LIC Vizag first premium collection up 39 per cent

The Visakhapatnam division of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) posted a growth of 39 per cent in the first premium collection during the year 2005-06, as compared to the preceding year.

"During the the financial year ended March 31, 2006, we achieved 69 per cent growth in the sum assured and 35 per cent growth in the number of policies apart from 319 per cent growth in the sale of group insurance policies as compared to the previous year," S Behera, senior divisional manager, LIC Vizag division, told Business Standard.

In 2005-06, the division sold 3,86,680 policies (2.86 lakh in 2004-05) with a sum assured amount of Rs 3,003.46 crore (Rs 1,1776 crore) and collected first premium of Rs 139.61 crore (Rs 100 crore), reflecting a growth of 35 per cent, 69 per cent and 39 per cent respectively.

The Bima Gold policy, which was introduced in September 2005, contributed about 24 per cent to the total first premium collection in the division. "We sold about 1.35 lakh Bima policies and collected Rs 34 crore first premium, which occupies about 24 per cent of the total first premium collection in the division," he said. The corporation added about 385 new agents in this division during this year.

"We covered 1.44 lakh lives under the group insurance scheme in the 2005-06 financial year and achieved a growth of 319 per cent over the last fiscal," he said.

Behera said that the sale of policies through corporate agents too grew by 263 per cent in 2005-06. "We sold 4,257 policies and collected Rs 3.84 crore first premium in 2005-06 through these agents, as compared to 1,171 policies and Rs 1.51 crore first premium in the preceding year," he said. Of the total sale of 4,257 policies from corporate agents, about 50 per cent business was generated from the branches of Andhra Bank in this division, he added. The corporation currently has 19 corporate agents in the Vizag division division including nine banks.

In 2005-06, the Vizag division collected a total premium of Rs 686.6 crore, 15.3 per cent higher than the previous year.

It settled the claims of about Rs 228 crore for both policy maturity and death claims, he said.