Indian promoters gain more stronghold in insurance ventures

Indian promoters are seen to be gaining more stronghold in insurance ventures in the country. On the one hand, while Indian management control has ensured that all decisions, appointments can be made only with majority nod of Indian shareholders, possible exit of foreign partners in companies like Bajaj Allianz, as news reports suggest, will further add up to Indian partner control.

Bajaj Allianz Life and General Insurance has Allianz as a foreign joint venture partner with 26 per cent stake. While other foreign partners in insurance companies have hiked their stake to 49 per cent which is the maximum permissible, Allianz had been engaged in discussions over this.

Sources said that since the new Insurance Act called for fair valuation to determine price of any stake hike rather than any pre-determined price as in the case of this insurer, the foreign partner expressed some reservations of the pricing.

While a final decision is yet to be taken, sources associated with the development said that the foreign partner may not continue.

To a query by Business Standard, Allianz said that India is a vibrant market where Allianz holds a keen interest and remains committed.

A final call on this is expected to be taken in mid-July.

Source: Business Standard

Exide Life Insurance signs on Dhoni as brand ambassador

Exide Life Insurance today announced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador. Dhoni, who represents the aspirations of millions, has a strong mass appeal and followership compared to any other sporting icon in India.

Dhoni is the perfect brand ambassador for Exide life Insurance as he embodies the values of Exide life Insurance. He is Dependable, Dynamic, Responsive and Foresighted.

Dhoni represents a “unique blend of skill, commitment and stability which are all personality traits that are relevant to the life insurance category” said Mohit Goel, Director-Marketing, Exide Life Insurance.

“As a life insurance company, we believe that long term relationships build trust, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a perfect embodiment of that belief. Dhoni has appeal that cuts across geography, gender and age groups. He is one of India’s most celebrated cricketers, and the most successful captain of the Indian team and we are extremely excited to be associated with him.”

Starting June 22, Dhoni will feature in the Exide Life Insurance marketing campaign “Lamba saath, bharose Ki baat.” (Long term relationships build trust).

Speaking about his partnership with Exide Life Insurance, Dhoni said, “This is my first endorsement deal in the insurance category. I am pleased to be associated with Exide Life Insurance, a company that helps Indians prepare financially for their long and happy life. Long term relationships build trust and I have always planned for the long term in all aspects of my life. Exide Life Insurance is a brand that resonates well with me and I look forward to working with them very closely.” 

Source: Newindianexpress.com

Health Insurance Or Health Corpus: Which One Should You Choose?

What is a Health Insurance?
A health insurance policy is a type of insurance coverage that covers the cost of an insured’s medical expenses. Depending on the type of health insurance policy, the insurer makes direct payment to the service provider or the insured pays the expenses out of their pockets to claim a reimbursement on a later instance.

Advantages:
Nobody ever plans to get sick or hurt. However, when illness strikes, you will need to be financially ready in order to handle the situation. Here are a few advantages of having a health insurance policy.

1. You Get a Daily Hospital Allowance

To begin with, when you are in a hospital, a vast sum of money is spent on food and your family’s commute to the hospital. To take care of this, most health insurance policies offer a daily hospital allowance. You will need to check if it is a per-day cash handout or pre-fixed. Also, you don’t need to hand over any bills to claim these expenses.

2. Recovery Benefit

While some insurers provide only hospitalisation expenses, there are others that offer recovery expenses as well. Known as a recuperating benefit, this particular feature offers you a lump sum amount if you stay at the hospital for a prolonged period of time.

3. Alternative Treatment Benefits

The IRDAI has recently added a guideline wherein insurance providers need to provide insurance for clients who opt for alternative treatments like Ayurveda, Unani, and homeopathy.

4. Tax Benefits

The premium paid for health insurance policies are eligible to get tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.

Disadvantage:
Apart from the fact that you will need to set aside a certain amount for premiums each month, there are no specific disadvantages that come with buying a health insurance policy. There is the case of waiting period, though, which can be avoided if you buy a disease-specific policy.





What Is A Health Corpus?
A health corpus is basically a fund you set aside or break when you are met with an emergency that need medical attention. This could range from you borrowing a loan from a bank to breaking your fixed deposits.

Advantages:

The one real advantage of a health corpus is that you wouldn’t need to go through a waiting period to get treated for some pre-existing illnesses.

