Non-life insurers see a 4.41% drop in premium collection in September

Standalone health insurers, however, see a 38% spike in collections on the back of heavy demand for health covers

After witnessing growth in premium for two months, non-life insurers are back in the red in September with premium collection slipping 4.41 per cent, despite a jump in premium collection by standalone health insurers. 

In September, non-life insurers, which include general insurers, standalone health insurers, and specialised public sector insurers, collected premium of Rs 23,056 crore, against Rs 24,121.56 crore in the same period last financial year. Standalone health insurers, on the other hand, saw their premium collection surge almost 38 per cent in September to Rs 1,542 crore, against Rs 1,118.25 crore in the year-ago period. 

This is driven by the fact that demand for health insurance has been on the rise due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, the regulator’s drive to nudge insurers to sell standardised health products has done the trick as there is a huge demand for the Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak policies.  

General insurers, who offer a gamut of products such as motor insurance, health insurance, fire insurance, and crop insurance, saw their premium dip 4.31 per cent to Rs 18,841.67 crore, compared to Rs 19, 691.48 crore in the year-ago period. 

In the first half of the current financial year, while the premium collection of general insurers witnessed a drop of 1 per cent to Rs 81,511.49 crore, that of standalone health insurers rose 28 per cent to Rs 7,810.97 crore. The industry’s premium collection surged 1.57 per cent to Rs 97, 025 crore.  

According to experts, the industry could return to growth in the second or third quarter of FY21. Overall, the outlook is expected to be stable in the medium term.