is set to intensify once the terms and conditions of policies or product formats begin to change over the next few months.
The sense of aggression in the detariffed general insurance market is already palpable, with cash discounts of almost 20 per cent being offered by some insurance companies over and above the maximum 51.25 per cent discount on individually rated risks.
A possible trend of market segmentation is likely to emerge as well. Each segment in the general insurance business is expected to become competitive and a clear segmentation in terms of the insurer’s experience on various portfolios within motor, fire and engineering are likely to emerge.
“While there would be an expected drop in fire and engineering premiums, companies would have to rake up big volumes through retail. For example, we expect to garner larger volumes from retail, which includes motor, shopkeepers and householders’ insurance, and the SME sector,” Ajit Narain, managing director and CEO, Iffco-Tokio, told DNA Money.
“Absolute premiums may not go down but what will happen is that the cash discounts which are offered may get absorbed in the product pricing. Hence prices on fire and property could go down by 61-70 per cent. The next one year could see aberrations in prudent underwriting at times and grabbing of market shares,” Rahul Agarwal, CEO, Optima Risk Management Services, told DNA Money.
“However, some of general insurance products will see an increase in prices over the next one year and competition will further hot up with three to four companies to start business,” he said.
While the general insurance market has grown by 12.03 per cent over the first quarter of the current fiscal, 8 private companies have grown by 26.11 per cent and have notched up almost 35 per cent of the over Rs 25,000 crore general insurance market.
Source: DNA MONEY
Aggressive pricing is already beginning to trigger serious price wars in the market. This is set to intensify once the terms and conditions of policies or product formats begin to change over the next few months.
The sense of aggression in the detariffed general insurance market is already palpable, with cash discounts of almost 20 per cent being offered by some insurance companies over and above the maximum 51.25 per cent discount on individually rated risks.
A possible trend of market segmentation is likely to emerge as well. Each segment in the general insurance business is expected to become competitive and a clear segmentation in terms of the insurer’s experience on various portfolios within motor, fire and engineering are likely to emerge.
“While there would be an expected drop in fire and engineering premiums, companies would have to rake up big volumes through retail. For example, we expect to garner larger volumes from retail, which includes motor, shopkeepers and householders’ insurance, and the SME sector,” Ajit Narain, managing director and CEO, Iffco-Tokio, told DNA Money.
“Absolute premiums may not go down but what will happen is that the cash discounts which are offered may get absorbed in the product pricing. Hence prices on fire and property could go down by 61-70 per cent. The next one year could see aberrations in prudent underwriting at times and grabbing of market shares,” Rahul Agarwal, CEO, Optima Risk Management Services, told DNA Money.
“However, some of general insurance products will see an increase in prices over the next one year and competition will further hot up with three to four companies to start business,” he said.
While the general insurance market has grown by 12.03 per cent over the first quarter of the current fiscal, 8 private companies have grown by 26.11 per cent and have notched up almost 35 per cent of the over Rs 25,000 crore general insurance market.
Source: DNA MONEY
... shortlists 3 for general insurance venture
Kolkata, Aug 2 State Bank of India (SBI), thecountry’s biggest lender, has shortlisted three foreign partners for its proposed foray in the general insurance venture, chairman and managing director OP Bhatt said on Thursday, Bhatt told reporter on the sidelines of the Banking Conclave here there was a possibility that the general insurance company would be formed in the current fiscal. He said SBI would form a holding company for SBI Life and SBI Mutual Fund shortly. Strategic investors might also be given a part of the stake in the holding company.
Source: THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Source: THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Chola MS General Insurance looks for a new core insurance solution
Chennai: The Chennai-based private non-life insurer Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited, part of the $2-billion Murugappa group, has decided to go in for a new core insurance solution.
The company has short listed three vendors and a 15-member multi disciplinary team is evaluating the proposals in depth including their pricing and would shortly decide on the preferred vendor.
Declining to reveal the names of three short listed software companies to S S Gopalarathnam, president, operations, says the company has budgeted around Rs11 crore for core insurance solutions as well as the hardware. "We will take care of the hardware needs ourselves."