Disadvantages:

When you weigh the scales by outlining the advantages and disadvantages of a health corpus, the negative aspects tend to outweigh the positives.

1. It Is a Bad Financial Decision

While breaking your hard-earned savings to pay your medical and surgical bills make sense in the beginning. It starts to seem like a bad financial decision when you look back at it. Imagine you come across a much larger health emergency a few months after the first, and you barely have any savings to dip into.

2. Doesn’t Offer You All The Benefits

Unless you are a multi-millionaire with unlimited funds, you can’t ‘buy’ the benefits offered by a health insurance policy without actually getting one. Every treatment or procedure you get will cost you money and will sooner or later burn a hole in your pocket.

When you weigh the odds, owning a medical insurance policy makes much more sense as opposed to using a health corpus to take care of your medical bills and treatment costs. Besides, all you need to do is pay a small sum as premium each month to receive top-class services from reputed hospitals. Also, if you have any disagreements with your insurance provider, you can use the portability option to find a better one.

Source: Allindiaroundup.com

HDFC Life, Max Life in talks to create India's biggest private life insurer

HDFC Life and Max Life are in talks to create the country's biggest private life insurer as stiff competition and regulatory hurdles force firms to find new ways of growing market share and profitability.

Three people familiar with the talks said parleys have so far been mostly between Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp, HDFC Life's parent, and Analjit Singh, founder of Max Group which owns majority stake in Max Life. The companies may announce the plans in the next few days.

If talks fructify, the merger will be the first among life insurers in more than a decade, creating a firm with market value of about Rs 50,000 crore, ahead of ICICI Prudential. It will, however, remain a distant second to state-run LIC which dominates the Rs 25 lakh crore industry with 70% share.

The board of HDFC Life is meeting in Mumbai on Friday to discuss the proposal. HDFC and Max India did not respond to email queries on the matter. Standard Life, the joint venture partner in HDFC Life, in an email response said it does not comment on market speculation. Max Life's minority stakeholder, Mitsui Sumitomo, said it would prefer to refrain from commenting on the query.

Since the two companies have different holding structures, it is not clear what the final holding pattern would be. Max Financial owns 68.01% of Max Life and has a market value of Rs 11,700 crore. Axis Bank owns 5.99% and Mitsui Sumitomo owns the remaining 26%. In HDFC Life, HDFC owns 61.63% and UK's Standard Life 35%. About 1% is owned by Azim Premji.

The talks have reached a stage where companies have appointed legal and due diligence advisors. Consultancy firm EY did the due diligence for Max Life and Shardul Shroff was the legal advisor to HDFC Life. But there is no certainty that it will take place as a number of hurdles remain to be crossed.

One of the valuation metrics for insurers is embedded value. HDFC Life had an embedded value of Rs 10,205 crore at the end of March 31, 2016. It had an asset under management of Rs 74, 247 crore.


Source: Economictimes.

'Title Insurance' on cards to protect people in case of defective property titles

Aiming to provide cover to people in case of defective property titles and related issues, insurance regulator IRDAI on Friday proposed introducing a new product in India, 'Title Insurance'.

The regulator said it has decided to constitute a 7-member working group to study the scope of 'Title Insurance' in the Indian market. IRDAI's senior joint director Suresh Mathur has been appointed chairman of the group and asked to submit report in two months.

The group will study the need and scope for such a product in the domestic market vis-a-vis the existing practices in the international market and identify the insurable risk and define the compensation structure.

It has also been asked to suggest the design of the product and the framework for assessment of risk, pricing, reserving and accounting with actuarial inputs for the long term sustainability of the product.

Source: Economictimes.indiatimes.com

Never too late to buy a term life insurance

Today, if you want to buy a term plan online, you can do so till the age of 60 years or more-something very difficult to do only a few years back. The coverage will be given till the age of 75 years to 80 years. No wonder, a number of elderly citizens are buying term plans though they are a tad expensive.

"With economic growth, incomes have gone up multiple times but expenses have also increased due to discretionary spending. In addition, there is no social security in India. So, many people take up second jobs after retirement, says Sudipto Roy, managing director, Principal Retirement Advisors. And, that income needs protection. Hence, term plans.

Another reason why people are buying these products is due to liabilities and dependants.

Even if there aren't regular nine to five jobs, many seek part-time jobs such as consultants after-retirement, says Neeti Sharma, vice-president at Teamlease.

