Weekly Insurance Round-up Tuesday, July 26, 2022

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We're back with the latest edition of Beshak’s Weekly News Round-up, an analysis of all Insurance News & Updates from our in-house research team.

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As per the Business Figures - Non-Life report launched by IRDAI, the cumulative gross direct premium underwritten for non-life insurance companies grew by 23% year on year. The premium increased to ₹54,491.27 Cr. for the first quarter of this financial year from ₹44,303.91 Cr. for the same period in the last financial year.
The premium underwritten for all the non-life insurers for June 2022 was ₹17,810.57 Cr. which was 20.65% more than ₹14,761.05 Cr the premium collected for June 2021.
The gross direct premium underwritten by standalone health insurance companies for the first quarter of this financial year grew by 28.63%. The premium increased to ₹5,263.79 Cr from ₹4,092.12 Cr.
The premium underwritten by the standalone health insurers for June 2022 was ₹2004.78 Cr. which was 32.84% more than ₹1,509.08 Cr for June 2021.
Two specialised PSU companies, Agricultural Insurance Company of India Limited and ECGC Limited, however, saw a decline of 8.34% in their gross direct premium underwritten for the first quarter of this financial year. The premium decreased from ₹400.39 Cr to ₹367.01 Cr. They even saw a decrease of 20.25% in the premium collected for June 2022.

Source: Financial Express

As per the circular titled ‘Guidelines on Standardization in Health Insurance’ released by IRDAI on July 20, 2022, the insurers are now empowered to empanel the hospitals or network providers that meet their standards to expand the cashless facility in India.
Initially, only those hospitals that were listed in the hospital registry ‘Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurance (ROHINI)’ maintained by the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) were allowed to be empaneled.
Also, the hospitals offering cashless services had to meet the pre-accreditation entry-level standards that are set by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals (NABH).
IRDAI has stated that before empanelling the hospitals the board of hospitals should take into account minimum manpower and available healthcare infrastructure facilities.
The circular also mentioned that the board-approved empanelment criteria must be published on the website of insurers every once in a while.
Insurers are also asked to focus on the delivery of quality healthcare services while onboarding hospitals for cashless facilities.
As there are fewer regulations on insurers for empaneling the hospitals for cashless, the cashless network of hospitals will now see an increase.

Source: The Economic Times

On July 18th, 2022, Kotak General Insurance announced that it would automate the vehicle inspection for motor insurance renewal using AI-based technologies.
To implement this, Kotak General Insurance has partnered with Inspekylabs.
This feature will enable policyholders to take photos or videos of their vehicles and upload them on the cloud-based application for the renewal of the policy.
Once the customer uploads the inspection photos or videos, the inspection report which will include the details of the damages (if any) will be generated automatically in a few seconds.
This will also ensure that there is no fraud taking place, which will help in the underwriting process and in reducing the turnaround time.

Source: LiveMint

Bajaj Allianz and DBS Bank India have teamed up to offer life insurance solutions to the bank's customers across more than 550 branches.
A variety of Bajaj Allianz's life retail products, including term, savings, retirement, and investment products, will now be available for purchase for the bank’s customers.
Customers will be able to purchase the products either by visiting the branch of the bank or online through the bank's app.
A corporate agency agreement was signed between Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and Prashant Joshi, MD & Head, Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank India, along with other officials.

Source: LiveMint

As per a survey conducted by ICICI Lombard General Insurance, demand for travel insurance has increased in the fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the previous fiscal year 2019-20.
ICICI surveyed the consumers from the India Market and analysed the impact of the pandemic on the attitude and expectations of the travellers.
Travellers are now more willing to purchase travel insurance to reduce their financial risk.
According to ICICI's study, more people are now aware of the value of travel insurance as a result of the pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, only 50% of foreign passengers had travel insurance; however, after the outbreak, this percentage rose to 76%. The key findings of the survey are as follows -
- There has been a 90% rise in awareness of the need for travel insurance post-pandemic.
- Following the outbreak, 76% of foreign tourists bought travel insurance.
- 94% of future travellers will be buying travel insurance for their trip.
- After the pandemic, people travelling abroad for business and medical reasons have increased.

Source: LiveMint

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