Premiums of Rs 17,011 crore in July have been amassed, witnessing a hike from the collection last year in the same period.

Premiums paid on non-life insurance viz automobile, health and homes hiked in July even as the country continues to see a spike in coronavirus cases. Non-life insurers, which include general insurers, standalone health insurers and specialised PSU insurers, have registered an 18.4 per cent on-year growth in premiums in July, a CARE Ratings report said on Wednesday. Premiums of Rs 17,011 crore in July have been amassed, witnessing a hike from the collection last year in the same period. In July 2019, Rs 14,369 crore worth premiums were collected.

However, the case of hike in premium has not been a regular occurence amid the pandemic. In fact, the April- July period reported a muted premium growth of non-life insurers at 1.62 per cent. General insurers, which are 25 in total, saw their premium rise by 13 per cent to Rs 13,862 crore in July, as opposed to Rs 12,277 crore. The same can be attributed to private insurers, whose premium collection zoomed by 23 per cent to Rs 8,737.67 crore.

The state-owned general insurers, which are four in total, have, however, been not so lucky. In fact, they have reported flat numbers with premiums of Rs 5,484.33 crore. The same is a modest rise from last year’s Rs 5,478 crore in July 2019. 

As the country continues to battle with the coronavirus and with cases being on a continuous upward trend, the biggest gainers have been the standalone health insurers, which are six in total in the country. They have witnessed a premiums hike of more than 40 per cent to Rs 1,573.96 crore. People are buying more and more policies to safeguard themselves against any uncertainty. The growth has been driven by the health segment. Another reason for a hike in premiums in July has been attributed to July being the last month for investing in insurance policies and claiming tax deduction, CARE Ratings report said.