Not long before term insurance cover was only provided till the age of 55. After insurance companies came up with an online term plan for the higher age band, it all changed. Today, there are many more insurers providing coverage to persons up to the age of 75. The online platform's easy reach, convenience and affordability have made the consumer a winner, with the widest of choices.

Recently, a 60-year-old doctor from Hyderabad bought a term plan worth Rs 1 crore for 15-year coverage at a single premium of Rs 8 lakh. The 50-plus age category comprised merely one per cent of life term plans on the platform in FY 15. This number went up to nearly five per cent in FY16, according to data from Policybazaar.com.

Earlier, the demand from older customers for term life insurance was restricted largely to metro cities, such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Now there is good demand from other cities, too. In finance companies, armed also with better actuarial data, are willing to give protection to senior citizens. Aegon currently offers coverage till the age of 75 and plans to increase it to 80 years.

In April, Aegon's Annual Retirement Readiness Survey spoke about the steps being taken around the world to promote the concept of flexible retirement. The survey was conducted in 15 countries, including India. "Life expectancy is increasing around the world. From 1970 to 2012, life expectancy at birth increased 11.1 years for men and 12.1 years for women. As people live longer, their ability to work in older age increases. "People should no longer be limited by the notion of retiring fully at age 60 or 65," the survey said.

According to the survey, life expectancy in India is expected to rise to age 73 in 2050, up from 66 today, which will challenge the sustainability of the country's retirement system.

Source: Business-standard.com

Go by performance, not only insurance premium

Insurance is a product that is usually sold, rarely purchased. People normally buy it when it is hard-sold by an agent. Very few make the effort to research the product themselves and buy the one they like best, as happens commonly in the case of investment products. The more evolved buyers go to aggregator websites and compare premiums. While this number is important, especially in the case of term insurance, you should also evaluate a few others to get a holistic picture.

Premium: When buying a term plan, the premium you pay is by far the most important number. "The product features and exclusions in term plans are all standardised. Hence, I would give a 60 per cent weightage to premium in my purchase decision," says Kapil Mehta, founder and chief executive officer, Secure Now Insurance Broker. The best places to look for premium rates are the web sites of insurers. While aggregator websites do give you premium rates of many players at one go, there is sometimes the risk that some of the lowest-cost players might be excluded. Besides premium, pay heed to payment structure in case of term insurers. Many now offer annual or monthly payouts to the family, at times even adjusted by inflation, a useful feature if money management is not your spouse's forte.

Historical performance of funds: When buying a unit-linked insurance plan (Ulip), the historical returns of funds should be your primary criterion.

In the case of Ulips, going with an older company can work to your advantage, as longer-term data on fund performance will be available for it.

The Morningstar India website is one resource you could turn to for this information. It offers comparison of the fund's performance vis-a-vis the category average. The fund's rank within the category is also provided.

Persistency: It tells you the percentage of policies sold by an insurer that continue to be in force after a certain period (one year, two years, etc). If a company has a higher persistency number, it indicates that it sells products that people are comfortable in holding. This data is available in the Handbook on Indian Insurance Statistics (go to Irdai's home page/Reports/Handbook).

Claim settlement ratio: This tells you the number of claims settled by the life insurer vis-a-vis the total number of claims received. Aggregate data on the industry is available in Irdai's annual report. While Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) settled 98.2 per cent of claims in 2014-15, the private players settled 89.4 per cent. The sector as a whole settled 97 per cent of claims made (by number of policies). However, data from the Handbook says that only 90.9 per cent of claims by value were settled.

Speed of claim settlement: Delay in claim settlement can be a major headache for the near and dear ones, hence it is important to go with a player that settles claims faster.

Size: When buying a traditional plan, go with a bigger company. Information on business in force is available for individual companies both by number and value of policies in the Handbook.

These numbers can provide another crucial insight.

Since life insurance is an important purchase, do spend a few hours on the internet doing the necessary research to get this decision right.

Source: Business Standard

Premiums of insurance are expensive is a myth!

Nothing can cost you more than your own or a dear one's life! You may have often thought, " I will buy a bike for myself, the moment I get my first job". It could be a bike or anything else that you may have nursed a desire to own. But it would certainly not be an insurance product. Right?

