MUMBAI: The share of
motor
insurance in
non-life
industry premiums has slipped below 30% for the first time following a slowdown in car
sales
, even as
health
cover premiums continue to race ahead.
The non-life
industry
wrote
premium
of Rs 72,758 crore up to June-end, according to segment-wise industry data released by the General
Insurance
Council. This is an increase of 13.3% over the previous year.
Much of the
growth
has come from health insurance, which grew 16.6% raking in premium of Rs 29,915 crore. As compared to this, motor insurance grew 11.9% with total premium of Rs 21,348 crore. At the end of the quarter, the share of motor insurance slipped to 29.3% while that of health insurance rose to 41.1%.
The share of health insurance is likely to go up further as motor insurance continues to be a drag on growth. Insurers said that motor insurance’s focus is largely on new cars because of a rule that requires buyers to purchase three years of cover upfront in case of cars and five years in case of two-wheelers.
Flash figures for the month of July reveal that growth in non-life insurance continues to be in single digits for the second month in a row. The data showed that total premium collected by the industry in July was Rs 26,567 crore an increase of 9% over July 2023.
The premium collection was marginally higher than June when the industry recorded a collection of Rs 20,384 crore. The slowdown in premium collection appears to be on account of motor insurance growing slower than the over all industry. Health insurance continues to a major driver of the non-life sector. This is reflected by the 25% growth in standalone health insurance companies in premium income up to June 2024.
The non-life insurance industry is dominated by health and motor, which together account for over 70% of total premiums. Property insurance, as reflected by the sale of fire insurance, continues to be less than 10% of total industry premium. Crop insurance, personal accident, liability covers and other miscellaneous covers account for around 10%.