It has become imperative for Indian no-life insurers to revamp their information technology (IT) solutions to cope with the changes arising from the four major lines of business — fire, engineering, motor and workmen compensation insurance — recently being freed from the administrative pricing mechanism. In addition from next April onwards the companies, will be free to custom design their products. There is a view that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) might advance this to 1 January, 2008.
The non-life insurers have to launch several products and the current IT systems used by most of the insurers are inadequate and inflexible to meet the future needs.
Says Gopalarathnam, "We plan to launch 20-25 products in - fire, engineering, motor and workmen compensation- business lines."
With the freedom to decide on the rates and the risk covers, insurers have to mine data and do a detailed actuarial analysis to price their products adequately. All these years, a body called Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) had determined the premium rates and the insurers just loaded the rates in their systems.
"Lot of data analysis had to be done and the core insurance solutions should be robust enough to do that. Products and pricing are the levers on which the new IT systems have to work," remarks Gopalarathnam.
One of the fast growing Indian non-life insurers, the Rs314 crore premium income Cholamandalam MS General Insurance, expects the new core insurance solution should be robust enough to web enable many of its products effortlessly.
"The solution we look at should address the needs of all core insurance functions like underwriting, sales, marketing, agents related work including commissions, data mining, data analysis and many other things," he adds.
According to him the core insurance solution should be compatible with specialised stand alone solutions like human resource rating, reinsurance analysis.
Source: Domain-b
The company has short listed three vendors and a 15-member multi disciplinary team is evaluating the proposals in depth including their pricing and would shortly decide on the preferred vendor.
Declining to reveal the names of three short listed software companies to S S Gopalarathnam, president, operations, says the company has budgeted around Rs11 crore for core insurance solutions as well as the hardware. "We will take care of the hardware needs ourselves."
It has become imperative for Indian no-life insurers to revamp their information technology (IT) solutions to cope with the changes arising from the four major lines of business — fire, engineering, motor and workmen compensation insurance — recently being freed from the administrative pricing mechanism. In addition from next April onwards the companies, will be free to custom design their products. There is a view that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) might advance this to 1 January, 2008.
The non-life insurers have to launch several products and the current IT systems used by most of the insurers are inadequate and inflexible to meet the future needs.
Says Gopalarathnam, "We plan to launch 20-25 products in - fire, engineering, motor and workmen compensation- business lines."
With the freedom to decide on the rates and the risk covers, insurers have to mine data and do a detailed actuarial analysis to price their products adequately. All these years, a body called Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) had determined the premium rates and the insurers just loaded the rates in their systems.
"Lot of data analysis had to be done and the core insurance solutions should be robust enough to do that. Products and pricing are the levers on which the new IT systems have to work," remarks Gopalarathnam.
One of the fast growing Indian non-life insurers, the Rs314 crore premium income Cholamandalam MS General Insurance, expects the new core insurance solution should be robust enough to web enable many of its products effortlessly.
"The solution we look at should address the needs of all core insurance functions like underwriting, sales, marketing, agents related work including commissions, data mining, data analysis and many other things," he adds.
According to him the core insurance solution should be compatible with specialised stand alone solutions like human resource rating, reinsurance analysis.
Source: Domain-b
Munich Re Q2 profit crosses target
Aug 6 Munich Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates because of a lower tax bill and raised its earnings forecast.
Net income in the second quarter advanced to 1.14 billion euro ($1.57 billion), or 5.22 euros a share, from 1.12 billion euro, or 4.90 euro, a year earlier, the Munich-based company said. Analysts estimated an 888 million-euro median profit. Income taxes fell to 298 million euros from 623 million euro a year ago. Munich Re, which helps primary insurers such as Allianz SE shoulder risks including catastrophe claims for clients, increased its 2007 profit target to 3.5 billion euro to 3.8 billion euro.
Source: THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Net income in the second quarter advanced to 1.14 billion euro ($1.57 billion), or 5.22 euros a share, from 1.12 billion euro, or 4.90 euro, a year earlier, the Munich-based company said. Analysts estimated an 888 million-euro median profit. Income taxes fell to 298 million euros from 623 million euro a year ago. Munich Re, which helps primary insurers such as Allianz SE shoulder risks including catastrophe claims for clients, increased its 2007 profit target to 3.5 billion euro to 3.8 billion euro.
