Page 39 - Insurance Times November 2021

Mr. Karmakar spoke on the Add on cover in Fire Policy. Mr Arnab Nandy who was the Key Speaker, nicely elaborated the
recent changes by IRDAI in Fire Insurance Policy. Mr. Uttam Banerjee co-ordinated the seminar.

Seminar on how to make Motor Insurance Profitable

A Seminar on How to make Motor Insurance Profitable was organized by Kolkata Insurance Institute on 25th September,
2021 from 2.00 P.M. to 4.45 P.M. at the training Centre of National Insurance Co. Ltd., CRO-I.
Hony General Secretary welcomed the members. The seminar was coordinated by Mr. Sanjay Ghosh. He outlined the key
factors for sustaining the loss in this segment. He sought for strict vigilance of the regulators and need to frame stringent
directives for the claim management.
Mr. Joy Verma the key Speaker spoke at length on prudent underwriting of various vehicles, OD Claims and TP Claims.
Including the Survey part.

Underwriting losses decline for general insurers
Despite paying a huge sum as claims and facing other challenges due toCovid pandemic throughout the fiscal, the gen-
eral insurance industry has seen its net profit rise almost 300 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,868 crore and underwriting
losses decline in FY21. The general insurance players including four public sector companies, five stand-alone health play-
ers and two specialised players - Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC)
and private players - had made losses of Rs 1,403 crore in FY20, as per an analysis based on data from General Insurance
Council. The industry's total underwriting losses fell 17.24 per cent to Rs 19,416 crore in the period.
While the industry saw massive disruption due to the sudden onset of Covid-19 in terms of key parameters like gross
premium, policies issued, underwriting losses/profit, combined ratio, gross claims, number of employees, FDI and in-
vestment in infrastructure and social sectors since March 2020, it witnessed significant improvement in FY21.

With a gross premium of over Rs 2 lakh crore, posting a 9 per cent growth, of the total 31 players, 17 - including two
specialised insurers AIC (along with underwriting profit) and ECGC - posted healthy net profits, including in FY21.
Insurers saw a significant rise in health claims in the year. While FY21 results of the industry point to a turnaround in
fortunes, a deeper analysis shows the same was driven by some few one-off factors: motor claims were low amid a
prolonged lockdown, agriculture had a good year and property insurance prices remained stable. The insurance
industry's losses were relatively benign due to a variety of reasons in the first wave of Covid, analysts said.
New India Assurance, the largest Indian multinational general insurer, had recorded a net profit of Rs 1,605 crore in
FY21 as compared to Rs 1,417 crore in FY20. Its gross global premium had expanded by 6 per cent to Rs 33,046 crore
(Rs 31,573 crore of gross Indian premium) in FY21.
However, the first half of 2021-22 has seen a reversal in several aspects. The second Covid wave has hit the health
insurance portfolio much harder and motor insurance has seen more intense price competition due to lower demand
of new vehicles. Prices for small and medium risks have plummeted in the property space. "All these point towards a
much worse performance of the industry going forward," analysts said.

The Insurance Times, November 2021 39