According to the data released by IRDAI, the private life insurers of India have outperformed Life Insurance Corporation last fiscal during the pandemic. Their digital push aided private insurers in a big way. While the new business premium of private companies rose 16.29% over the previous fiscal year, LIC witnessed a growth of 3.48%, adding up to a cumulative Rs. 2.78 lakh crore.
In March 2021, aggregate new business premium of life insurers rose 70.87% to Rs.43,416.5 crore, private companies grew at 83.52% and LIC at 64.68% over a poor March, 2020. The pandemic led to a rise in demand for life covers.
Growth in FY21 was driven by single premium policies. But the norms of lockdown and social distancingn impacted the sales (especially group insurance and pension plans) of LIC’s covers, almost 96% of which is sold through agents. Its new business premium from group insurance declined in FY21.
The second wave will further accelerate the demand for individual protection plans. LIC, which still accounts for almost two-thirds of the new business premium, is now experiencing a rise in the online sales of its products and anticipates more demand for pension and annuity plans. The regulator did well to facilitate adoption of standardised and simple insurance products.