Source: THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Birla Sun Life expands capital base
Birla Sun Life Insurance has infused additional capital of Rs 105.50 crore into its capital base. The capital base of the company stands at Rs 777 crore as of July 31. The additional capital will help expand the company’s distribution network and conform to the solvency margin requirements as stipulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, said a release. The capital infusion was made in several tranches between April and July this year. The company plans to expand its network by September by opening additional branches in smaller towns across the country. “We are upgrading our technology platforms to support this voluminous growth,” said Mr Vikram Mehmi, President and CEO. –
Source: THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE
Source: THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE
Taking insurance to rural India
Start-up broking firm does it with mobile office
Hardsell: A mobile office of Allegion selling insurance in a village in Tamil Nadu
Chennai, Aug. 8 In all his 51 years, Sakthivel of Mannur had only heard blares of political propaganda interspersed with Tamil film music over van-mounted loud speakers.
Last week, to his surprise an unusual message issued out of one such loud speaker — the people of Mannur should buy insurance. Sakthivel cocked his ears towards it.
Presently, the vehicle rolled into sight. A Maruti Omni van with its back rebuilt as a counter. Inside it sat a man with a computer, a printer and other office paraphernalia.
Intrigued, Sakthivel cut through the small crowd that had gathered around the vehicle and approached the man in the counter.
“What are you selling?”; “Insurance”; “What is insurance?”
That is the difficulty in taking financial products, particularly insurance, to rural populace. In the best of places, insurance is hard to sell — you ask for money in return for a promise. It, therefore, costs money to sell the product. Here you have to start from the scratch. Besides, the ticket size is so small, the cost-return equation is hard googly to play.
So, find a cost-effective way of selling insurance to Sakthivel and others, you have a winning proposition.
Alegion Insurance Broking Ltd believes it has found a way — a mobile office.
According to Mr N. Raveendran, Managing Director, Alegion, test marketing with one refurbished Maruti van has showed that it is possible to sell insurance products cost effectively in small towns and villages. Now, Alegion intends to buy 30 more such vehicles, initially, to cover the four southern States. The grand plan is to buy at least 500 vans — one for each revenue district in India, over the next 18 months. “I have already spoken to Maruti,” says Mr Raveendran.
But how would a start-up broking firm shell out Rs 20-odd crore needed for the project? Mr Raveendran’s answer is simple. A lot of insurance companies see value in the proposition and have committed funding. Some of the larger funders may also have their names painted on the sides of the vans or their commercials aired on the loud speakers.
Alegion intends to sell both life and non-life. “Most of the rural folk have never bought an insurance product because they’ve never been sold one,” says Mr Raveendran. Now, the man in the van will do that. The vans, linked to a ‘control centre’ in each State, will be able to cover a lot of ground. Each van will cover the entire district at least once in a fortnight.
“We are creating an enabling infrastructure that could be used by all companies,” notes Mr Raveendran.
Source: THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE
Hardsell: A mobile office of Allegion selling insurance in a village in Tamil Nadu
Chennai, Aug. 8 In all his 51 years, Sakthivel of Mannur had only heard blares of political propaganda interspersed with Tamil film music over van-mounted loud speakers.
Last week, to his surprise an unusual message issued out of one such loud speaker — the people of Mannur should buy insurance. Sakthivel cocked his ears towards it.
Presently, the vehicle rolled into sight. A Maruti Omni van with its back rebuilt as a counter. Inside it sat a man with a computer, a printer and other office paraphernalia.
Intrigued, Sakthivel cut through the small crowd that had gathered around the vehicle and approached the man in the counter.
“What are you selling?”; “Insurance”; “What is insurance?”
That is the difficulty in taking financial products, particularly insurance, to rural populace. In the best of places, insurance is hard to sell — you ask for money in return for a promise. It, therefore, costs money to sell the product. Here you have to start from the scratch. Besides, the ticket size is so small, the cost-return equation is hard googly to play.
So, find a cost-effective way of selling insurance to Sakthivel and others, you have a winning proposition.
