| Mumbai |
Revealed: April 27, 2020 1:53:57 am
Life Insurance coverage Company (LIC), the biggest participant within the enterprise, witnessed a 31.11 per cent fall within the premium earnings to Rs 17,066 crore in March from Rs 24,776 crore in the identical month final yr. (File Picture)
Life Insurance coverage firms have reported a 32 per cent decline in new premium earnings within the month of March, because the enterprise was virtually shut for essential elements of the month within the wake of the lockdown imposed by the federal government to deal with coronavirus. With the lockdown persevering with in April, insurers have now began focussing on on-line enterprise.
The general premium earnings (new enterprise) of 24 gamers within the phase fell to Rs 25,409 crore this March from Rs 37,459 crore a yr in the past, as per information launched by the Life Insurance coverage Council.
Life Insurance coverage Company (LIC), the biggest participant within the enterprise, witnessed a 31.11 per cent fall within the premium earnings to Rs 17,066 crore in March from Rs 24,776 crore in the identical month final yr. HDFC Life Insurance coverage’s premium earnings declined from Rs 2,551 crore to Rs 2,060 crore through the month, whereas that of ICICI Prudential Life fell to Rs 983 crore from Rs 1,451 crore.
Nevertheless, for the complete fiscal 2019-20, complete premium earnings (new enterprise) of the trade rose to Rs 2,58,896 crore from Rs 2,14,672 crore final monetary yr. LIC’s premium earnings elevated to Rs 1,77,977 crore in 2019-20 from Rs 1,42,191 crore in FY19.
“March, which typically is the key month for insurers, turned out to be tougher as the world went into lockdown mode. This impacted the industry growth, as it also got busy with realigning to the new normal. Life insurance is a long term investment and we continue to encourage customers to stay invested in their policies and prepare slowly for their life goals, as the environment changes around us,” mentioned Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance coverage.
Insurers count on Covid-19-related disruptions to proceed for the subsequent quarter, with a rise in demand for defense merchandise over the subsequent few months offering some help.
Two important adjustments are at the moment underway. “Face-to-face advisory, until recently, was the preferred mode of communication and customers were reluctant to buy products other than protection plans online. Now, with physical proximity posing a challenge, digital has become way of life. Customers have been compelled to experiment with online platforms,” mentioned Anup Seth, chief retail officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance coverage.
He additional mentioned, “Keeping pace with this, insurers are now looking to ramp up efforts in digitising advisory to encourage customers to buy other product categories such as health, investment and savings, online.”
Focus now to be on-line biz
As Covid-19-related disruptions, particularly the lockdown, are anticipated to proceed within the months forward, insurers are on the lookout for methods to beat the hurdles to their enterprise. One of many approaches is encouraging clients to numerous product classes on-line.
“We are already seeing signs of increased customer interest in insurance as a category, with a 30 per cent jump in March in online new business logins from February. The online channel accounts for nearly 12 per cent of total business. During the year, we were also making efforts to scale up digital onboarding. Post-lockdown, we are at 100 per cent digital onboarding now and are focused on retaining this level,” Seth added.
“The interest level in searching online has certainly gone up as people have more time and they are constantly on their phone. However, this is yet to convert into a substantial channel for garnering new business,” mentioned Roopam Asthana, chief govt officer & complete time director, Liberty Common Insurance coverage.
On-line transactions for renewal with on-line funds have actually gone up considerably as the choice of paying by cash or cheque is just not accessible at this time.
“The real test will be to see how much of this behaviour sticks once the lockdown is lifted and people are able to travel and meet,” Asthana mentioned.
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