Gross premium income of non-life insurers grows in double-digits in Q2, standalone health players improve share in H1

With a 29 per cent increase in September, combined gross direct premium underwritten for general insurance companies reported double-digit growth during the second quarter of this fiscal both sequentially and year-on-year.

The gross direct premium for all non-life companies during this September quarter stood at ₹79,537 crore when compared with ₹70,708 crore in the year-ago period, posting an increase of 12.5 per cent. However, the growth is higher at 24 per cent when compared with the preceding quarter’s premium of ₹64,263 crore. 

In September 2023, the total direct premium of non-life players grew 29 per cent at ₹29,476 crore ( ₹22,839 crore), according to data from the General Insurance Council.

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Overall Premium Trends

The gross premium of 25 non-life insurance companies grew about 19 per cent at ₹66,130 crore in the July-September 2023 quarter when compared with ₹55,762 crore in the year-ago quarter, while for the five standalone health insurers, gross direct premium grew 24 per cent at ₹7,950 crore as against ₹6,402 crore. 

Two specialised insurers – Agriculture Insurance Co of India Ltd and ECGC – reported a 36 per cent decline in their combined gross premium at ₹5,457 crore during the September 2023 quarter (₹8,544 crore in the September 2022 quarter).

For the April-September 2023 period, the collective gross written premium of all non-life players grew 15 per cent y-o-y at ₹1,43,800 crore when compared with ₹1,25,197 crore in the same period of FY23.

Gross written premium for all non-life players increased by 18 per cent at ₹1,23,047 crore ( ₹1,04,622 crore in H1 of FY23), while the combined gross premium of five standalone health insurers rose 25 per cent at ₹14,607 crore (₹11,663 crore).

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PSU performance

In H1 of this fiscal, PSU players New India Assurance Co Ltd and United India Insurance Co Ltd reported single-digit growth in its gross premium, while National Insurance and Oriental Insurance recorded double-digit growth.

In the private sector, most of the non-life players reported double-digit growth. HDFC Ergo General, a leading player in the private sector space reported a single-digit increase, while Navi General Insurance and Raheja QBE reported a decline in their premium income.

However, the PSU firm New India remained the leader in the non-life segment with a gross direct premium income of ₹18,829 crore in H1 of this fiscal. ICICI Lombard General Insurance was the second largest player in the segment with its premium income of ₹12,472 crore, up 18 per cent over ₹10,555 crore in H1 of FY23. ( ₹5,370 crore). United India was the third largest player (gross premium income of ₹9,552 crore), followed by Oriental Insurance (₹9,265 crore) and HDFC Ergo (₹8,722 crore).

Standalone health dominance

In the standalone health space, Star Health maintained its top position and its gross premium income stood at ₹6,681 crore in H1 of this fiscal when compared with ₹5,657 crore in the year-ago period, an increase of 18 per cent. Star Health’s market share increased to 4.65 per cent in the overall non-life segment, up from 4.52 per cent last year. In the standalone health category, its market share was 46 per cent.

Care Health was the second big health player and its gross direct premium income grew 33 per cent at ₹3,184 crore ( ₹2,395 crore). Niva Bupa Health reported a 40 per cent increase at ₹2,436 crore (₹1,746 crore).

All five health players boosted their market share during the April-September 2023 period and the combined market share of all health players crossed double digits to 10.16 per cent from 9.32 per cent in H1 of the last fiscal.

The combined market share of all non-life players (excluding health players) increased to 85.57 per cent from 83.57 per cent during the period.

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