Life insurance companies new business premium collections in the month of May 2024 rose by 15.15%, maintained by robust demand for enhanced insurance protection from both individual and corporate consumers.
According to the Life Insurance Council report, New business premiums collections of the life insurance companies increased to Rs 27,034 crore in May 2024 compared to Rs 23,448 crore in May 2023 a year ago period. The year till date (YTD) collections growing even more from Rs 36,043 crore to Rs 47,293 crore during this year.
The private insurance companies posted a 9.8% Year-on-Year increase in first-year premium to Rs 10,343.8 crore from Rs 9,421.51 crore.
LIC, the largest life insurer, said it achieved growth across all its premium categories, showcasing the company’s robust performance and resilience. The total premiums of the insurer increased by 18.74% to Rs 16,690 crore in May 2024 from Rs 14,056.3 crore a year ago on the back of strong growth in its group business. LIC’s overall group premium product registered 20.9% growth to Rs 12,632.26 crore from Rs 10,448.74 crore in the year-ago period.
For May 2024, the individual premium was Rs 4,058 crore, up from Rs 3,607 crore in May 2023. Group premium rose to Rs 12,569 crore from Rs 10,431 crore in the same month the previous year. Group yearly premium reached Rs 63.01 crore, compared to Rs 17.21 crore in May 2023, LIC said.
According to data released by the council, the life insurance industry saw individual single premiums growing by 18.3% to Rs 3,351 crore for May this year while YTD growth stood at 21.49%. Individual non-single premiums came in at Rs 6,917 crore and grew by 18.7% in May, even as YTD collections settled at 20.14% higher than the corresponding period last year.
Private life insurers have a higher share in the segment, posted 23% growth to Rs 6,209.3 crore in May as compared to Rs 5,051.29 crore in the same month last year.
HDFC Life Insurance’s premiums rose by 13.98% Y-o-Y to Rs 2,270.88 crore. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance increased by 32.63% Y-o-Y to Rs 1,317.75 crore, while Max Life Insurance recorded 23.25% growth at Rs 673.88 crore.
SBI Life Insurance, on of the largest private insurer, saw a marginal decline of 2.48% in new business premiums to Rs 2,354.33 crore from Rs 2,414.13 crore.
“This strong performance can be ascribed to the fact that life insurers are increasingly focusing on encouraging first-time life insurance buyers to buy essential life insurance solutions, contributing to the 18.58% growth in combined individual premium collections for the month of May 2024 and 20.6% growth on a YTD basis,” the council said.
New policy issuances too increased by 12.45% on a Y-o-Y basis in May this year, resulting in the addition of new 18,68,096 policies as against 16,61,324 policies in the year ago period, indicating the strong underlying demand for life insurance products. In the group policy segment, single premiums grew by 16.7% with monthly collections coming in at Rs 15,976 crore.
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