Alegion Insurance Broking Ltd believes it has found a way — a mobile office.
According to Mr N. Raveendran, Managing Director, Alegion, test marketing with one refurbished Maruti van has showed that it is possible to sell insurance products cost effectively in small towns and villages. Now, Alegion intends to buy 30 more such vehicles, initially, to cover the four southern States. The grand plan is to buy at least 500 vans — one for each revenue district in India, over the next 18 months. “I have already spoken to Maruti,” says Mr Raveendran.
But how would a start-up broking firm shell out Rs 20-odd crore needed for the project? Mr Raveendran’s answer is simple. A lot of insurance companies see value in the proposition and have committed funding. Some of the larger funders may also have their names painted on the sides of the vans or their commercials aired on the loud speakers.
Alegion intends to sell both life and non-life. “Most of the rural folk have never bought an insurance product because they’ve never been sold one,” says Mr Raveendran. Now, the man in the van will do that. The vans, linked to a ‘control centre’ in each State, will be able to cover a lot of ground. Each van will cover the entire district at least once in a fortnight.
“We are creating an enabling infrastructure that could be used by all companies,” notes Mr Raveendran.
Source: THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE
New India skips motor policies to post 104% net rise
New India Assurance Company, the country’s largest general insurance company, more than doubled its net profit to Rs 1,459.95 crore in 2006-07 from Rs 716.38 crore a year earlier by underwriting less of the loss-making motor insurance business and increasing business in profitable lines such as fire and engineering.
The public sector general insurer’s decision to do less of motor insurance business helped it reduce its net incurred claims ratio to 76.68 per cent for the year from last year’s 83.64 per cent.
However, this strategy resulted in a marginal growth in the company’s gross premium income. Its premium income grew by 4.71 per cent to Rs 5,017.20 crore for the year from Rs 4,791.49 crore a year earlier. The increase in the public sector general insurer’s premium income in 2005-06 was 14 per cent.
“We did selective underwriting for the year. The accretion percentage is less than the previous year due to strict underwriting of motor third-party insurance, a loss-making segment. The growth in motor portfolio was 3 per cent this year, compared with 15 per cent last year. However, the growth in other profitable lines was ensured. Fire business grew by 8 per cent compared with 6 per cent in FY06,” said A R Shekhar, general manager, New India Assurance.
New India has operations in 26 countries with direct operations in 23 countries and subsidiaries in West Indies, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The gross premium income from overseas operations (excluding three subsidiaries) increased by 4.02 per cent to Rs 919.58 crore against Rs 884.05 crore a year earlier.
The gross direct global premium registered a growth of 4.60 per cent to Rs 5936.78 crore against Rs 5675.54 crore a year ago. The global net premium rose by 9.42 per cent to Rs 4751.76 crore for the year compared with Rs 4342.66 crore a year ago.
New India has set a target of Rs 5587 crore of gross direct premium in India and Rs 1013 crore from its foreign operations with a global target of Rs 6,600 crore, an accretion of 11.17 per cent.
Source: Business Standard
The public sector general insurer’s decision to do less of motor insurance business helped it reduce its net incurred claims ratio to 76.68 per cent for the year from last year’s 83.64 per cent.
However, this strategy resulted in a marginal growth in the company’s gross premium income. Its premium income grew by 4.71 per cent to Rs 5,017.20 crore for the year from Rs 4,791.49 crore a year earlier. The increase in the public sector general insurer’s premium income in 2005-06 was 14 per cent.
“We did selective underwriting for the year. The accretion percentage is less than the previous year due to strict underwriting of motor third-party insurance, a loss-making segment. The growth in motor portfolio was 3 per cent this year, compared with 15 per cent last year. However, the growth in other profitable lines was ensured. Fire business grew by 8 per cent compared with 6 per cent in FY06,” said A R Shekhar, general manager, New India Assurance.
New India has operations in 26 countries with direct operations in 23 countries and subsidiaries in West Indies, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The gross premium income from overseas operations (excluding three subsidiaries) increased by 4.02 per cent to Rs 919.58 crore against Rs 884.05 crore a year earlier.
