Page 10 - The Insurance Times February 2025

Globally, the trend was the opposite, Irdai widens scope of
with average insurance penetration Attention Subscribers
rising from 6.8% in 2022 to 7% in 2023. sandbox framework to en-

India's insurance density also remains courage innovation Please renew your Subscription of The
significantly lower than the global av- Insurance Times Journal to receive
erage of $889. Regulator Irdai has expanded the scope copy of the journal uninterruptedly.
of regulatory sandbox framework to
The life insurance industry generated encourage proposals that foster innova- You can now pay by GPAY, Phonepe,
Rs 8.3 lakh crore in premium income tion, improve efficiency and ease of Paytm, Amazon, ICICI Pay, BHIM UPI
during FY24, reflecting a growth rate
of 6.1%. Private sector life insurers doing business. The IRDAI (Regulatory
recorded a robust 15.1% growth, while Sandbox) Regulations, 2025 is now
public sector insurers saw minimal more of principle-based whereby opera-
growth at 0.2%. Total benefits paid by tional aspects will be issued through a
life insurers amounted to Rs 5.8 lakh master circular, Insurance Regulatory
crore, with Rs 2.3 lakh crore attrib- and Development Authority of India
uted to surrenders and withdrawals. (Irdai) said in a statement.
In the non-life segment, total premi- "A notable addition is an enabling pro-
ums underwritten reached Rs 2.9 lakh vision to file Inter-Regulatory Sandbox
crore, marking a growth of 12.8% over proposals, cutting across more than one
the previous year. Health and motor financial sector," the regulator said.
insurance were significant contributors
to this growth. Non-life insurers pro- Regulatory sandbox usually refers to
cessed 2.7 crore health insurance live testing of new products or services
claims in FY24, disbursing Rs 83,493 in a controlled/test regulatory environ-
crore. Total investments by the insur- ment for which regulators may (or may
ance sector increased by 12.6% to Rs not) permit certain relaxations for the
67.6 lakh crore by March 2024. limited purpose of the testing.

Unclaimed Insurance Funds Exceed Rs 22,000 Crore
Unclaimed amounts with life insurance companies stood at Rs 22,237 crore
as of FY24, according to IRDAI. A targeted six-month drive from June to
November 2023 managed to reduce this figure by Rs 1,018 crore. The ini-
tiative underscored the importance of proper estate planning, particularly Sashi Publications Easy Payment
for policyholders naming non-relatives as beneficiaries. Modes :-
Insurers have been instructed to regularly update nominee, contact, and i) UPI ID: SASHIBOOKS@KOTAK
bank details, as well as conduct thorough KYC and Re-KYC processes. De- ii) GPAY: 9830171022@okbizaxis
spite these measures, unclaimed funds persist due to factors such as non- iii) PAYTM: 9830171022@paytm
traceable nominees, lack of awareness, and changes in family dynamics. iv) NEFT: Current A/C
TATA AIA Life's EVP Sujeet Kothare emphasized the need for industry-wide 402120110000327 of 'SASHI
solutions to address these issues. He suggested creating trusts and appoint- PUBLICATIONS PRIVATE
ing trustees for cases involving non-relatives as nominees. Meanwhile, Edel- LIMITED, Bank of India, VVK
weiss Life pointed out that non-beneficial nominees must legally hand over Road Branch., Kolkata, India,
funds to rightful heirs, even if named in the policy. For instance, if an indi- IFSC Code : BKID0004021
vidual appoints a partner as a nominee, the funds would ultimately belong v) Credit Card:
to legal heirs such as spouses or children.
www.sashipublications.com
LIC reiterated its stance that nominations favoring strangers are not per- For any query please call
mitted due to the absence of insurable interest and potential moral haz- 9073791022/9883398055
ards. This policy poses unique challenges for individuals in same-sex relation-
www.sashipublications.com
ships or without immediate family members.

10 February 2025 The Insurance Times