Sunday, June 29, 2014

uying new term plans? Look at what is on offer

Aviva India's term plan promises to disburse the insurance benefit to dependents at regular intervals (in addition to a portion in lump sum initially) on the death of the policyholder. Typically, insurance companies pay the entire insured amount in a lump sum to the dependents on the death of the term insurance policyholder. 
.http://www.myallagents.com/Buying-new-term-plans-Look-at-what-is-on-offer/details.html

Travelling abroad? Get a comprehensive policy

Travelling abroad this December? Remember: The rupee depreciation has not only increased the cost of travelling in the and , but other costs, like insurance cover, have also become more expensive. With the insurers seeking approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority () to increase their  insurance premiums, premiums would get more expensive.   
http://www.myallagents.com/Travelling-abroad-Get-a-comprehensive-policy/details.html

Travel And Marine Insurance All Set To Rise With Rupee Depreciation

With dollar appreciating by around 20% against the rupee, general insurance companies have obtained approval of market regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to raise the premium amount on travel insurance. Industry experts believe that rise in premium amount could be over 10%, which is in proportion to rise in the claim cost. 

I-Life Secure Online Plan Launched By Aviva India

Mr. Rishi Piparaiya, Director – Marketing and Banassurance at Aviva India announced the launch of on-line life insurance plan i-life secure. This plan provides for guaranteed income for 15 years post death of the life insured. Adding to the above, he said that this plan ensures that the family of the deceased and their needs are protected, whether it is the child’s school fees, EMI for housing loan or protection of the family by way of regular income 
http://www.myallagents.com/ILife-Secure-Online-Plan-Launched-By-Aviva-India/details.html  


Small Business Group Health Insurance

What is Group Health Insurance ?
Group health insurance is employer-sponsored health coverage for business owners, employees and often for dependents.
A majority of Americans have group health coverage through their own or a family member's employer-sponsored group plan. Employers and employees can share costs and there are special tax incentives available to businesses that provide group health insurance
http://www.myallagents.com/Small-Business-Group-Health-Insurance/details.html

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Insurance Giant Scraps Its Existing 14 Policies To Confirm To New Regulations

With regard to compliance of new regulations implemented by market regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), which aims at making insurance policies more customers centric, insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India scrapped / will scrape 14 of its existing policies. These policies include Jeevan Mitra, Anmol Jeevan, Convertible Term Assurance Policies, Children Deferred Endowment Assurance, Jeevan Paramukh Plan, LIC’s Bima Account and Jeevan Nidhi. Other polices that are expected to be scrapped are Jeevan Aastha, Market Plus I, Jeevan Nischay and Jeevan Varsha. 

Customer Forms Should Have Standard Font And Minimum Size 7 Says IRDA

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) issued a draft circular on policy servicing forms. The two main stipulations that IRDA has focused on are - (1) Availability in Languages recognized under Constitution of India (2) Minimum Font Size of “Times New Roman 7”
(1) Availability in Languages recognized under Constitution of India
While the existing regulations specify that all print material, used in the pre-sales and sales process, shall be made available in multiple languages, there is no rule for making available all the forms used during the course of post-sale policy servicing such as; claims, loans, surrender, alterations, nominations, assignments, revivals etc. Therefore, IRDA has advised all the Insurers to make available all the policy servicing forms also in languages recognized under the Constitution of India. 

Premium is a wrong metric to measure insurers' health


Over the last few days, an advertisement placed by a body called 'Global Federation of Insurance Associations' has appeared in a number of publications. This advertisement is written in the form of an open letter to the Prime Minister, with copy to the finance, commerce and parliamentary affairs ministers. The letter is essentially an exhortation to get the amended insurance bill passed and talks almost entirely about the that passing this bill will bring about and the signal it will send about India being 'open for business'.  

http://www.myallagents.com/Premium-is-a-wrong-metric-to-measure-insurers-health/details.html

Friday, June 27, 2014

Declined risk pool could be on its way out

 
General insurance companies have asked the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority () to dismantle the “” in third-party (TP) insurance of commercial vehicles.

