Life insurers post 15% rise in new premiums in August

Showing clear signs of normalcy in business amidst the coronavirus pandemic, life insurance companies posted a 15 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in new premium collection at Rs 27,039.79 crore in August.

Here, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) saw a 15.2 percent YoY growth to Rs 19,714.21 crore, while private life insurers saw 13.7 percent YoY growth to Rs 7,325.6 crore.

Among the listed insurers, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance saw a 14.5 percent YoY decline in new premium to Rs 892.31 crore in August. HDFC Life Insurance saw a 44.7 percent YoY increase in new premium to Rs 1,903.96 crore, while SBI Life saw a 26 percent YoY growth to Rs 1,805.8 crore. For the April to August period, the insurers posted a 6 percent YoY decrease to Rs 99,361.32 crore. Private insurers de-grew by 1.9 percent, while LIC saw a 7.5 percent YoY drop in new premiums to Rs 71,415.2 crore in this five-month period.

Showing the first signs of growth in FY21, the new business premium of life insurers had seen a 6.9 percent YoY growth to Rs 22,986.10 crore in July. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic in India and the subsequent lockdowns from March 25, July was the first month that life insurers saw a growth in first year premium collection.

Since March, life insurers have been seeing a double-digit decline in new premiums. In March, there was a 32 percent YoY decline in first-year premium.

In April 2020, the decline was at 32.6 percent. Life insurers' new premiums saw a 25.4 percent YoY decline in May 2020, while in June 2020 life insurers saw a 10.5 percent decline in new premiums compared to a year-ago.