Future Generali India Insurance, a joint venture between the Future Group and Italian giant Generali, started operations this year and has mopped up a gross premium income of Rs 170 crore. The company is trying out mallassurance, or sales through malls. Sales through this channel are estimated at 8 per cent. The general insurance company’s Managing Director and CEO Deepak Sood spoke to Shilpy Sinha and Sidhartha about the company’s plans. Excerpts
Do you see the motor premium rates coming down from January, when the new rules are in place?
In the initial phase, there will be a flurry of activity with new products coming in but it will settle down in a few months. There will be different products, more like add-ons, to the base product as the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda) wants the base product to stay.
Customers will have more choice and flexibility. People will choose their own coverage. The most important thing is that the reference point of the erstwhile tariff regime will go. There is more focus on whether you are charging the right price for the product.
Which are the segments where you see more changes taking place?
Changes are happening across segments, be it engineering policies, project insurance, property or motor insurance. Personal accident and health were already changing. Health is a good example. You will have to spend a substantial amount of time in comparing the products of two different companies. Products, which look alike, may be vastly different.
Will general insurers actually allow portability of health covers across companies?
We are talking about it at the council level and trying to put in place a system that is mutually beneficial to the insurer and the client. The General Insurance Council will put it before Irda for approval. The framework has been agreed upon but some finer points are being debated.
How has business been so far and what is the strategy going forward?
The gross premium written is close to Rs 170 crore. At present, 43 per cent of our business is commercial and the rest is retail. From January 1, renewals will see us move towards a 50:50 model for commercial and retail business. Going forward, we see 60-70 per cent business coming from the retail segment.
Is it true that new entrants are not keen on corporate business?
Making a general remark may not be right. Within the space today, there is a decent amount of corporate business which is good in terms of risk and price. We look at the risk pragmatically and we see there are a number of risks where the price is justifiable and the discount is not as huge as 90 per cent.
How are you dealing with the slowdown since getting business will make life tougher for a new player?
We have to tap into rollover cases much more, focus more on the agency stream of business so that older cars renewals come to us. We are emphasising on health and personal accident as this segment is growing. We are looking at Rs 200 crore premium by March and are on target.
We are putting the infrastructure and manpower in place. We have 41 offices across 30 cities and by the end of January, we will have 92 offices across 80 cities. Currently, we have a force of 9,300 agents and we are looking at 40,000 agents by March.