Experts say that one should never defer the time to get an insurance cover for life. If not after the first job, do not defer it beyond your marriage, or once have a child. The older one would get, higher the premium would become. Shed this notion, " Nothing will happen to me!"

The second important point to remember is, do not link your life insurance with your your investment needs. Your decision to purchase a policy should be on the amount of premium you can pay, and not on the returns that you will get.

There is no point in paying very low premium while hoping to get some long term return, which may amount to nothing in the long run, as inflation would eat up most of it. You will only adding to the kitty of the insurance agent. These days there are options to buy insurance online as well.

Your first policy should only be a term insurance and never a unit-linked plan. The sooner you begin investing in a pension product the better it would be for your future needs, which you may not identify at the age you may be in currently.

Source: zeenews.india.com

Pay your health insurance premium through EMI

Just like homes, cars and mobile phones, you can purchase health insurance through equated monthly installments (EMIs). Future Generali India Insurance and Reliance General Insurance have launched products that offer premium payment through EMI. It is a good option for those who would like a higher sum assured, but cannot afford to pay the premium at one go.

However, customers must keep in mind certain conditions. For instance, the total premium in case of EMI will be higher as compared to paying the entire premium upfront. Also, the facility is available only for sum assured above a certain amount and in some cases for longer-term policies. Also, you will also lose out on the discount you would have got in case you paid the premium for a longer-term policy at one go.

Future Generali offers the EMI option for policies with sum assured of Rs 3 lakh and more. The loading of premia for EMI options is as follows: three per cent for half yearly, four per cent for quarterly and five per cent for monthly options. As against this, in case of a three-year policy, the discount is 10 per cent if you pay the premium up front and in case of a two-year policy, it is 7.5 per cent. So, if you opt for a three-year policy and choose to pay monthly EMI, you end up paying 15 per cent higher premium as compared to paying the entire premium up front.

Earlier, customers who wanted higher sum assured, but could not afford the high premium used to pay through credit card and pay credit card dues through EMI. However, this is expensive as interest rates on credit cards are high.

In case of Reliance, the EMI option is available on both one and two-year policies, which have sum assured of Rs 3 lakh and above. The EMI option is available on a quarterly and half-yearly basis.

In case there is a claim before the entire EMI is paid, the remaining EMIs for the year will be deducted before the claim is paid. Assuming you opt for the monthly EMI option of Rs 2,000 a month and you make a claim of Rs 2 lakh after paying EMI for eight months, the EMI for the remaining four months, which is Rs 8,000, would be deducted from your claim amount of Rs 2 lakh.

Source: Business Standard

Seven ways to identify life insurance mis-selling

Realizing the growing mis-selling of life insurance products in the insurance space, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced guidelines to check the menace. Continued efforts in this regard have certainly reduced the cases of life insurance mis-selling.

Below are a few tips to spot mis-selling of life insurance policies:

Hear the opening pitch
Life insurance is a long-term product and selling a long-term product is more difficult. Some insurance agents often approach you with a short-term insurance policy. If your agent says he has a good short-term savings product of around four to five years, which also gives insurance coverage, then buying a policy from him might be a risky proposition; please note that life insurance is not meant to provide short-term benefits.

Check the standard illustration
Each insurance company has a standard calculation of the plan to avoid any misguidance. So, ask your insurance agent to give you the insurer’s standard illustration of your selected policy instead of a handwritten calculation.

Fill the application yourself
Most insurance agents ask you to sign at the relevant places and fill the form for you. But, it may lead to more ambiguities. Read all the details carefully and get complete awareness of documents you are going to sign.

Check the medical requirements
Some agents skip offering medical details because if there is a medical issue, the insurer will have follow-up questions that result in buying delays. Therefore, check whether there is any need for your medical details while buying a life insurance policy. Agents are not really bothered about the claim part, but knowing the medical history of a policyholder is one of the most important factors toward ensuring a successful claim settlement.

Check the policy name
Sometimes, you may contact an agent to buy a particular product and end up buying another one after hearing the agent’s pitch. To avoid getting into such a situation, check the need of your insurance coverage and policy name while filing the document.

Don’t get lured by rewards; delve deeper into the details and take a call
Some agents try to lure you with a few unrealistic rewards to make the plan appear more attractive. Evaluate the policy on the website or ask for the brochure of the plan.