The gross direct global premium registered a growth of 4.60 per cent to Rs 5936.78 crore against Rs 5675.54 crore a year ago. The global net premium rose by 9.42 per cent to Rs 4751.76 crore for the year compared with Rs 4342.66 crore a year ago.
New India has set a target of Rs 5587 crore of gross direct premium in India and Rs 1013 crore from its foreign operations with a global target of Rs 6,600 crore, an accretion of 11.17 per cent.
Source: Business Standard
Royal & Sun bullish on India
United Kingdom’s second largest insurer, Royal & SunAlliance Group (R&SA) is bullish on India. It expects the share of its Indian presence to rise four-fold to 40 per cent of total income from its operations in emerging markets by 2010.
The foreign insurer is present in India as a promoter of Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company with a 26 per cent stake.
R&SA’s operations in emerging market consists of seven countries in Latin America, China, India, Saudi, Oman, UAE, Singapore and Hongkong besides countries in Central, Eastern Europe and three countries in the Baltics.
At present, the Royal Sundaram contributes 5 per cent to R&SA’s profits from emerging markets and 10 per cent to income.
“India is one of the biggest markets. At present, the Indian contribution is not major but its potential is very big like China, Brazil and Mexico. We expect our India business to be at least four times of the present business by the year 2010. Beyond that the growth potential is still large,” said Paul Whittaker, CEO, emerging markets, R&SA.
With the Indian non-life industry on the verge of being fully detariffed, R&SA will be replicating better price sophistication, distribution model and products from other countries in India.
“In the emerging markets, we have two measures to calculate the market potential - GDP growth and insurance penetration. In the UK, GDP growth is 2 to 3 per cent while in India it is close to 10 per cent. In the UK, the insurance penetration is saturated with 3.65 per cent of GDP being spent on insurance while the insurance penetration in India is 0.65 per cent. There are different products and different levels of penetration,” said Whittaker.
Speaking about the impact of detariffing, Whittaker said, “In all countries prices have fallen initially and profitability is lost. But over the time market matures. Risk-based pricing comes into effect. But in one to two years, normality will return.”
Royal Sundaram General Insurance started its operations in 2001. Antony Jacob, CEO, Royal Sundaram General Insurance said, “The first five years we have focussed on building a large happy customer base. We have 1.7 million customers and our customer rating is 82 per cent as per the AC Nielson survey. We are looking at improving visibility, distribution and brand. The second phase we will focus on accelerating the growth.
Royal Sundaram General Insurance will be increasing the branches to 60 by March 2008 from the present 60. The company reported a Gross Written Premium of Rs 601 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 21 crore , for the year ended 31st March 2007.
Royal & SunAlliance is one of the world’s leading multinational quoted insurance groups, with the capability to write business in over 130 countries and with major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, the Middle East and Latin America.
Focussing on general insurance, it has around 24,000 employees. In 2006, its net written premiums were 5.5 billion pounds. With an almost 300 year heritage, Royal & SunAlliance is the oldest insurance company in the world still trading under its original name.
Source: Business Standard
The foreign insurer is present in India as a promoter of Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company with a 26 per cent stake.
R&SA’s operations in emerging market consists of seven countries in Latin America, China, India, Saudi, Oman, UAE, Singapore and Hongkong besides countries in Central, Eastern Europe and three countries in the Baltics.
At present, the Royal Sundaram contributes 5 per cent to R&SA’s profits from emerging markets and 10 per cent to income.
“India is one of the biggest markets. At present, the Indian contribution is not major but its potential is very big like China, Brazil and Mexico. We expect our India business to be at least four times of the present business by the year 2010. Beyond that the growth potential is still large,” said Paul Whittaker, CEO, emerging markets, R&SA.
With the Indian non-life industry on the verge of being fully detariffed, R&SA will be replicating better price sophistication, distribution model and products from other countries in India.
“In the emerging markets, we have two measures to calculate the market potential - GDP growth and insurance penetration. In the UK, GDP growth is 2 to 3 per cent while in India it is close to 10 per cent. In the UK, the insurance penetration is saturated with 3.65 per cent of GDP being spent on insurance while the insurance penetration in India is 0.65 per cent. There are different products and different levels of penetration,” said Whittaker.
