Page 5 - Insurance Times September 2021

General Insurance News

Finance ministry to infuse providing additional funds towards growth in premiums in July over the
recapitalisation of insurance compa- same period last year, driven by robust
more capital in general in-
nies. demand for health products during the
surers pandemic.
In a bid to improve financial health of Non-life insurers' record
state-owned general insurance compa- growth in premium GIC records Rs 771 crore
nies, the Finance Ministry will infuse Rs
Non-life insurers, which include gen- loss
3,000 crore capital into them. The pro-
eral, standalone, and specialised pub-
posal to provide capital support to The second wave of Covid-19 has taken
lic-sector, have recorded 19.46-per
three public sector general insurance a major toll on the earnings of the
cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in pre-
companies - Oriental Insurance Com- General Insurance Corporation of In-
miums in July.
pany Limited (OlCL), National Insur- dia. The national reinsurer has re-
ance Company Limited (NICL) and In July, non-life insurers - 33 in total - corded Rs 999 crore of claims in its life
United India Insurance Company Lim- earned premiums to the tune of Rs reinsurance book during the first quar-
ited (UIICL) - has already been ap- 20,171.15 crore, against Rs 16,885 ter of FY22 as death claims surged due
proved by the Union Cabinet. crore in the same month last year. to the second wave of the pandemic.
The cabinet had also proposed to in- On a year-to-date (YTD) basis (April- The spike in deaths resulted in a sharp
crease the authorised share capital of July), insurers saw their premiums go jump in the combined ratio to 340%.
National Insurance Company to Rs up 15.49 per cent to Rs 64,607.25 The combined ratio reflects the per-
7,500 crore and that of United India crore, against Rs 55,939.85 crore in centage of claims and expenses to pre-
Insurance Company and Oriental Insur- the same period last year. mium. In addition, the corporation
ance Company to Rs 5,000 crore each General insurers, who cover risks provided an additional Rs 500 crore for
to give effect to the capital infusion ema-nating from a whole host of seg- losses on account of cyclone Tauktae
decision. The government had halted ments, such as motor, health, crop, and cyclone Yaas.
the merger process of three National fire, marine, and others, reported The corporation has reported a loss of Rs
Insurance, Oriental Insurance and 17.61-per cent YoY growth in premi- 771 crore as compared to a profit of Rs
United India Insurance. ums in the reporting month to Rs 1260 crore in the quarter ended March
Recently, the government sought Par- 16,469.20 crore versus Rs 14,003.81 2021. GIC chairman Devesh Srivastava
liament approval for gross additional crore. Further, on a YTD basis, premi- said, "The life insurance industry has had
expenditure of Rs 6.28 lakh crore for ums earned by them surged 12.9 per a setback due to Covid, although the fu-
2020-21 as part of second and final cent to Rs 56,280.58 crore. On the ture looks brighter, we took a very con-
batch of supplementary demands for other hand, standalone health insurers servative approach as the aftermath of
grants. This included Rs 3,000 crore for have reported 27.49-per cent YoY Covid is not fully known".
The Insurance Times, September 2021 5