Wait for insurer to call
Most insurance companies make a call to a policyholder to ensure that the policy holder understood all the terms of the plan. If you do not get a call from an insurer, take initiative and call their customer service number. There have also been cases of impostors calling up on behalf of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Please note that IRDAI does not call individual policyholder to offer any help.

Source: Indiainfoline.

ATM card holders can get insurance upto Rs 10 lakh!

Get Insurance upto Rs 10 lakh

Automated teller machine (ATM) card holders of both public and private sector banks are eligible for accidental hospitalisation cover and and accidental death cover by the card issuing bank. It ranges between Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh. However, if at all you must avail the insurance amount, your bank passbook has to be operational. The insurance cannot be availed for inoperative account.
 
How to claim insurance
Immediately inform the police after the accident and highlight everything properly.

In case of hospitalisation, all the medical reports have to be submitted.

If it is a case of accidental death these things will be required to deposit: the post-mortem report, police panchnama, death certificate, valid driving license.

Bank must be informed that the card holder has made transaction in last 90 days.
 
Source: ZeeNews

State health insurance proved a boon for 80K patients: CSI

The number of cardiac patients getting stents in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is far higher than those in North India, courtesy the implementation of state-funded health insurance covers on the lines of Aarogyasri.

This was revealed by top office bearers of the Cardiological Society of India (CSI) at its ongoing midterm national interventional council (NIC) meet in the city on Saturday after analysing data pooled in from 630 cardiac centers in the country.

Their data showed that the four South Indian states combined, assisted around 80,000 patients (23%) get free stents out of the total 3.75 lakh patients who underwent angioplasty in 2015.

"Health insurance schemes on the lines of Aarogyasri that offer free stents is confined mainly to South Indian states except the lone North Indian state of Rajasthan. This is a good move as such schemes are making even rural-based cardiac patients gain easy access to better care," said Dr N N Khanna, chairman, CSI's NIC-2016.

In fact, he shared how state-funded health insurance schemes has seen a six percent rise in BPL beneficiaries between 2014 and 2015 -- from 17% (who got coverage for angioplasty) to 23% .

In Telangana, according to the Claims Data Report-2015 made available by Aarogyasri Health Trust, the state-funded scheme facilitated 9,057 Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients get free stents, including 2,838 patients who got double stents.

The Aarogyasri scheme offers a cap of Rs 85,000 for two drug-eluting (release drugs to prevent blockage in artery) stents.

The CSI's findings also showed how of the 3.75 lakh patients undergoing angioplasty, 94% opted for drug eluting stents while the remaining 6% preferred cheaper bare-metal stents (do not release drugs). Their data, shockingly, also highlighted how 10% of the patients who underwent angioplasty last year were below 40 years of age, a percentage considered very high for such young age when compared to global standards. The bulk of 75% angioplasty patients were between 40 to 70 years , while 15% were above 70 years.

Soon, Dr S Guha, CSI, national president, said that cardiac patients could get some good news as the Union health ministry is planning to bring about uniformity in pricing of stents in the country.

"There were instances in the past when a stent manufacturer indulged in unfair trade practices and was found to be selling the product in India at a higher price than it was being offered in other countries," said Dr Guha, adding that the problem will be solved once stents are listed as an essential drug by the government and its MRP is fixed. According to sources, some corporate hospitals in the city too benefit from the lack of uniformity in prices of imported stents as no two hospitals charge a common rate even though both buy them from a single manufacturer.

This despite the fact that they are four low-priced stents manufactuers in India making it big in the international market, exporting stents to 76 countries across Europe, South America, South East Asia. In 2015 they netted sales worth $32mn.

Source: India Times.

Puttingal Took Just Rs 1 Crore Cover

A fire insurance of a meager Rs 1 crore and a public liability insurance of Rs 5 lakh for two days, was all that the Puttingal temple administration in Kollam, took, where more than 112 people were killed in the fire cracker tragedy in the wee hours of Sunday. More than 350 people were injured and 500 houses destroyed at Puttingal tragedy.

The amount spent for the fire display at temple is estimated to be `10 lakh. The amount spent to buy the insurance cover is about Rs 50,000.

The policy taken by the temple from the Kollam office of New India Assurance Company is insufficient to cover even the damages. Further, since firecrackers were stored without permission, claim settlement could get delayed.

“The victims can make claims from three sources. First from the temple authority, secondly if anyone files a PIL in the court and third compensation declared by the state,” said Delhibased insurance expert Vipul Soota, co-founder of Learning Enablers, an insurance education portal.

