The gross direct premium underwritten for general insurance companies reported an increase of 15 per cent year-on-year to ₹20,452 crore in June this year, compared to ₹17,809 crore in the same period last year, according to data from the General Insurance Council.
Gross direct premium of 24 non-life insurance companies grew 13 per cent at ₹17,638 crore in June 2023, against ₹15,639 crore in June 2022, while for the five standalone health insurers, it grew 24 per cent at ₹2,475 crore against ₹2,003 crore. Two specialised insurers — Agriculture Insurance Co of India Ltd and ECGC — more than doubled their combined gross premium at ₹339 crore (₹167 crore in June 2022).
For the first quarter of FY24, the collective gross written premium of general insurers grew 18 per cent y-o-y at ₹64,263 crore, compared to ₹54,489 crore for the same period in FY23.
Gross written premium for 24 non-life players grew 16 per cent y-o-y at ₹56,917 crore (₹48,860 crore in Q1 of FY23), while for the five standalone health insurers, premium rose 27 per cent at ₹6,657 crore (₹5,261 crore in Q1 of FY23).
In Q1 of this fiscal, barring two PSU players — New India Assurance Co Ltd and United India Insurance Co Ltd — most of the other non-life players reported double-digit growth in their gross director premium underwritten (GDPW). Navi General Insurance and Raheja QBE reported a decline in GDPW.
However, PSU firm New India remained the non-life segment market leader with a wide gap, and saw its GDPW gross at ₹10,000 crore in Q1 of this fiscal. The company’s GDPW grew 9 per cent at ₹10,378 crore, compared to ₹9,550 crore in Q1 of FY23. The second big PSU player, United India’s GDPW grew 7 per cent at ₹4,593 crore (₹4,309 crore).
ICICI Lombard General Insurance was the second largest player after New India in Q1, and its GDPW grew 19 per cent y-o-y at ₹6,387 crore (₹5,370 crore).
Bajaj Allianz grabbed the Number two position among the private non-life players and its GDPW saw an increase of 22 per cent at ₹3,789 crore (₹3,100 crore). HDFC Ergo, the third big player in the private sector category, reported a 11 per cent increase in its GDPW at ₹3,422 crore (₹3,073 crore).
Star performer
Star Health retained its top position in its health insurance sector, and its GDPW was even much higher than several private non-life players. Star Health’s GDPW stood at ₹2,948 crore in Q1 of this fiscal, when compared to ₹2,464 crore in the year-ago period, an increase of 20 per cent. Star Health’s market share increased to 4.59 per cent in the overall non-life segment, up from 4.52 per cent last year. In the health category, its market share was 44 per cent.
Care Health was the second big health player and its GDPW grew 33 per cent at ₹1,454 crore (₹1,096 crore).
All five health players managed to increase their market share during April-June 2023 period and the combined market share of all health players touched double digits at 10.36 per cent from 9.66 per cent in Q1 of last fiscal.
The combined market share of all non-life players (excluding health players) saw a marginal decline to 88.57 per cent from 89.67 per cent during the period.
“Indian non-life insurance market would grow by 13-15 per cent over the medium term. The health insurance segment is on track to breach the ₹1-lakh crore mark, while motor insurance premiums are to cross Rs.85,000 crore in FY24, said a recent report of CareEdge.