New business premiums of life insurance companies dropped 4.07 %for the April-May period, compared with the year-ago period. Life insurers collected new premiums of Rs 11,742.7 crore for the two-month period; the figure was Rs 12,428.8 crore in April and May 2012.
LIC collected total new premiums of Rs 8,782.2 crore, compared to Rs 9,214.7 crore in same period in FY13. Private life insurers saw a 7.8 per cent drop in new premium collections at Rs 2,960.6 crore.
These insurers started the new financial year, FY14, with a marginal rise in new business premiums.
However, the numbers dropped in the consequent period. The life insurance industry ended FY13 with a decline of 6.3 per cent in new business premiums.
Experts attribute the fall to the slowdown in economy, resulting in lower disposable income for potential customers who would have purchased policies.
