Soon, you may be able to buy health insurance for two or three years at once. A proposal in this regard is being examined by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), according to its Chairman T. S. Vijayan.

He was speaking to newspersons at a function organised by ICICI Lombard to mark the sale of one lakh long-term two-wheeler insurance policies here on Wednesday.

The regulator had earlier formed a panel to look into various aspects of health insurance, including long-term policies, and also health savings accounts. ``The report is almost ready and we will examine it,’’ Vijayan said. Health insurance policies are being sold for a term of one year as of now.

FDI

Asked about the response of foreign joint venture partners of Indian insurance companies to the increase in the cap on Foreign Direct Investment from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, the Chairman said: ``Six or seven companies have shown interest in increasing their stake.’’ However, the interest has not yet translated into actual applications to the authority for permission.

Earlier, while addressing the gathering, he said there was a need to insure all assets in the country. "In the US, 80 per cent of assets are insured while in India this is only at 7 per cent," he said.

With 54 life and general insurance companies in the country, Vijayan said there is scope for increasing insurance penetration further. Insurance penetration was less than 4 per cent of the country's GDP now.

Digitisation of policies to reduce costs of distribution and speedy settlement of claims was important, he said.

Bhargav Dasgupta, MD & CEO of ICICI Lombard, said the response to the long-term insurance product was “good”.

Between 60 and 70 per cent of the over 16 crore two-wheelers in the country did not have insurance, he added.

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