Page 46 - The Insurance Times February 2026

2) Persistency-first regulation and incentives Y Expand MSME protection bundles (property + liability
should have been stronger + business interruption).
A sustainable life market requires incentives linked to: Y Drive personal accident as a default family cover (low
Y Renewal quality, premium, high impact).
Y Long-term servicing, Y Build climate and catastrophe solutions using paramet-
ric models and public-private participation.
Y Suitability and disclosures,
II. Make life insurance protection-led and long-
Y Lower lapses.
term
3) Insurance literacy needed local delivery, not Y Move the sales narrative from "returns" to "income
protection".
just national campaigns
Insurance adoption grows when education happens at: Y Improve persistency through better suitability, renewal
Y Shgs, colleges, MSME clusters, nudges, and simplified servicing.
Y Panchayat/municipal ecosystem touchpoints, Y Deepen annuities/pension solutions with clarity and
confidence-building.
Y Employer ecosystems, and
III. Treat claims experience as a growth KPI
Y Local influencers (agents as educators).
Y Publish claims servicing benchmarks in consumer lan-

4) Claims visibility should have been treated as a guage.
national growth strategy Y Standardise and reduce documents where feasible.
Public trust improves when credible claims stories become Y Improve grievance resolution turnaround with visible
mainstream, regionally communicated, and measured. accountability.
IV. Rewire distribution incentives
7) The trust deficit in insurance
Y Reward long-term servicing and persistency.
Despite regulatory reforms and market expansion, trust
remains a key barrier to higher insurance penetration in Y Upskill intermediaries with structured education (not
just product training).
India. Many customers continue to view insurance as com-
plex and claims-uncertain, shaped by experiences of unclear Y Strengthen compliance to reduce mis-selling and pro-
policy wordings, mis-selling, exclusions discovered at claim tect trust.
stage, and inconsistent post-sale support. This results in
policy lapses in life insurance and low voluntary uptake in Conclusion: Penetration won't rise by

non-life covers beyond mandatory products. capital alone-only by redesign
Bridging this trust deficit requires a shift from sales-led to The IRDAI report's penetration and density tables are a
experience-led growth. Clear communication, simpler prod- reality check. India is not short of intent, regulation, or in-
ucts, predictable and faster claims settlement, transparent novation. But the data confirms that access and availabil-
disclosure of claims performance, and stronger accountabil- ity have not yet translated into mass adoption.
ity of intermediaries are critical. Insurance penetration will
The next phase must focus on making insurance:
rise sustainably only when customers trust that insurance
Y Simpler to understand,
will respond reliably when it is needed most.
Y Easier to buy and renew,
8) What needs to be done now: A practical ac- Y Smoother to claim,
tion agenda Y And embedded into everyday life and enterprise deci-
I. Fix non-life penetration through "default pro- sions.
tection" If India aims to close the protection gap meaningfully, the
Y Push embedded insurance at scale (lending, housing, central battle is not just awareness-it is trust, product sim-
commerce, mobility). plicity, claims experience, and non-life depth. T

The Insurance Times February 2026 41