Irda dismantled the TP motor pool in December 2011 and decided to form a declined pool, effective April 1, 2012. The move let insurers price vehicles based on claims. 

Things to know about reviving a lapsed insurance policy

 
 
A life insurance policy lapses when the due premium has not been paid even within the grace period. A lapsed policy means that the benefit of insurance will not be available to protect the financial interest of the dependants in the event of the death of the insured. A lapsed cover can be revived by the policyholder during the period allowed by insurer before its maturity. The procedure for revival depends on the type of policy and the duration of its lapse.  

http://www.myallagents.com/Things-to-know-about-reviving-a-lapsed-insurance-policy/details.html 

Policyholders will be able to get details of unclaimed insurance online


 
Insurance customers and their nominees don't have to suffer inordinate delays in claim settlement anymore. A new circular from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) is going to change the current opaque scenario from April 1. 
"While unclaimed amount is not uncommon in insurance sector, a steep increase in unclaimed amount is a cause of concern," the regulator said in the circular that put out the figures of unclaimed insurance proceeds in the public domain for the first time. The unclaimed amount swelled from Rs3,037 crore in 2011-12 to Rs4,865 crore in 2012-13 — an increase of over 60 per cent. The unclaimed money is the result of insurance proceeds that have failed to reach policyholders or their nominees in time for various reasons. Needless to say, it completely defeats the entire purpose of buying an insurance cover. 

http://www.myallagents.com/Policyholders-will-be-able-to-get-details-of-unclaimed-insurance-online/details.html 

LIC buys Rs 4,300-crore debt from bond auctions of seven states

MUMBAI: State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has bought debt worth about Rs 4,300 crore in state bond auctions conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), starting the fiscal with its first big-ticket investment after clocking nearly 10 per cent growth in premium collection last year.
The country's biggest insurer bought about four-fifths of the total notified amount in the auction conducted on Wednesday. State development loans (SDL) are the bonds issued by different state governments and sold through a process of RBI auction. 


Markets hoping for a strong & stable government

ET Now: IMF growth projections for India seem fairly upbeaten. Perhaps some would say that is what fueled the rally yesterday in the equity markets. 5.4% for FY14, 6.4% for FY15. What is your stance on these projections?Killol Pandya: I will not really be able to see so far into the future, especially in the context of elections. Our best hope is that we get a strong central government. From that perspective it does not really matter which party comes into power. Of course the markets appeared to be strongly siding with one of the two factions, but from the political sense a strong government at the centre will do us well. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Markets-hoping-for-a-strong-and-stable-government-Killol-Pandya-LIC-Nomura-Mutual-Fund/details.html

Readers' Corner: Bhargav Dasgupta



You can port the policy from floater to individual plan for each of your family members, though a family floater has advantages such as being cost-effective, cover for entire family and so on. If you do wish to port to individual plans, you need to check with the specific insurance company regarding the sum insured for each member and other policy terms. Specifically, you need to know the minimum entry age allowed for your children to avail individual policies. If one/both of your children do not meet the minimum entry age criteria, you will need to continue with your existing family floater plan covering the child(ren), with at least one adult being the primary policy member. 

http://www.myallagents.com/Readers-Corner-Bhargav-Dasgupta/details.html

MetLife India Fined For Misselling Of Insurance Policies

The Chandighar district consumer disputed redressal forum passed an order against MetLife India holding it guilty of unfair trade practice and deficiency in services. The company was held guilty for mis - selling eight insurance policies to an underage boy. The minimum age prescribed for a person to avail insurance policy is 20 years, however the company sold the above 8 insurance policies to a boy aged 19 years only.  


Irda relaxes eligibility requirements for agents

 
Taking into account the difficulties faced by insurers in recruiting agents, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has decided to reduce the pass percentage bench mark to 35% in Agents Pre-recruitment Examination. Till now, the pass percentage was 50%.
In a circular to the chief executives of all insurance companies, Sudhin Roy Chowdhury, Member (Life) of Irda said that the Authority has been receiving representations from various stakeholders expressing the practical difficulties involved in Recruitment of Insurance Agents. He added that the concerns raised have been examined keeping in view the present market scenario.  



