SBI LIFE TO OFFER HEALTH COVER

Calcutta: SBI Life Insurance Company, a joint venture between BNP Paribas Assurance and the State Bank of India, will launch its first standalone health insurance plan next month.

“We got the approval of the insurance regulator for the product last month and at present we are upgrading our information technology system for this product. Hopefully, we’ll launch our first standalone health insurance plan in August,” said U.S. Roy, managing director and CEO, SBI Life Insurance Company.

Sensing big business in health insurance, the Life Insurance Corporation of India, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Reliance Life Insurance and Tata AIG Life Insurance have already launched standalone plans besides offering critical-illness riders.

Like other life insurers, SBI Life’s health insurance scheme will be a defined benefit plan where the policy-holder will be given a predetermined sum in the case of hospitalisation. Only Bajaj Allianz has recently introduced a family floater indemnity plan that will reimburse the hospitalisation bills subject to the sum assured — similar to the mediclaim policies of the general insurance companies.

In 2007-08, SBI Life clocked a total premium income of Rs 5,622 crore, of which income from new policy sales was Rs 4,800 crore. “Our net profit for the year stood at Rs 34 crore compared with Rs 3.5 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 2.02 crore in 2005-06,” Roy said. The life insurer reported net profit for the third year in a row. It was incorporated in March 2001.

“We have shown more than 100 per cent growth in business during the first quarter of the current fiscal. However, since we provide mark-to-market provisioning for our investments as a prudential practice, though it is not required for long-term investments such as life insurance. Our growth in profitability will not be much given the turmoil in both stock prices and interest rates,” Roy said.

SBI Life reported a premium income of Rs 426 crore from new business in the first quarter of 2007-08. Between April and June this year, the insurer expects a first year premium income of between Rs 800 crore and Rs 900 crore.

“For the current financial year, our target is to achieve a total premium income of Rs 10,500 crore and a first year premium income of Rs 8,500 crore,” Roy said. The company now ranks second in terms of market share among private life insurers in the country.

Source: The Telegraph, The Statesman, Business Standard, The Financial Express