Industry figures for November 2023 indicate that standalone health insurers have been significant drivers of growth in the non-life insurance sector.
According to flash figures released by the General Insurance Council, the industry generated a premium of Rs 1,88,247 crore in the eight months ended November 2023 – a 13.8% increase over the Rs 1,65,359 crore recorded in the year-ago period.
Health insurers recorded a total premium of Rs 19,585 crore – a 25% increase over Rs 15,625 crore in the first eight months of FY23. The non-life industry’s premium growth would have been 12.6% excluding health insurance companies.
Although the segment-wise premium numbers are yet to be released, industry sources said that a third of the premium for general insurers comes from health insurance, where growth has been in the region of 25%. This means that the overall health insurance share would now be closer to 40%.
In absolute figures, the company that added most to its premium income this year is Bajaj Allianz with a total premium of Rs 14,115 crore versus Rs 10,399 crore last year – an increase of 35%.
ICICI Lombard registered a premium income of Rs 16,722 crore – an increase of Rs 2,325 crore (16%) over the first eight months of FY23. Public sector New India Assurance, which has the biggest premium book, grew 8% to Rs 24,381 crore.
Tata AIG, Oriental Insurance, Star Health & Allied, Go Digit, SBI General, HDFC Ergo, Cholamandalam, Care Health and Reliance General were the other companies that added more than Rs 1,000 crore to last year’s collections in the first eight months.
