Page 13 - Insurance Times March 2021

Private Life Insurance

News

Max Life Insurance reaches Mr. Manu Lavanya, Director and Chief a commendable step, though a little
Operations Officer, Max Life said, late in the day as many foreign
Claims Paid Ratio of "Over the years, we have remained partners have withdrawn from India.
99.22% during FY 2019-20 steadfast in our commitment towards However, there are some Japanese
Max Life Insurance announced that it our customers by working towards and German companies waiting to up
has paid off 15,342 claims received in improving our claims paid ratio - the their stakes. "These companies are
FY 2019-20, thereby settling INR ultimate moment of truth that defines keen on majority stake and control as
a life insurer's relationship with its their local laws are very strict about
562.54 crores worth of individual
claims received in FY 2019-20. The customers. disclosures of actions by their overseas
Company has achieved high claims paid Our consistent performance in arms and they are very focused on
ratio of 99.22% - in comparison with achieving 99.22% claims paid ratio in reputation," he said.
the company's last five-year FY 19-20 bears testament to the Besides, some foreign firms are keen
performance. devotion we have towards our to hike stake given the appreciation in
customers. We are committed to
With consistent investment in fraud their investment. "No other market
further enhancing our investments in
detection and mitigation at the has delivered value the way Indian
the areas of improved underwriting
issuance stage through robust market has for multinational insurers,"
capabilities, technological
predictive analytical based interventions, and an overall robust said Parekh. Standard Life's 8.9% stake
underwriting models, Max Life showed in HDFC Life is worth over Rs. 12,500
claims ecosystem to ensure that we
steady improvement of 226 bps in crore, several times the original
claims paid ratio over the last five scale newer heights when it comes to investment.
years from 96.95% in FY 2015-16 to its settling claims in a timely and efficient For private equity and foreign
current figure of 99.22% in FY 19-20. manner." institutional investors (FIIs) keen on
During FY 2019-20, out of total death insurance, easing of norms paves the
claims received, only 120 were FDI increase may bolster way for a firm foothold. Ditto for
rejected and 1 case was pending for inflow of funds MNCs, whose Indian partners were
closure at the end of the financial year. Indian Insurance market could see Rs struggling for capital but still could not
The company's repudiation ratio has 20,000-25,000 crore of investments by hike stake because of the ceiling.
fallen to 0.78% at the back of best-in- equity funds and multinationals in
class digital forensic controls. domestic companies in two-three years The government had hiked FDI in
insurance to 49% from 26% in 2014,
Since its inception till March 2020, Max as an outcome of the decision to hike but some multinationals chose not to
Life has paid INR 3801 crores towards foreign direct insurance (FDI) in increase stake then as the relaxation
128,288 policies for individual death insurance to 74% from 49%. came with stringent norms requiring
claims.
According to Ashvin Parekh, managing all insurers to be "Indian-owned and
Commenting on the accomplishment, partner at Ashvin Parekh Advisory, it is Indian-managed".

The Insurance Times, March 2021 13