Don't depend on health cover by your employer

Most salaried are quite happy and content with their ' . Most feel they do not need any more insurance. But in the past three years, most Indian companies have been reducing the cover or insisting on co-payment for employees' parents. In such circumstances, employer's cover may not be enough. So, it is important the cover keeps pace with rising costs.  


HNI To Be Benefitted With Additional Services From Insurance Companies

Alike banks, who gives priority banking to its preferred customers, insurance companies have also come out with the plan to provide specialized services to its High Net Worth Individual (HNI) customers. This plan comes under two categories viz: gold and silver. Under this, in addition to giving of personal advices and services to its customers, insurance companies will also give specialized products to these individuals. However this facility is available if a customer’s renews the policy without any break. 
http://www.myallagents.com/HNI-To-Be-Benefitted-With-Additional-Services-From-Insurance-Companies/details 

How four women mutual fund managers are defying odds & breaking through

There are 52 mutual funds, and another 51 life and non-life insurance companies, registered in India. Both sets generate dozens of investment products for the Indian market and manage thousands of crores. Men manage most of these products 


With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s steps to arrest the slide of the rupee leading to tight liquidity conditions, the retail investor is once again being drawn to short-term bank fixed deposits (tenures of less than a year). In the past few weeks, lenders such as HDFC Bank and YES Bank have raised interest rates on select maturities and it is expected others would follow in the near future.

With the Reserve Bank of India ()’s steps to arrest the slide of the rupee leading to tight  conditions, the retail investor is once again being drawn to short-term bank  (tenures of less than a year).

In the past few weeks, lenders such as HDFC Bank and YES Bank have raised  on select maturities and it is expected others would follow in the near future.   

Soon, share electronic medical record with insurers

Electronic  () which would enable  providers to have a coded intergrated health care system has been a process mooted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With EMR being in place, all medical records of customers will be available in an electronic format. However, sharing of this data with companies could still be some time away 

.http://www.myallagents.com/Soon-share-electronic-medical-record-with-insurers/details.html  


Even top guns fall victim to dubious insurance policies

If you thought you are among the few financially ill-informed, who is being sold insurance policies or mutual funds with dubious sales pitches, you can take heart from the fact that even some of the top guns at the finance ministry have also fallen victim to such practices, at least before they walked into the North Block.  
http://www.myallagents.com/Even-top-guns-fall-victim-to-dubious-insurance-policies/details.html 

Regulatory intervention, high inflation cripple insurance industry

The agent count at Reliance Life Insurance has fallen 26,000, or 8% to 1.24 lakh at the end of March 31, 2013 since 2012 when it sold a 26% stake to Nippon Life which valued the company at three times its embedded value. In January this year, INGGroup of the Netherlands sold 26% stake at a 25% loss to its JV partner ExideBSE 1.28 %after a decade-long battle trying to make sense out of the Indian Life Insurance marke
That simply is the tale of sliding fortunes of the Indian life insurance industry which until a few years ago was considered to be a sunrise industry promising decades of uninterrupted growth and loads of profits for shareholders. 

Complaints Against Insurance Companies On A Rise

 
The Central system of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority that keeps the data of complaints of policy holders against all the insurance companies, for the year ending March 2013, posted a figure of 3.41 lakhs complaints against the life insurance companies. Majority of these complaints were against insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India, Birla Sunlife and Bajaj Allianz and were related to issue like unfair business practice, alleged mis-selling by insurance companies etc.
 
Further the complaint cell stated that most of the complaints (more than 30%) pertained to unfair business practice. Of the total 3.41 lakhs complaints, 168,482 complaints were of unfair trade practices 
 

SKDRDP tops in small ticket LIC policy numbers

MANGALORE: Dharmasthala-based Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), the brainchild of D Veerendra Heggade, has become the leader in implementing Jeevan Madhur LIC scheme by insuring 9.1 lakh poor persons since 2008.
As a corporate agent of LIC, SKDRDP stands first in the country with respect to number of policies and the first premium paid in this small ticket policy.
Y Vishwanath Gowd, senior divisional manager, LIC OF India, divisional office, Udupi, said SKDRDP with this mission has covered insurance of 9.1 lakh policies with more than Rs100 crore first premium.  