Speaking about the impact of detariffing, Whittaker said, “In all countries prices have fallen initially and profitability is lost. But over the time market matures. Risk-based pricing comes into effect. But in one to two years, normality will return.”
Royal Sundaram General Insurance started its operations in 2001. Antony Jacob, CEO, Royal Sundaram General Insurance said, “The first five years we have focussed on building a large happy customer base. We have 1.7 million customers and our customer rating is 82 per cent as per the AC Nielson survey. We are looking at improving visibility, distribution and brand. The second phase we will focus on accelerating the growth.
Royal Sundaram General Insurance will be increasing the branches to 60 by March 2008 from the present 60. The company reported a Gross Written Premium of Rs 601 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 21 crore , for the year ended 31st March 2007.
Royal & SunAlliance is one of the world’s leading multinational quoted insurance groups, with the capability to write business in over 130 countries and with major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, the Middle East and Latin America.
Focussing on general insurance, it has around 24,000 employees. In 2006, its net written premiums were 5.5 billion pounds. With an almost 300 year heritage, Royal & SunAlliance is the oldest insurance company in the world still trading under its original name.
Source: Business Standard
Disputes over mediclaims settlement on the rise
Hyderabad, Aug. 7 Complaints pertaining to settlement of mediclaims by health insurance companies are on the rise, according to the data available with the Insurance Ombudsman.
Also complaints relating to issues such as lack of transparency in settlement of medical claims are growing of late, Mr P.A. Chowdary, Ombudsman, told Business Line.
“While most of the claims are being rejected by the insurance provider on the grounds of ‘pre-existence of disease’, there is no clarity on the upper limit of claims and diseases covered,” he said.
Settlement of overseas mediclaims was also becoming an issue with the increase in the number of people going abroad on work, he added. In both life and non-life, complaints on settlements are on the rise.
For instance, as per the data of office of the Governing Body of Insurance Council, about 7,420 complaints were made to Insurance Ombudsmen in the 12 circles in the country between April and December 2006. Kolkata has a major share with over 1,300 complaints, followed by Mumbai with 1091 , Lucknow 907, Chennai 870 and Hyderabad 947, among others.
“Generally there are more complaints (about two-thirds) from non-life pertaining to motor insurance and other related aspects. Over two thirds of the complaints settled were in the non-life sector,” Mr Chowdary said.
According to Mr Srinivas Rao, Deputy Secretary (Non-Life) office of Insurance Ombudsman here, the reason for increasing litigation in motor insurance was the non-transfer of insurance documents in the pre-owned vehicle segment.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Also complaints relating to issues such as lack of transparency in settlement of medical claims are growing of late, Mr P.A. Chowdary, Ombudsman, told Business Line.
“While most of the claims are being rejected by the insurance provider on the grounds of ‘pre-existence of disease’, there is no clarity on the upper limit of claims and diseases covered,” he said.
Settlement of overseas mediclaims was also becoming an issue with the increase in the number of people going abroad on work, he added. In both life and non-life, complaints on settlements are on the rise.
For instance, as per the data of office of the Governing Body of Insurance Council, about 7,420 complaints were made to Insurance Ombudsmen in the 12 circles in the country between April and December 2006. Kolkata has a major share with over 1,300 complaints, followed by Mumbai with 1091 , Lucknow 907, Chennai 870 and Hyderabad 947, among others.
“Generally there are more complaints (about two-thirds) from non-life pertaining to motor insurance and other related aspects. Over two thirds of the complaints settled were in the non-life sector,” Mr Chowdary said.
According to Mr Srinivas Rao, Deputy Secretary (Non-Life) office of Insurance Ombudsman here, the reason for increasing litigation in motor insurance was the non-transfer of insurance documents in the pre-owned vehicle segment.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Insurers seek time on pricing
The proposed full pricing freedom to general insurers will have to wait till November 1 this year. At a meeting with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) yesterday, general insurers have sought more time to better their risk under-writing guidelines to face another round of pricing competition.
Accordingly, Irda has decided to remove the 51.2 per cent cap on discounts from November 1 instead of September 1 this year, industry sources said.
