Chennai, Jul 19 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has announced a set of norms for closure of liaison offices established in India by insurance companies registered outside India. Irda’s framework for approval of opening a liaison office of foreign insurance companies registered outside India is already in place.
As per the norms, the requests for closure of liaison office shall be submitted to IRDA in form Irda FIC - 2 attached as annexure ‘1’. The application for closure of liaison offices shall be submitted along with the documents including certified copy of Irda’s permission for establishing the branch/liaison office in India, a chartered accountant’s certificate indicating the manner in which the remittable amount has been arrived at and supported by a statement of assets and liabilities of the applicant indicating the manner of disposal of assets, confirming that all liabilities in India including arrears of gratuity and other benefits to employees etc of the office have been either fully met or adequately provided for; confirming that no proceeds accruing from sources outside India has remained unrepatriated to India.
As per the guidelines, the insurance companies should also enclose the no-objection/tax clearance certificate from Income Tax authority for the remittance or an undertaking from the applicant and a certificate from the chartered accountant regarding undertaking to be obtained from a person making remittance of foreign exchange as advised by RBI from time to time and confirmation from the parent entity that no legal proceedings in any court in India are pending against the liaison office and there is no legal impediment to the closure/remittance.
Source: Financial Express
Friday, July 20, 2007
Insurers cut benefits on mediclaim
New Delhi: If your company's group mediclaim is all you rely on for your medical expenses, it's time to wake up. You could be in for less than what you bargained for as insurers have raised premiums on such policies and are cutting benefits to keep costs down.
Step by step towards a big shock. Arun, an MNC bank employee, depends solely on his company's mediclaim. Insured for Rs 5 lakh, he believes the cover is enough protection.
Arun says, "I haven't even thought about taking the mediclaim because the sum assured is quite sufficient to cover me and my family."
But it might not. Most corporates have been knocking off several benefits from group policies to keep down costs.
Karan Chopra from ICICI Lombard says, "A lot of riders and benefits are being removed from group covers to keep premiums low. Riders like pre-existing illness covers and covers for dependents are being reconsidered."
This year the premium on group mediclaim policies rose 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The claim ratio of these policies is almost 100 per cent. That means for every Rs 100 insurance companies collect as premium, they pay out an equal amount, making it a no-profit proposition.
Until 2006, insurers used premiums from fire and engineering policies to subsidise group mediclaim policies. But after de-tariffing this year, fire and engineering premiums have fallen sharply.
So, mediclaim policies are being issued according to their claim ratios. Experts say it's time people started looking for their own covers.
Source: www.IBNlive.com
Step by step towards a big shock. Arun, an MNC bank employee, depends solely on his company's mediclaim. Insured for Rs 5 lakh, he believes the cover is enough protection.
Arun says, "I haven't even thought about taking the mediclaim because the sum assured is quite sufficient to cover me and my family."
But it might not. Most corporates have been knocking off several benefits from group policies to keep down costs.
Karan Chopra from ICICI Lombard says, "A lot of riders and benefits are being removed from group covers to keep premiums low. Riders like pre-existing illness covers and covers for dependents are being reconsidered."
This year the premium on group mediclaim policies rose 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The claim ratio of these policies is almost 100 per cent. That means for every Rs 100 insurance companies collect as premium, they pay out an equal amount, making it a no-profit proposition.
Until 2006, insurers used premiums from fire and engineering policies to subsidise group mediclaim policies. But after de-tariffing this year, fire and engineering premiums have fallen sharply.
So, mediclaim policies are being issued according to their claim ratios. Experts say it's time people started looking for their own covers.
Source: www.IBNlive.com
Household insurance cover from Reliance
With monsoons in full swing and "Act of God" perils ready to strike, a householders’ insurance plan is a good idea.
Reliance General Insurance Company is in the process of unveiling its first over-the-counter household policy, christened "Reliance Home Protect", with added benefits with coverage of Rs 1-5 lakh. The insurer expects a premium of Rs 150 crore from the product in the first year itself.
The company, in the next stage, is preparing to target the rural market with its existing basket of products, including health and tailor-made farmer package policies. It also aims to have 65 per cent of its premium from the retail segment alone.
Home insurance contributes less than 1 per cent to the Rs 25,000 crore general insurance business in India. Incidentally, only a little over 2 per cent of the 3 crore households in the country have household insurance.
A household policy covers contents and valuables, which may be affected due to various natural calamities such as fire or floods or manmade causes such as thefts.
K A Somasekharan, CEO, Reliance General said, "Most existing household insurance policies are cumbersome as far as their procedures are concerned. We felt that a simple and easily worded mass policy with very competitive rates was needed. People often take cover for buildings leaving the content and valuables uncovered. The lack of hassle-free products has limited the growth of this segment".
"Apart from covering contents, valuables and gadgets on a first loss basis, add-on features like cover for goods in transit, loss of title good expenses, personal accident benefits, cover loss of passport expenses, children education grant would be included," Somasekharan said.
Asked whether underwriting will be an issue, the CEO pointed out: “We have internal limits like a maximum of Rs 1 lakh for fire and allied perils, Rs 1 lakh for burglary cover and lower limits for say title deeds or passport".
Source: DNA Money
Reliance General Insurance Company is in the process of unveiling its first over-the-counter household policy, christened "Reliance Home Protect", with added benefits with coverage of Rs 1-5 lakh. The insurer expects a premium of Rs 150 crore from the product in the first year itself.
The company, in the next stage, is preparing to target the rural market with its existing basket of products, including health and tailor-made farmer package policies. It also aims to have 65 per cent of its premium from the retail segment alone.
