Non-life sector sees 12% growth in premiums in FY2020, slowed by dip in March

The non-life insurance sector posted an 11.7% increase in premium income to INR1.89tn ($24.7bn) in the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY2020), compared to the previous financial year, according to data released by the IRDAI data.

In comparison, total premiums increased by 14% in the non-life sector in the 11 months to February 2020.

Among non-life insurers, standalone health insurers saw a 27% jump in gross direct premium to INR144.1bn in FY2020, reflecting in part the increase in purchases of health insurance products amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Other non-life insurers (excluding two government owned specialist insurers) saw a 9.5% growth in gross premiums in FY2020 compared to the previous financial year. Listed New India Assurance was the largest company in the sector with a premium volume of INR267bn, growing by 11.7% over FY2019.

March 2020

For the month of 2020 alone when the pandemic worsened, the combined GWP of non-life insurers (including specialised state owned insurers) declined by 10.7% to INR157.85bn, compared to March 2019.

General insurers reported a fall of 15.3% in premium collection to INR133.86bn in March 2020, whereas standalone private health insurers increased business by 4.3% to INR18.07bn. Specialised state owned insurers, namely, Agriculture Insurance Company of India, recorded a surge premium collection of INR5.91bn in March 2020.

Among the general insurers, state owned companies posted a 13.9% decline in GWP to INR67.08bn while private sector general insurers saw business fall by 16.6% to INR66.78bn in March 2020.

The weak March 2020 performance is attributed to to the lockdown announced by the government aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. Bank branches which are a major channel of insurance sales operated with skeletal staff while agents were unable to travel to meet prospective clients due to transport restrictions.

A summary of the GWP of non-life insurers in FY2020 is as follows: