The central region of Tamil Nadu postal circle headquartered at Trichy bagged the numero uno position in the country by selling Rs 1,017 crore worth of Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) in 2007-08, surpassing the target of Rs 690 crore by 47 per cent. The Vijayawada region followed by garnering a business of worth Rs 650 crore.
Addressing the media here, SP Rajalingam, post master general, central region-Trichy, said the region had, since the launch of RPLI in 1995-96, sold 830,000 policies for a sum assured of Rs 3,557 crore.
Trichy also recorded an increase in international money transfer service during the year by enabling 416,000 transactions over previous year's 169,000 transactions. The region covers 24 head post offices, 64 sub offices and 2,839 branch offices.
Source: Business Standard
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
General insurers may get nod to change covers
Non-life insurance companies will soon get the freedom to change the coverage, wordings, terms and conditions of insurance policies. However, the changes that will be proposed by the insurer to individuals or companies will have to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda).
While non-life insurers are now free to price the products, the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) mandates the wordings, terms and conditions for motor, fire, engineering, marine (hull) and workmen compensation policies. Till January 2007, TAC also controlled and regulated the premium rates that had to be offered by insurers.
"We are holding discussions with the General Insurance Council (a self-regulatory body of non-life insurers). Insurance companies can file with us the deviations from the TAC wordings for each line of business and we will give the approvals on a case by case basis. But the products should be comparable by customers across insurance companies," Irda chairman C S Rao said on the sidelines of a seminar.
Irda had earlier proposed to give freedom to insurers to change covers from April 1, 2008. However, it later deferred the deadline on concerns of confusion among consumers.
Last year, the General Insurance Council had prepared uniform market wordings for the industry that could be used once they were granted the freedom to change covers. "The General Insurance Council has rephrased the existing terms and conditions. It has thrown a number of issues. We will see the changes suggested,"Rao said.
He also said that after the April figures containing the premium underwritten by non-life insurance companies are released, the insurance regulator will be able to gauge the impact of detariffing.
With 40 per cent of the corporate renewals taking place in April, any drop in premium will be reflected in the business underwritten by insurance companies. "We will get a complete picture only after the April figures are released and we will intensify our inspection of insurance companies," said Rao.
Irda is also planning to tighten the norms for granting fresh licenses to third party administrators (TPAs), who perform back-end functions for insurance companies.
"The job of a TPA is to see if the claim is supported by evidence and if genuine claims should be paid quickly. In future, we will look at the TPA's IT ability, which we had earlier ignored while giving licences," Rao said.
While non-life insurers are now free to price the products, the Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC) mandates the wordings, terms and conditions for motor, fire, engineering, marine (hull) and workmen compensation policies. Till January 2007, TAC also controlled and regulated the premium rates that had to be offered by insurers.
"We are holding discussions with the General Insurance Council (a self-regulatory body of non-life insurers). Insurance companies can file with us the deviations from the TAC wordings for each line of business and we will give the approvals on a case by case basis. But the products should be comparable by customers across insurance companies," Irda chairman C S Rao said on the sidelines of a seminar.
Irda had earlier proposed to give freedom to insurers to change covers from April 1, 2008. However, it later deferred the deadline on concerns of confusion among consumers.
Last year, the General Insurance Council had prepared uniform market wordings for the industry that could be used once they were granted the freedom to change covers. "The General Insurance Council has rephrased the existing terms and conditions. It has thrown a number of issues. We will see the changes suggested,"Rao said.
He also said that after the April figures containing the premium underwritten by non-life insurance companies are released, the insurance regulator will be able to gauge the impact of detariffing.
With 40 per cent of the corporate renewals taking place in April, any drop in premium will be reflected in the business underwritten by insurance companies. "We will get a complete picture only after the April figures are released and we will intensify our inspection of insurance companies," said Rao.
Irda is also planning to tighten the norms for granting fresh licenses to third party administrators (TPAs), who perform back-end functions for insurance companies.
"The job of a TPA is to see if the claim is supported by evidence and if genuine claims should be paid quickly. In future, we will look at the TPA's IT ability, which we had earlier ignored while giving licences," Rao said.
J Harinarayan is new IRDA chief
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: Jandhyala Harinarayan will take over as the next IRDA chairman. Mr Harinarayan, who was the former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh, was chosen by the government for the top job in IRDA, based on recommendations of a search committee headed by finance secretary D Subba Rao. The recommendation has been ratified by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister. The incumbent chairman CS Rao’s five-year term ends on Wednesday. The final order is expected soon.
United India net at Rs. 632 crore
Chennai: United India Insurance has achieved a net profit of Rs. 631.62 crore for 2007-08, an increase of 19.5 per cent over 2006-07. The company has ended the year with a premium of Rs. 3,739.56 crore against Rs. 3,498.77 crore in 2006-07. The directors have recommended a dividend of 84 per cent against 70.52 per cent.
General Insurance industry grows 12.5 pc growth
The general insurance industry grew 12.53 per cent in 2007-08 with robust performance by private players, including Reliance General which continues to be the fastest growing insurer. The 13 non-life insurers collected Rs 28,131 crore in premium in FY'08, against Rs 24,998 crore collected in the previous fiscal, according to the industry data. During the period, the four public sector non-life insurance companies collected Rs 16,899 crore in the reviewed fiscal, against Rs 16,278 crore in the previous fiscal. Private players increased their business from Rs 8,720 crore to Rs 11,231 crore during the period.
Reliance General Insurance continues to be the fastest growing insurer with its premium collection growing by a whopping 113 per cent to Rs 1,946 crore in last fiscal against Rs 912 crore FY'07. In percentage terms, while the public sector firms could increase their premiums by just 4 per cent, nine private sector players clocked premium growth of 29 per cent. Private sector players' market share has grown to about 40 per cent in FY'08 as compared to the public sector's 60 per cent share.
Reliance General Insurance continues to be the fastest growing insurer with its premium collection growing by a whopping 113 per cent to Rs 1,946 crore in last fiscal against Rs 912 crore FY'07. In percentage terms, while the public sector firms could increase their premiums by just 4 per cent, nine private sector players clocked premium growth of 29 per cent. Private sector players' market share has grown to about 40 per cent in FY'08 as compared to the public sector's 60 per cent share.
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