Bajaj Allianz Expects General Insurance Business To Increase 5 Folds In Next 5 Years

Inspite on economic crisis, delay in increase of FDI to 49%, Bajaj Allianz, which is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserve Limited and Allianz SE, expects its company to grow at 20% in next five years. At present the company is growing at 6 - 7%. The company is planning its expansion in the rural areas of the country.
Justifying the expansion and increased growth, Mr. Tapan Singhel – Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company said that business in rural area is vibrant with car sales and FMCG products are on a rise. Rural areas will be a key factor in attaining growth of a general insurance company. In addition to the above, he added that, insurance penetration being very low in rural areas, will also throw up a huge opportunity to expand the business.
Adding to the above, he revealed that the expansion in the rural area will be driven by low cost, high service model supported with latest technology. 
 

Q2 advance tax payout of top 100 companies sees muted growth

UMBAI: In line with macro environment, the advance tax collections from the top-100 corporates from the financial capital showed a muted growth for the September quarter, with the outgoes increasing by only up to 8 per cent, a senior official said today.
"For the top-100 companies, the advance tax payments have increased by 7-8 per cent," the official said.
Cumulatively for the first two quarters till now, the advance tax collections from the Mumbai zone, which contributes over a third of the income tax collections nationally, have grown 11 per cent, the official said. 

http://www.myallagents.com/Q2-advance-tax-payout-of-top-100-companies-sees-muted-growth/details.html 

Chola MD launches truck insurance

 General  Company on Tuesday announced the launch of ‘Chola Protect for Trucks’ with 11 add-on covers that offers total protection for the trucks.
This is one of the first value-added insurance products for truck owners in the country. The company also launched an ‘Emergency Road-Side Service’ for trucks.
The new package product, with wide range of add-on covers, aims to offer complete protection with unique features like 100% depreciation waiver, reinstatement value in case of total loss, monetary compensation for loss of key, driving license, registration certificate, permit, payment for road tax, registration and insurance cost.
 


Max Life posts 11% growth in new business premium in H1

Private sector  today posted 11% growth in new business  at Rs 904 crore for the first half ended September, 2013-14. 
The gross written premium of the company grew 4% to Rs 3,005 crore during the period. At the same time, the company's market share increased to 10.4% and maintained its rank as fourth largest private life insurer.
The profit before the tax grew marginally by 2% to Rs 248 crore.
In view of a strong all round performance during the first half of 2013-14 fiscal, it declared a net interim shareholder Dividend of Rs 128 crore, 29% upward revision from interim dividend announced in the previous year, Max Life Insurance managing director Rajesh Sud said. 

health insurance tips for students travelling abroad


Unless the university makes it mandatory for you to buy the health cover it provides, you can waive it, especially if you are already covered as a dependant or want to purchase it privately. You can pick one from a local insurer in the country you are travelling to, or an Indian insurance company before you leave. 

Many students club the premium with the tuition fee for convenience, but the university may not offer the best deal, and it is wise to compare. Despite the online channel, it's not easy to buy a plan from a foreign insurer. So start by surfing the domestic plans. For some universities like MIT and Stanford, the plan must comply with their guidelines. If the prepackaged plan doesn't match the requirements, insurers are ready to tweak it.  


Earning members require critical illness plans

Sanjay Datta, chief, underwriting and claims, , says people should have a comprehensive insurance plan and a  policy. Since the latter offers a fixed sum once the illness is diagnosed, the person can use the money for medication and hospitalisation. "The health cover takes care of the hospital bills. The pay-outs can be used to fund your travel, food, pre- and post-treatment expenses and so on, which a comprehensive plan won't." 

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance launches new traditional plan

  has launched a non-participating, non-linked life insurance plan which offers a combination of savings and protection, called Edelweiss Tokio Life - Wealth Builder. The plan guarantees all the benefits right at the beginning of the policy
The minimum entry age for the plan is 91 days and the maximum maturity age is 70 years. The policy term ranges between 10 and 30 years with the option of paying premiums in monthly, semi annually or annual installments. In addition, the plan offers tax benefits under section 80 C and section 10(10D) of Income Tax Act, 1961. 