Home insurance contributes less than 1 per cent to the Rs 25,000 crore general insurance business in India. Incidentally, only a little over 2 per cent of the 3 crore households in the country have household insurance.
A household policy covers contents and valuables, which may be affected due to various natural calamities such as fire or floods or manmade causes such as thefts.
K A Somasekharan, CEO, Reliance General said, "Most existing household insurance policies are cumbersome as far as their procedures are concerned. We felt that a simple and easily worded mass policy with very competitive rates was needed. People often take cover for buildings leaving the content and valuables uncovered. The lack of hassle-free products has limited the growth of this segment".
"Apart from covering contents, valuables and gadgets on a first loss basis, add-on features like cover for goods in transit, loss of title good expenses, personal accident benefits, cover loss of passport expenses, children education grant would be included," Somasekharan said.
Asked whether underwriting will be an issue, the CEO pointed out: “We have internal limits like a maximum of Rs 1 lakh for fire and allied perils, Rs 1 lakh for burglary cover and lower limits for say title deeds or passport".
Source: DNA Money
Private players look at hinterland to drive growth
The scorching pace of growth in the life insurance business, along with a two-way competition between private players and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and among the 16 private players themselves, is likely to see a 25-50 per cent increase in number of branches in the current year.
Private companies are expected to blitz the market with 50,000-1,00,000 new agents, a bulk of them chipping away at the monopoly of LIC in smaller cities and towns.
Eyeing a big growth in selling volumes and increase in ticket size of policies, private biggies such as SBI Life, HDFC Standard Life, Bajaj Allianz, Kotak Insurance, ICICI PruLife, Aviva, Max NewYork Life and others have been sizing up aggressive plans for major expansion to Tier II and III markets. Many feel that almost 50-60 per cent of sales can come in from these towns.
With the aggressive new entrants, LIC, the strongest among life companies, is likely to face threats to its near-monopolistic hold in smaller towns and cities.
The new entrants are sharpening their weapons for an assault on LIC's life insurance empire. Bert Paterson, managing director, Aviva Insurance said: "We've extended to 187 branches covering the full geographical spread of the country, including rural areas. We are reaching out to customers in close to 500 locations and are successfully following a dual distribution approach".
Trevor Bull, managing director, Tata AIG Life, also has a similar strategy. "As part of our overall strategy of expansion, we wish to have a major presence across the country.
The second stage of expansion will be largely in the second and third tier towns," he said.
According to Sanjay Tripathy, head marketing, HDFC Standard Life, research among people in smaller towns indicated that customers are much more open to a private insurer these days, mainly due to brand awareness and their high disposable incomes. The company's objective is to be one of the top-most considered brands in all non-metro markets in India.
A recent report by Macquarie Research Equities points out that LIC is being challenged on its own turf.
"In the last two years, the private life insurers have been rolling out to the smaller towns, with Bajaj Allianz having set the trend two years ago. We think this will put LIC under more pressure.
"Anecdotal evidence suggests that private players tend to make a large impact on LIC's market on initial entry into a particular geography. This process is intensifying as most of the major players are on a large distribution push through FY3/07 and FY3/08E," the report stated.
Source: DNA Money
Private companies are expected to blitz the market with 50,000-1,00,000 new agents, a bulk of them chipping away at the monopoly of LIC in smaller cities and towns.
Eyeing a big growth in selling volumes and increase in ticket size of policies, private biggies such as SBI Life, HDFC Standard Life, Bajaj Allianz, Kotak Insurance, ICICI PruLife, Aviva, Max NewYork Life and others have been sizing up aggressive plans for major expansion to Tier II and III markets. Many feel that almost 50-60 per cent of sales can come in from these towns.
With the aggressive new entrants, LIC, the strongest among life companies, is likely to face threats to its near-monopolistic hold in smaller towns and cities.
The new entrants are sharpening their weapons for an assault on LIC's life insurance empire. Bert Paterson, managing director, Aviva Insurance said: "We've extended to 187 branches covering the full geographical spread of the country, including rural areas. We are reaching out to customers in close to 500 locations and are successfully following a dual distribution approach".
Trevor Bull, managing director, Tata AIG Life, also has a similar strategy. "As part of our overall strategy of expansion, we wish to have a major presence across the country.
The second stage of expansion will be largely in the second and third tier towns," he said.
According to Sanjay Tripathy, head marketing, HDFC Standard Life, research among people in smaller towns indicated that customers are much more open to a private insurer these days, mainly due to brand awareness and their high disposable incomes. The company's objective is to be one of the top-most considered brands in all non-metro markets in India.
A recent report by Macquarie Research Equities points out that LIC is being challenged on its own turf.
"In the last two years, the private life insurers have been rolling out to the smaller towns, with Bajaj Allianz having set the trend two years ago. We think this will put LIC under more pressure.
"Anecdotal evidence suggests that private players tend to make a large impact on LIC's market on initial entry into a particular geography. This process is intensifying as most of the major players are on a large distribution push through FY3/07 and FY3/08E," the report stated.
Source: DNA Money
Tata AIG launches ULIP
Tata AIG Life Insurance Company has launched ‘InvestAssure Gold,’ a whole life unit-linked insurance plan (ULIP), in Chennai. Mr Joydeep Roy, Chief Distribution Officer, said that the product offered the advantage of combining protection and tax advantages with the prospect of investing in different kinds of securities through multiple fund options. There is the option to pay premiums for only five years, besides the enhanced entry age up to 70, to ensure that the elderly population is not excluded, he said. The policy provides life cover till the age of 100. He said that nearly 55 to 60 per cent of the premium was through sale of ULIPs while the balance came from term, pension, health and endowment products. —
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Source: The Hindu Business Line
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