Many of the 105 major and small temples in Kerala are not insured or under-insured during the festival days. Thiruvananthapuram has 27 major temples and Alappuzha 15.

“Generally these occasions are gravely under-insured,” said Viswanathan Odatt, Managing Director, Aims Insurance Broking Private Ltd.

Often fire display in temple festivals in Kerala are conducted with no insurance cover or for pittance. “The insurance is taken, with a limited view—to get the approval for conducting fire display from the authorities,” said a senior executive of New India Assurance Company.

“The amount is too small when compared to the damages and loss of life. The only hope is the ‘waiver’ clause in the case of the insurance policy which allows the insurance company to decide whether to give the insurance amount or not,” said Ramachandran Nair, Administrative Officer, New India Assurance Company.

“Taking fire and public liability insurance for temple festivals and church feasts in the state should be made mandatory and properly insured,” says Sushil Kumar, an LIC agent who has worked in the region for more than two decades, adding the people here have more than one life policy.

Source: New Indian Express

Private medical institutions directed to join insurance scheme

Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader has warned reluctant private medical institutions of consequences, if they refused to join the governments Mukhyamantri Harish Santwana humanitarian scheme and provide trauma care to road traffic accident (RTA) victims.

He said in a statement here that the government would amend the Karnataka Private Nursing Home (Regulation) Act if the institutions were unwilling to join the scheme.

Over 400 accident victims have benefited from the scheme since it was introduced on March 8, Khader said.

The scheme ensures immediate medical treatment for victims of road accidents during the Golden Hour (48 hours) and cashless treatment to victims with a maximum amount of Rs 25,000 per victim.

The minister said there was concern over treatment costs going above the prescribed limit.

The health department had discussions with top medical professionals and had arrived at this cost which covered seven special care procedures and more than 500 other procedures.

The charges calculated included full ventilator support for two days, the minister added.

Source:  India Today

United India to pay for Kolkata bridge collapse, lives lost

United India Insurance Company will foot the bill of rebuilding the IVRCL bridge that collapsed in north Kolkata as well as liability arising out of lives lost. "We have received intimation and have deputed surveyors," said a United India Insurance executive, who did not wish to be identified.

"The claim will be paid as part of the construction policy that covers both cost of rebuilding and third-party liability," he said. This could come as a relief to the Hyderabad-based infrastructure company which is grappling with liquidity issues and high debt. As per the policy, the insurance company will pay either 10% of the sum assured or Rs 10 crore if the project size is less than Rs 100 crore. In this case, the project size is more than Rs 100 crore, so third-party liability could go up to Rs 25 crore.

Several employees of IVRCL were detained following the collapse. The company officials hinted that the bridge might have collapsed due to a bomb blast. The insurance policy, however, does not offer cover for terrorism. "If the accident has happened due to a bomb blast as the officials are indicating, we will not have to pay any claim," the executive said.

Terrorism cover is generally excluded from a standard project insurance policy. It is taken over and above a standard policy and the premium collected under it is transferred to terrorism pool. The General Insurance Corporation Re manages the terrorism pool.

The policy insures against physical damage to the works, including materials on site. The other part of the policy covers the full reinstatement value of the works and other costs such as consultancy and professional fees that are incurred.

Source: Economic Times

Companies take cover in terrorism insurance

An increase in global political uncertainty has led to a rise in political violence insurance covers being taken by Indian companies. These policies are taken by firms that have investments in foreign markets and exposure to such risks.

Ketan Kale, practice leader-credit, political & security risk, JLT Independent Insurers Brokers, said Indian firms are increasingly coming forward to insure their assets globally, especially in regions such as West Asia and Africa. While proposals for covers in volatile markets are not denied, premia are comparatively much higher — by as much as 100-600 per cent.

JLT Independent recently offered such a policy to a pharma client for Yemen. It was a $10-million cover for political violence.

Sanjay Datta, chief underwriting & claims, ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd, says there has been a good demand for these products. “Capacity is not a problem since we have a terrorism pool in place. This pool size may increase to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 1,500 crore.”

The Indian Market Terrorism Risk Insurance Pool is likely to see an uptick in capacity with a rise in global terror incidents. The pool was formed following an initiative by non-life insurance firms in India in April 2002, after terrorism cover was withdrawn by international reinsurers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack. The pool has completed 13 years of successful operation. All non-life insurance companies of the country and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) are members of the pool.

