Page 7 - Insurance Times April 2017 Special Issue on Newindia

Crop insurance is on a rise keeping general insurance United India, Oriental to
companies behind get chairs soon

The significance of crop insurance is ance entities were passive distributors United India Insurance and Oriental
rising steeply at government-under- of crop insurance schemes adminis- Insurance
taken companies. trated by the state have been
The change is being facili- owned Agriculture Insur- w i t h o u t
tated by the Pradhan ance Company of India heads for
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (AIC). National Insurance quite some
(PMFBY), which has trig- has collected close to Rs. time, from
gered competition among 750 crore as premium June last
from the Kharif and en- year to be
general insurance compa-
suing Rabi season in 2016-17 under the precise. Therefore, the government
nies. Almost all of them expect crop
scheme. is taking steps to fill up the Chairman
insurance to contribute close to a fifth
of their premiums in the next three to United Insurance has collected Rs position of these companies soon.
four years, from close to nil last year. 1,300-1,400 crore as premium from While interviews were proposed to
At present, motor and health insur- PMFBY in the earlier kharif season be held last year for the CMD posts,
ance together account for close to half whereas Oriental Insurance could not the Finance Ministry subsequently
their premiums. canceled them without citing any
bid for PMFBY in the earlier kharif due
Till now, public sector general insur- to non-availability of actuaries. reason.
Both Oriental Insurance and United
Non- life insurers to increase premium rates India Insurance have appointed offi-
There have been steady losses in general insurance segment due to large claim ciating chairpersons since the previ-
settlements and other negatives like falling interest ous incumbents retired.
rates. To even out the loss, non-life insurers are plan- The final appointments could be
ning to increase the premium rates by 10-15 per cent made as early as mid-March, said
in certain segments to protect their interest. "I won't officials. Executives from the public
be surprised if the premia go up as the pricing has sector insurers who had applied ear-
already reached rock bottom," IRDAI member (non- lier may be called for interviews. In
life insurance), P J Joseph told. the public sector entities, the ap-
Insurers have zeroed in on over 10 such segments, including pharma, power pointments committee of the Cabi-
and cement under property, and even group health insurance, where they are net (ACC) takes a final call on top
planning to increase the premia going forward. Premia may go up in the range management appointments.
of 10-15 per cent in these segments next financial year.
IndusInd Plans to launch
Karnataka Bank signs MoU with Bajaj Allianz for non- General Insurance Arm
life biz IndusInd Bank, a bancassurance
partner for Cholamandalam General
Karnataka Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bajaj
I n s u r a n c e
Allianz General Insurance Company for General In-
and Religare
surance business.
Health Insur-
With the agreement, the bank would be able to pro- ance, plans
vide vast choice of non-life insurance products to its to start its
customers across all its 747 branches, supported by own general
the customer centric products of Bajaj Allianz, bank insurance firm, said two people close
Managing Director and CEO P Jayarma Bhat said.
to the development. The bank, led
Tapan Singhel, Managing Director and CEO of Bajaj Allianz, said the partner- by Romesh Sobti, plans to make gen-
ship was an important part of the companys growth strategy which required a eral insurance products and not just
robust distribution network. be a distributor.

The Insurance Times, April 2017 7

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