Four years ago, the Indian General insurance industry was on the brink of a huge change that is affecting them in many ways yet. Detariffing, or removal of price controls on various classes of General insurance business, was brought in from January 1, 2007. Each company was free to quote its own premium rates for [...]

A festival is celebrated to mark an occasion like Narakasura’s destruction at the hands of Lord Krishna. Or, to mark the change of a season, like Makar Sankranti or New Year. Change is celebrated. Even destruction is celebrated since it gives way to creation in its place!
Insurance agents in India are familiar with change. They have been watching the old systems disintegrating and being replaced with new systems.

September 1, 2010 was the deadline for Life insurance companies to ensure that their Unit-Linked insurance policies (ULIPs) are compliant with the new norms announced by the regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
The new policy structure includes limitation on margin, a five year lock in period, Life cover of at least seven to 10 times the value of the First Year Premium on the policy, a 4.5 per cent guaranteed return in the case of a Pension policy, lower discontinuance charges, among others. Over 60 new ULIPs have been cleared by IRDA and slowly companies are launching them.

Spending a long weekend at breathtaking Kovalam beach in Tiruvananthapuram in the beautiful Hotel Leela, about 500 insurance agents were thinking of…… how to master the changes in their profession and stay successful!
That’s what happened at Life Underwriters Guild of India’s (LUGI) 8th Annual Convention at Tiruvananthapuram in the last week of September.

The view that marketing or selling is misrepresentation is a widespread one. It is a burden that the profession has to bear and its members have to overcome before they meet with success.
However, the customer has rights. The law has to guarantee and protect them. And the Government has to help uphold them.
In fact, only if this entire system works to the satisfaction of the customer will it be sustainable. And only then can the seller, sell, says K Nitya Kalyani in this instalment of the Sales Skills series.

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.

For a long time insurance customers have been asking for policies withboth Life and Non-Life cover.
In August, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company and Shriram Life Insurance Company came together to launch what are called combiproducts.

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.

Mr S B Mathur, Secretary General of Life Insurance Council, a statutory body and an association of all the Life insurance companies in India, speaks of the reservations in the industry that the ULIP jurisdiction issue is only shadow boxing for achieving the ‘no entry load’ demand. Talking to K Nitya Kalyani of Premium, Mr Mathur, retired Chairman of LIC, explains how there are many misconceptions about Life insurance selling and its basis in the industry today on which the arguments about abolition of commission or the jurisdiction of ULIPs are being based.

First  Insurance  World  Broking  Services Pvt Ltd, an insurance broker registered with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has launched an insurance buying portal www.insuranzone.com which enables the public to compare and buy policies of any General insurance company online. Brand named Green Insurance and Any Time Motor (ATM) Insurance, Mr. Mathews Prabhakaran , Director [...]