{"id":43984,"date":"2023-11-09T07:39:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T07:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/?p=43984"},"modified":"2023-11-09T07:39:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T07:39:13","slug":"we-are-seeing-growth-in-retail-health-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/business\/we-are-seeing-growth-in-retail-health-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We are seeing growth in retail health insurance’"},"content":{"rendered":"
‘Pandemic has triggered interest and awareness among the people about the need for healthcare.’<\/strong><\/p>\n Retail health insurance product sales have picked up after the pandemic due to increasing awareness and entry of new players, says Kishore Kumar Poludasu<\/strong>, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), SBI General Insurance.<\/p>\n He spoke to Manojit Saha<\/strong> in an interview during Business Standard<\/em>‘s The Banking Show.<\/p>\n How did the motor insurance segment perform in recent quarters? Is the growth back to pre-Covid levels?<\/strong><\/p>\n When you see motor insurance, the automobile sector is especially growing very fast.<\/p>\n The growth momentum is there in both petrol vehicles as well as battery-operated ones.<\/p>\n This momentum will grow further, going forward, with the ongoing festival season of Dussehra and Deepavali.<\/p>\n When you see the full financial year, we see a substantial growth in the automobile sector, which, in turn, will lead to motor insurance growth.<\/p>\n SBI General Insurance is a multi-product and multi-channel distribution network.<\/p>\n I think that is helping us really drive across all portfolios and all business segments, including motor.<\/p>\n Overall, what kind of growth do you see for the current financial year as compared to the previous year?<\/strong><\/p>\n Last financial year the industry grew by around 16 per cent.<\/p>\n And, with the kind of initiatives the regulator is taking by liberalising, the entry of new players and support of the Centre, we see the premium to grow around 18-24 per cent.<\/p>\n Previously, the growth in the health sector was primarily driven by group health policies. Do you see a pick up in retail health also?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, absolutely. We saw that the pandemic triggered interest and awareness among the people about the need for healthcare.<\/p>\n They are taking health insurance as a risk mitigation and risk transfer mechanism.<\/p>\n We have seen momentum in retail health, and this is helping the occupying health business become one of the highest portfolios among general insurance.<\/p>\n We are seeing substantial growth in retail health, including personal accidental insurance.<\/p>\n What is driving this growth? Is it because of price correction, or better distribution capabilities?<\/strong><\/p>\n It is both, awareness among the population, also the distribution reach and the entry of new players with new products.<\/p>\n There are multiple variants and add-ons being offered, which gives value for money to customers.<\/p>\n The insurance regulator has given some targets to companies. How are you on these targets, in terms of your growth numbers?<\/strong><\/p>\n The numbers the regulator has mentioned are basically the advisory numbers.<\/p>\n Right now, the premiums of the insurance industry is around Rs 2.2 trillion.<\/p>\n It is envisaged that it will cross Rs 11 trillion by 2026-27.<\/p>\n The insurance penetration, which we measure in terms of premium versus GDP, is currently at 1 per cent for the general insurance sector.<\/p>\n It will reach 2.5 per cent by FY27. In SBI General, we are on track to meet the expectations of the regulator.<\/p>\n In September itself, we have seen a growth rate of around 30.5 per cent in terms of premiums.<\/p>\n How do you see Bima Sugam disrupting the insurance marketplace?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bima Sugam has been contemplated by the regulator and other stakeholders to give a level-playing field and an opportunity to the customer to have a better pricing awareness.<\/p>\n So, this multi-fold objective is being worked out through the Bima Sugam, which is an online portal.<\/p>\n Here, all the insurance players will display their prices for a common product, which is a combination of life insurance and general insurance products.<\/p>\n Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani\/Rediff.com<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n