Page 12 - Insurance Times February 2023

ucts to make them more attractive to largely been the same for the last 4-5 and health-based intermediaries. Go-
people top the wishlist of insurers for years with the aim of driving insurance ing into 2023, the focus will be on
the ensuing budget 2023-24. penetration in the country," Vighnesh growth led by health insurance and
Shahane, MD & CEO, Ageas Federal technology platforms with embedded
"In spite of the pandemic, the health
Life Insurance said. and sachetised insurance as the key
insurance penetration in our country is
themes.
very low. Due to such a low coverage, "To increase the penetration of pen-
the cost of insurance becomes high. In sion and to make India a pension soci- The Indian non-life insurance industry
order to bring down its cost, GST rate ety, especially since we don't have any reported a 15 percent growth in the
should be reduced to 5 per cent from social security cover, our request is to past 11 months, primarily driven by
18 per cent," Rakesh Jain, CEO, Reli- make pensions tax-free in the hands of health, motor and crop insurance busi-
ance General Insurance told. the customer because the pension pre- nesses and aided by the implementa-
At present, health insurance premiums mium is already paid through taxable tion of new-age tools and technologi-
paid to cover individual members are income," he added. cal amalgamation, according to Rakesh
allowed a deduction ranging from Rs. Jain, CEO of Reliance General Insur-
25,000 to Rs. 50,000. In view of infla- General insurers bet on ance.
tion, the current limit of maximum of Regulatory and policy changes such as
health, insurtech to drive
Rs. 50,000 may be increased to Rs.
the 'use and file' guidelines and re-
1,00,000 in order to encourage people growth in 2023 laxed foreign investment norms have
to take insurance coverage, feel the
For the general insurance industry, paved the way for product innovation,
insurers.
2022 was a year of regulatory changes, strategic partnerships, ease of doing
"The insurance industry wishlist has innovation and the rise of insurtech business, increased access to capital
flows and enhanced distribution foot-
print, industry participants said.
Health cover sales up in rural areas
Owing to the lower financial and com-
Sale of health insurance policies in semi-urban and rural markets is increas-
ing with private insurers seeing a spike in the number of people opting for pliance hurdles, there are numerous
such covers. Rising cost of healthcare services, demand from the micro-in- new insurance companies entering the
surance segment and post-Covid awareness are cited as major reasons. market, said Sanchit Malik, Co-founder
and CEO of Pazcare, adding that this
Kotak Mahindra General Insurance has more than doubled its rural policies
will lead to the growth of new forms
from 13% in FY20 to 32% till September of the current financial year (FY23).
of health and embedded insurance
During the same period, the number of lives covered also rose to 25% from
products that make extensive use of
11%. The general insurer's senior executive VP & chief technical officer N
technology with an emphasis on un-
Ravichandran said, " This can be attributed to the right product fitment
and robust demand from the micro-insurance segment," he said. tapped markets.
Niva Bupa Health Insurance, with a coverage of over 11.6 lakh policies as With health insurance cementing its
of November 2022, saw growth of over 160% in the number policies since position as a leading category
December 2019. Currently, 7% of its policies are in rural areas. In light of post-Covid, the focus will remain on
increasing awareness post-pandemic and demand for health insurance, the growing this segment, participants
company is expanding its footprint in smaller towns. Director & chief actu- said, adding that there will also be a
ary Vishwanath said people have realised the importance of access to qual- rise in EV motor insurance in-line with
ity treatment without financial burden. "Also, the rising cost of healthcare the increased adoption of electric ve-
services and overall medical inflation in the country have further made health hicles.
insurance an absolute necessity," he added.
The focus will then be on new-age
Star Health and Allied Insurance CMD V Jagannathan said the desire to take
products such as telematics-based
insurance in the rural sector is increasing since the pandemic. The leading
motor and health insurance, covers for
standalone health insurer has over 23% of its share of policies and lives cov-
niche customer and product segments,
ered from the rural segment.
and customised, bite-size products.
The Insurance Times January 2023 11