The full pricing freedom was expected to result in another round of pricing war with discounts expected to rise up to 70 per cent in fire, engineering and motor covers. When general insurance was partly detariffed in January this year, insurers were allowed to give discounts on premiums up to 51.2 per cent on individually rated risks.
However, industry sources say many insurers have already violated this restriction on discounts by offering higher discounts than permitted in anticipation of full pricing freedom from September 1.
“At this point it is not clear how to guide clients on what is the right price. The market has not bottomed out yet and with insurance companies testing new bottoms regularly, we can only look to mature markets for guidance on what is a fair price for our clients,” said Pavanjit Singh Dhingra, Vice President, Prudent Insurance Brokers.
While there will not be any major impact in terms of day to day decision making for clients making their buying decision, it is possible that the short time gap between complete pricing de-tariffing and the freeing up of policy terms and conditions planned on January 1, 2008 may not make the process smooth.
“Everyone feels uncomfortable when the pricing gets too low; even clients feel that too low a price would eventually impact the claim paying ability of insurance companies and yet one cannot ignore market realities”, added Dhingra.
Source: Business Standard
Accordingly, Irda has decided to remove the 51.2 per cent cap on discounts from November 1 instead of September 1 this year, industry sources said.
The full pricing freedom was expected to result in another round of pricing war with discounts expected to rise up to 70 per cent in fire, engineering and motor covers. When general insurance was partly detariffed in January this year, insurers were allowed to give discounts on premiums up to 51.2 per cent on individually rated risks.
However, industry sources say many insurers have already violated this restriction on discounts by offering higher discounts than permitted in anticipation of full pricing freedom from September 1.
“At this point it is not clear how to guide clients on what is the right price. The market has not bottomed out yet and with insurance companies testing new bottoms regularly, we can only look to mature markets for guidance on what is a fair price for our clients,” said Pavanjit Singh Dhingra, Vice President, Prudent Insurance Brokers.
While there will not be any major impact in terms of day to day decision making for clients making their buying decision, it is possible that the short time gap between complete pricing de-tariffing and the freeing up of policy terms and conditions planned on January 1, 2008 may not make the process smooth.
“Everyone feels uncomfortable when the pricing gets too low; even clients feel that too low a price would eventually impact the claim paying ability of insurance companies and yet one cannot ignore market realities”, added Dhingra.
Source: Business Standard
ING Vysya Life hopes to double premium income
ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd, headquartered in Bangalore, expects to capture a 2 per cent share of the insurance market in the country by the end of 2008.
Kshitij Jain, managing director and chief executive director of ING Vysya Life, told a news conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday that the insurance market in the country was growing at upwards of 30 per cent in premium terms, and the company hoped to grow at double that pace by 2008.
ING Vysya Life achieved a market share of 1.1 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Its premium business stood at Rs 700 crore during the last financial year.
The company announced the launch of ‘ING Positive Life’, a unit-linked insurance plan designed for ING Vysya Bank customers. The plan allows the customer to enter at as low as Rs 834 a month.
The premium can be invested in any of five fund options – debt, secure, balanced, growth or equity – besides offering liquidity when needed by allowing one partial withdrawal each year after the fifth year of the policy.
Jain said, “We will leverage ING Vysya Bank’s network of over 400 branches, understandings, sign-ups and referral agreements with about 100 co-operative banks and the more than 40,000 tied agents in 173 cities across the country, to access the 1.5 million customers of the bank for this product. Though we have introduced this unit-linked plan only for the existing customers, we are also looking at the possibility of acquiring new customers significantly.”
ING Vysya Bank contributes 10 per cent to the overall business of ING Vysya Life and that is expected to go up with the launch of the new product.
“ING Positive Life will facilitate access for ING Vysya life insurance products to the rural markets, where the life insurance business is yet to pick up,” Jain said.
About 100 ING Vysya Bank’s branches are located in rural areas. The interior markets accounted for 28 per cent of ING Vysya Life’s total insurance business last year.
In Andhra Pradesh, the bank has some 200 branches, which account for 25 per cent of ING Vysya Life’s business.
Source: Business Standard
Kshitij Jain, managing director and chief executive director of ING Vysya Life, told a news conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday that the insurance market in the country was growing at upwards of 30 per cent in premium terms, and the company hoped to grow at double that pace by 2008.
