Life insurance and General insurance are two very different businesses. Yet, the two are tied together

permanently in the minds of the customer! For this very reason insurance agents should sell both Life

and General insurance, says K Nitya Kalyani. Even for sound business reasons, they should pay equal

attention to both as a matter of Business Strategy, in order to grow their agency practice, in order to

widen their client base and retain their clients and in order to serve the clients needs better.

Insurance is complex and the customer depends on the intermediary for knowledgeable advice for protection against perils.
In this new column, Perils & Protection, Mr B Mathews Prabakaran, a licenced insurance broker and a seasoned General insurance professional discusses issues in the insurance industry, especially those touching the professional lives of marketing and sales professionals as well as intermediaries like brokers and agents.

General Insurance: Healthier in Parts! General insurance over Five Years: Portfolio Shuffle! Industry « Fire premium steady at 43 per cent in 2005-06 creeps up to 44 per cent in 2009-10 « Motor premium shrinks from 18 per cent in 2005-06 creeps to 11 per cent in 2009-10 « Health and Personal Accident premium zooms [...]

In April 2007, Indian General insurance business was taken off the tariff, the price list for many types of General insurance which had been statutory for decades. Some tariffs were very high – for Fire insurance – for example. Others were too low – like Motor insurance, especially Motor Third Party Liability. This led to [...]

Mr M Ramadoss, the outspoken Chairman-cum-Managing Director of The New India Assurance Company, has worked out a strategy to use individual agents to the maximum to achieve his plans for the company. Agents are the most cost effective distribution method, he says in this interview with K Nitya Kalyani, and he is putting things in place for New India to nurture and celebrate its agents, unlike in the past.

Interview “This is a Crucial Year” Two years after he took over as Chairman-cum-
Managing Director of Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) in month, year, Mr A V Muralidharan looks back at that period of change and says that many opportunities were taken, and some missed as well, both by the industry as well as his company.

All of us face risks in our daily life. Risks or accidents cannot be avoided. But financial loss due to such risks and accidents can be avoided to a large extent through insurance coverage.

UCO Bank, which plans to enter the General insurance business, is expected to finalise its joint venture partners in the next three to four months, according to media reports. “We are currently seeking RBI approval for the same,” Mr S K Goel, UCO Bank Chairman and Managing Director said. The venture would have one more [...]

Select Highlights from IRDA Annual Report 2007-08 detailing the happenings in the industry. Read the highlights pertaining to agents and other intermediaries as well as about customer service parameters.