Why you must have a child insurance plan

The rising cost of education is troubling Indian parents. More than 60% of the respondents in an online survey by ET Wealth listed this as their biggest worry. This was followed by lack of knowledge, not saving enough and starting too late. 
We hadn't included the biggest worry-the risk of their own untimely death-as a choice. We should have. According to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics, an Indian dies in an accident every 90 seconds.  
 

Is it time to upgrade your life cover? Know what's best for you

Thanks to the growing awareness about the importance of life insurance cover, many individuals, especially the young executive types, buy a term life insurance as soon as they start their career. However, the trouble is: typically these covers would be very small, mostly Rs 10 lakh or below , say insurance advisors. This would inevitably lead to some complications in future. When the person gets married, have kids or takes a huge loan, he or she would need a larger cover. However, buying a cover at that time may not be an easy task.  
http://www.myallagents.com/Is-it-time-to-upgrade-your-life-cover-Know-whats-best-for-you/details.html 

AXA Assistance, iJet foray into Indian risk management market

NEW DELHI: Risk management solutions provider AXA Assistance and iJet International have announced their foray into India and are aiming to provide solutions to about 10 domestic firms this year in sectors such as IT. 
The two global companies are targeting Indian corporate houses which send employees abroad and hire expats. 
"Our aim this year is to tie up with at least 10 such companies," AXA Assistance Director Pradeep Bery told a new agency. 
Both the firms have partnered to deliver combined security and medical response solutions in India. 
"We have come together to provide comprehensive, integrated security and medial response solutions to corporates, expatriates and even students going abroad for education," Bery said. 
However, he did not disclose the revenue sharing mechanism between the firms.  
 

 
In one sentence, purchasing insurance online is convenient, fast and usually cost you lesser. The insurers know the potential of this distribution channel and therefore have the entire product range-from life to health, motor and travel-available on the net for you. With click of a mouse you can buy any policy from any corner of the world at any point of time. 
Buying Benefits: The distribution efficiency also leads to cost efficiency. Since the customer buys directly from the insurer, the distributor's margin (or commissions) is saved. Also, the entire process is carried in the virtual world and is paperless, reducing the costs further. These savings are usually shared with the customer in the form of lower premiums.  
 

LIC of India buys 85.46 lakh shares of Axis Bank

On March 21, 2014 Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius Private Limited bought 38,23,250 shares of  Axis Bank  at Rs 1,316.13 on the BSE and Goldman Sachs Singapore Pte bought 23,50,000 shares at Rs 1,323.57. Also, Life Insurance Corporation of India bought 40,54,842 shares at Rs 1,313.25 and 44,91,667 shares at Rs 1,313.25 on the BSE. However, Unit Trust Of India D.R.F. sold 1,28,90,859 shares at Rs 1,316.27 and UTI I A/C D.R.F. sold 1,44,15,666 shares at Rs 1,315.51 on  
 http://www.myallagents.com/LIC-of-India-buys-8546-lakh-shares-of-Axis-Bank/details.html 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Women LIC agents block Kozhikode divisional office

KOZHIKODE: A group of women agents of the Life Insurance Corporation blockaded the Kozhikode divisional office of LIC on Friday. The LIC staff were prevented to go out of the office for lunch by a group of over 100 women agents.
Protesters alleged that the LIC officials had trapped them by giving misleading information.
People, who had invested under the Jeevan Madhur Micro Finance Policy scheme, were not returned their money even after the fixed tenure 

http://www.myallagents.com/Women-LIC-agents-block-Kozhikode-divisional-office/details.html

LIC seen selling banks, IT shares: Dealers

Life Insurance Corp was spotted selling IT and bank shares after a recent rally, said four dealers at brokerages that handle trades on behalf of India's largest state-run insurer. 
"LIC has been a consistent seller of Indian shares during this rally, and the pace would increase only till elections," one of the dealers said. 
LIC officials were not immediately reachable for comments. 

NSE's banking sub-index gains 0.5 per cent while IT sub-index falls 0.7 per cent at 0828 GMT. 
Source: The Economic Times