The insurance sector witnessed a remarkable year-to-date (YTD) performance with collections rising 18.56 per cent, from Rs 1,85,195.81 crore to Rs 2,19,561.64 crore, as per the Life Insurance Council.
However, even with this positive financial performance, the number of new policies issued took a sharp downturn, declining 41.6 per cent.
The month of October 2024 saw only 12,01,214 policies issued, a steep drop from the 20,56,928 policies sold in the same period last month.
The industry’s focus on attracting new customers propelled the expansion in the sector. The sector achieved a 4.52 per cent increase in combined individual premium collections for October and a significant 16.89 per cent growth YTD.Breaking down premium types, individual single premiums experienced an 8.6 per cent YoY growth in October, totaling Rs 3,397.07 crore. Year-to-date, this segment saw an even stronger increase of 14.16 per cent. Meanwhile, individual non-single premiums rose 2.76 per cent in October to Rs 7,453.5 crore, with YTD collections marking an 18.23 per cent YoY increase, as per the data.
The group policy segment also contributed substantially to growth. Group single premiums soared by 15.81 per cent to reach Rs 18,258.37 crore in October, helping this category achieve an 18.61 per cent YoY growth in premiums. Policy issuances within the group segment bucked the downward trend of individual policy issuances, registering a modest increase of 2.7 per cent YoY.
The life insurers added 5,82,565 individual agents over the past year, bringing cumulative agent count up by 2.64 per cent, as per the data.
Life Insurance Council noted that the sector is embracing digitization for improved customer reach and service delivery. The digital transformation is expected to amplify insurance penetration and drive sustained growth in premiums for FY25 and beyond, the council added.
