Mumbai buys most health covers in FY21

BENGALURU: Mumbaikars seem to be beating Delhiites when it comes to buying health insurance amid the Covid pandemic. “States such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat have always been financially aware and among the top purchasers of health insurance. But Mumbai now is our fastest growing metro in retail health insurance sales. Its growth is far higher than last year’s increase. We have seen enquiries triple and yes, a spike in Covid cases has in places mirrored the higher insurance sales,” ICICI Lombard chief underwriting officer Sanjay Datta said.

For insurance sales portal PolicyBazaar, the rush in Mumbai has resulted in an 88% rise year-over-year since April 1, 2020. This has pushed Maharashtra’s share of India’s individual health insurance purchase to 24%.

In fact, Bengaluru seems to be outpacing Mumbai in terms of the run rate, but its share in the overall pie is much small. Delhi has clocked a 31% increase during this period.

For public sector general insurers, the territories are marked according to their headquarters. For New India, the country’s largest staterun general insurance player, the western region is the biggest market.

“This region, comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, has always formed 50% of our total India health sales. All India, retail health insurance grew at 20% for us, with Maharashtra seeing higher than normal sales,” said the company’s chief executive Atul Sahai.

Source: The Times of India

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