Source: Business Standard

Most Indian women claim to be insured: Survey

Most Indian women claim to be insured and believe they are prepared for eventualities facing family, a survey said.

About 95% women claim to be aware about health insurance and 84 per cent said they are covered under a health insurance plan, an online survey conducted by ICICI Lombard General Insurance, said.

The survey was done among 876 women respondents aged between 22 and 55 years. It also revealed that about 70 per cent respondents claim to own a motor insurance policy.

"Women give more importance to their family's health (86 per cent) and safety (82 per cent) compared to their own health (47 per cent) and safety (21 per cent)," the survey said.

"Today's women, while playing multiple roles, tend to focus more on their family's health and wellbeing. They are savvied and show a sense of being prepared for eventualities. It is indeed encouraging that most women respondents in our survey were themselves covered through an appropriate insurance cover," ICICI Lombard GIC Chief-Underwriting and Claims Sanjay Datta said.
It found that 51 per cent believe in adopting preventive measures.

The survey also revealed that 30 per cent would want to purchase a home. Also taking into account the recent catastrophic events, women are getting cautious day by day and are taking steps to secure their home and family, it opined.

This is evident from the responses wherein women gave importance to staying healthy (71 per cent), ensuring adequate saving (63 per cent), be cautious while travelling or driving (53 per cent).

40 banks interested in selling insurance, says regulator

After resisting open architecture for a while, banks are now showing interest in selling the products of multiple insurance companies. Banks usually sponsor insurance companies.

Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to sell insurance products of multiple insurance companies, but did not make it mandatory. This norm, which will come into effect from April 1, will allow one bank to sell three separate products for life, general and health insurance.

“Over 40 banks, including the ones that have insurance products, have shown interest in selling products of multiple insurance companies,” said Nilesh Sathe, member, life, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI), on the sidelines of an event organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

Till date, banks could sell one insurance product from each insurance segment — life, general and health — under bancassurance agreements. Bancassurance follows a corporate agent structure, which means banks sell insurance as corporate agents.

Banks that have promoted insurance companies were initially hesitant to offer insurance products of other companies, as their original shareholders’ agreements with their respective foreign partners was not in favour of such a move.

All of the large lenders of the country, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank, have entered the insurance space.

Mr Sathe also said the insurance regulator has allowed four global reinsurers to open branches in India, but declined to give details.

Last year, RBI allowed banks to sell products of multiple insurance companies

Source: The Hindu

Rajinikanth Robot 2.0 insured for Rs 350 crores?

Super Star Rajinikanth's Robot 2.0 is being made with a high budget with the makers investing crores on the movie in order to deliver the best graphics to impress the audience.

Robot-2.0 director, Shankar plans to opt for an insurance of Rs 350 crores for the movie. While more details on the insurance have been kept confidential, the movie will feature Amy Jackson in the lead role opposite Rajinikanth and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar in the antagonist role. 

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth's forthcoming movie Kabali is set to hit the theatres in the month of May following which the actor will be joining the sets of Robot-2.0.

Source: Thehansindia.com

Railways, Insurance companies in talks to provide cover to passengers

Railways is in talks with seven insurance companies to help provide insurance cover to rail travellers, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. “Railway officials are holding talks with seven insurance companies.

Once the decision is taken, then rail passengers can get an insurance cover for rail travel and passengers can buy it by paying an additional premium along with the ticket.

Once the decision is taken, the House will be informed,” Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said. Preliminary discussions have been held with these seven public and private insurance companies on February 9, but no decision has been taken so far, he said.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he provided details of rail accidents in the last three years and said while there were 123 accidents in 2012-13, 118 in 2013-14 and 135 accidents in 2014-15, besides 100 in the current year 2015-16.

He said 579 cases of claims of compensation to victims of rail accidents were still pending with various Railway Tribunals which are quasi-judicial authorities.

As regards grant of compensation provided to victims of rail accidents through Rail Tribunals, he said during 2012-13 a compensation of Rs 318.85 lakh was paid, while in 2013-14 a total of Rs 149.22 lakh was paid and another Rs 127.48 lakh paid during 2014-15. During 2015-16, a total of 115 lakh was paid as compensation to victims of rail accidents, he said.

Source: India.com