Non-life premiums fall 6.5% in September as crop, auto segments drag

In H1, premiums of non-life insurers were up 7% Y-o-Y

Non-life insurers have reported a 6.53 per cent year-on-year (YoY) drop in premiums in September, owing to underperformance of state-owned general insurers, slowdown in auto sales impacting motor insurance segment, and weak performance in the crop insurance segment.

Data released by the General Insurance Council said that in September, non-life insurers, which include general insurers, standalone health insurers, specialised PSU insurers, got Rs 27,551 crore as premiums, down 6.53 per cent YoY.

General insurers collected Rs 22,985.40 crore in premiums in September, marking a 3 per cent decline. While New India Assurance reported a 9 per cent YoY increase in premiums, state-owned United India Insurance experienced an 18 per cent drop, National Insurance saw a 32 per cent decline, and Oriental Insurance’s premiums remained flat.

Among major private general insurers, ICICI Lombard experienced modest premium growth of 3.6 per cent YoY, Bajaj Allianz General reported a nearly 8 per cent YoY decline, and HDFC Ergo saw a dip of 5.41 per cent.

However, standalone health insurers (SAHI) reported a robust growth of 26 per cent YoY in premiums in September, with Star Health and Allied Insurance reporting an 18 per cent YoY growth.

“The decline in premiums in September is mainly driven by the under-performance of the state-owned insurers (ex. New India Assurance) and select private players, impact of auto sales slowdown on motor insurance, and weak performance of insurers in the crop insurance segment,” said Saurabh Bhalerao, Head of BFSI Research at CareEdge Ratings.

According to a Nuvama report, state-owned multi-line insurers reported a premium decline of 8.7 per cent YoY in September while private multi-line insurers reported flat growth in premiums.

Additionally, state-owned multi-line insurers continued to lose market share, dropping 126 basis points YoY to 30.8 per cent, to private multi line insurers (+96bp YoY to 54.5 per cent) and SAHIs (+169bp YoY to 11.8 per cent).

Meanwhile, in H1FY25 (April – September), non-life insurers reported a 7 per cent YoY growth in premiums, mainly driven by the performance of SAHI players, who reported premium growth of 24.72 per cent. General insurers or multi line insurers reported a 6 per cent YoY growth in premiums during this period while specialised PSU insurers premiums declined 28 per cent YoY during this time.

“Strong growth in health premiums and a revival in retail motor sales in the upcoming festive season are likely to drive premium growth in the near term,” said Nuvama in its report.