ING Vysya Life achieved a market share of 1.1 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Its premium business stood at Rs 700 crore during the last financial year.
The company announced the launch of ‘ING Positive Life’, a unit-linked insurance plan designed for ING Vysya Bank customers. The plan allows the customer to enter at as low as Rs 834 a month.
The premium can be invested in any of five fund options – debt, secure, balanced, growth or equity – besides offering liquidity when needed by allowing one partial withdrawal each year after the fifth year of the policy.
Jain said, “We will leverage ING Vysya Bank’s network of over 400 branches, understandings, sign-ups and referral agreements with about 100 co-operative banks and the more than 40,000 tied agents in 173 cities across the country, to access the 1.5 million customers of the bank for this product. Though we have introduced this unit-linked plan only for the existing customers, we are also looking at the possibility of acquiring new customers significantly.”
ING Vysya Bank contributes 10 per cent to the overall business of ING Vysya Life and that is expected to go up with the launch of the new product.
“ING Positive Life will facilitate access for ING Vysya life insurance products to the rural markets, where the life insurance business is yet to pick up,” Jain said.
About 100 ING Vysya Bank’s branches are located in rural areas. The interior markets accounted for 28 per cent of ING Vysya Life’s total insurance business last year.
In Andhra Pradesh, the bank has some 200 branches, which account for 25 per cent of ING Vysya Life’s business.
Source: Business Standard
Apollo Hospitals, DKV in health insurance JV
Apollo Hospitals Group and DKV, Europe’s largest private health insurer and a Munich Re Group company, today launched India’s second standalone health insurance company.
Apollo Hospitals Group holds 74 per cent while DKV holds the remaining 26 per cent stake in the joint venture company — Apollo DKV Insurance Company – which is expected to roll out products by middle of September this year.
The two companies have together invested a total of Rs 108 crore in proportion to their shareholding, and they expect to offer cashless products and services in over 4,000 hospitals across the country and on a reimbursement basis in all hospitals.
“Pricing will be risk-adequate and at par with other players. But our products will have much more value-added services in-built and will give true value for money,” said Shobana Kamineni, director, Apollo Hospitals Group.
To begin with, the health insurance company will offer traditional products such as in-patient hospitalisation cover, critical illness cover, overseas travel & health cover and personal accident cover. Later, the company will launch user-friendly products for both individuals and groups.
“We expect to cover one million lives in the next two-three years,” said Jochen Messemer, Director, Apollo DKV.
Apollo DKV is the second health insurance company after Star Health and Allied Insurance, which was launched in 2006.
“Though health insurance industry is growing at 30 per cent, the health insurance penetration in the country is only 2 per cent. Against the potential of Rs 15,000 crore business, the 13 health insurers operating in the country managed to collect only Rs 3,300 crore in 2006-07,” added Kamineni.
Source: Business Standard
Apollo Hospitals Group holds 74 per cent while DKV holds the remaining 26 per cent stake in the joint venture company — Apollo DKV Insurance Company – which is expected to roll out products by middle of September this year.
The two companies have together invested a total of Rs 108 crore in proportion to their shareholding, and they expect to offer cashless products and services in over 4,000 hospitals across the country and on a reimbursement basis in all hospitals.
“Pricing will be risk-adequate and at par with other players. But our products will have much more value-added services in-built and will give true value for money,” said Shobana Kamineni, director, Apollo Hospitals Group.
To begin with, the health insurance company will offer traditional products such as in-patient hospitalisation cover, critical illness cover, overseas travel & health cover and personal accident cover. Later, the company will launch user-friendly products for both individuals and groups.
“We expect to cover one million lives in the next two-three years,” said Jochen Messemer, Director, Apollo DKV.
Apollo DKV is the second health insurance company after Star Health and Allied Insurance, which was launched in 2006.
“Though health insurance industry is growing at 30 per cent, the health insurance penetration in the country is only 2 per cent. Against the potential of Rs 15,000 crore business, the 13 health insurers operating in the country managed to collect only Rs 3,300 crore in 2006-07,” added Kamineni.
Source: Business Standard
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