Fixed Benefit Healthcare Plan from Reliance
Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), has launched its new healthcare plan 'Reliance Life Easy Care Fixed Benefit Plan' for individuals. Mr. Anup Rau, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Life Insurance launched the plan.

The key USP of this plan is that it gives the option of paying single premium upfront for the entire policy period of five years at an attractive rate. There is a guaranteed fixed rate of premium for five years, even if there is a claim during the policy term.

"Reliance Life Easy Care Fixed Benefit Plan is designed to cover the two major components of health expenses - hospitalization and surgery, keeping in mind the difficulties and worries faced by customers while meeting the high hospitalization and surgery costs. We are confident that our new healthcare plan will fill the gaps in health insurance and address key concerns among customers on claim amount, increase in premium in case of a claim and coverage on surgeries,'' said Mr. Rau.

The individual can opt for the plan between 18 and 65 years of age with guaranteed renewability till 75 years age. The coverage offered by this plan ranges from Rs. 1 to 5 lakh with a no claim bonus of 5 per cent of the sum assured for every claim-free year, up to a maximum of 20 percent.

The new healthcare plan offers a lump sum benefit of 100 per cent of sum insured to the insured suffering from ten critical illnesses, including cancer, stroke, loss of speech, Alzheimer and coma.

Reliance Life Easy Care Fixed Benefit Plan pays a fixed amount of 1 per cent of sum assured per day from the first day for the minimum duration of 48 hours of hospitalization under its Daily Hospital Cash Benefit (DHCB) scheme. An additional 100 per cent DHCB amount per day is paid to the insured for each day of stay in the ICU. Besides, a lump sum benefit of 100 per cent of sum insured will be paid to the insured in the event of hospitalization for a minimum period of 24 hours for undergoing ten major surgeries like hip or knee joint replacement, excision of tissue of brain with craniotomy, coronary artery bypass surgery, liver transplantation and total excision of esophagus and stomach.

More scope for Traditional Insurance Products
The Insurance Regulator, IRDA has announced its new guidelines for all life products both ULPs and Traditional Products, the main focus being life insurance cover and other benefits.

The main objective of IRDA is to bring traditional products on part with ULIPs in terms of charges. Thus the new guidelines bring about major changes in the traditional products. The new guidelines aim to explain products in a clear and transparent manner ensuring enhanced disclosures, better surrender values and lower agent commissions.

Agents and banks have started focussing more on traditional endowment products after Irda imposed caps on charges on Ulips in 2010. Unlike Ulips, there is no transparency regarding the amount deducted from the premium on traditional insurance products as charges or commission.

This will change after October 1. "The maximum commissions payable has been defined clearly - single pay commissions is at 2% of premium paid; for pension products it's capped at 7.5%; for regular premiums it varies between 15% and 35% of first year premium — it is lower for shorter terms," explains Narang. This will improve the returns from these products.

Flexi Money Back Plus from Aegon Religare
AEGON Religare Life Insurance (ARLI) today launched a traditional plan with guaranteed benefits -- Flexi Money Back Plus Insurance Plan.

"The investment climate remains uncertain and volatile. In such times customers seek shelter in products that provide guarantees. At the same time the money back component of the plan allows for a cash flow at regular and pre-determined intervals," company's Chief Marketing Officer and Head (Talent) Yateesh Srivastava said in a statement.

Flexi Money Back Plus Insurance Plan offers extended life cover that goes beyond the premium payment term, rider that can be added to the plan, to provide extra cover in case of death due to an accident, bonus, guaranteed pay-outs, 40 per cent of the sum assured as maturity benefit at the end of the policy term.

The minimum entry age is 7 years and maximum age of entry is 60, 58 or 54 years, depending on the tenure. The maximum age at maturity is 75 years and minimum sum assured is Rs 1,00,000 and the minimum annual premium is Rs 13,033.

IRDA Report on Money Laundering to be published soon
Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) would finalise the report on the allegations of money laundering by three companies, HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life and Max Life - following and expose by Cobarapost.

Last month, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had sought explanations from CEOs of three life insurance companies after taking cognisance of a sting operation that alleged money laundering in leading private banks -- ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

Irda had called for relevant data for initiating appropriate action last month.

India First Life to break even by 2015-16
India First Life, a joint venture between Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and UK's Legal & General, started its operations in 2010 and expects to break even in 2015-16. The CEO of India First Life Mr. P Nandagopal told PTI that they had originally set break even target in the eighth year of operation but they would do it only in the six year keeping the current growing rate in consideration.

The private insurer recorded a 34 per cent growth in the new business premium by collecting Rs 1,316 crore in 2012-13 against Rs 980 crore in the previous fiscal. The company has reduced its operating expense ratio to 16 per cent from 19 per cent, he said.

Wider Coverage of Health Insurance Plan by Reliance Life
Reliance Life Insurance is working towards strengthening its presence in pure health insurance space with an expanded product suite. While general insurance companies have predominantly occupied the health insurance segment, Life insurance companies also have started offering health insurance products.

Reliance Life, with a view to expand its horizon in the health insurance segment, has launched two new health products - Reliance Life Care for You Advantage Plan and Reliance Life Easy Care Fixed Benefit Plan. According to Mr. Anu Rau, CEO, Reliance Life, Health insurance penetration in India is as low as 5 per cent, with over 85 per cent of the 1.4 billion population having no health cover. We see health segment as an opportunity to serve all requirements of customers and their families in short, medium and long-term.

The company currently has three health plans in its product basket. Going forward, Reliance Life Insurance has plans to further strengthen presence in pure health insurance space.

Single Pay Endowment Assurance Plan from Edelweiss Tokio
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company has launched a non-participating endowment plan, Single Pay Endowment Assurance Plan, that caters to the wealth enhancement need of customers.

The product also offers comprehensive cover equal to sum assured which is 10 times of its single premium. The product is designed for customers who prefer to invest only once and benefit through the maximum return. . While the customer can get loan to the extent of 90% of the surrender value, he can also avail tax benefits under Section 80 C and Section 10(10D) of Income Tax Act, 1961, under this product.

Single Pay Endowment Assurance Plan offers policy term for maximum 10 years and hence it can be a suitable plan for customers looking for long term investment with guaranteed returns, it said.

Shriram Life Insurance on the growth trajectory
Shriram Life Insurance is a joint venture between Shriram Group and South Africa-based insurance service provider Sanlam and has a strong presence in South India, especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The company announced today that it expects 29 per cent jump in new business premium income and plans to launch four new products by the end of June this year.

"We expect our new business premium income to be around Rs 545 crore by the end of March 2014, an increase of 29 per cent over the last fiscal," Shriram Life Insurance Managing Director Akhila Srinivasan told PTI. The company plans file with IRDA for 14 new products in the current fiscal.

The company sold 1.54 lakh policies at the end of March 2013.

The company is expanding its operations in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Kolkata, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand.

Fall in Insurance Premium for SBI Life and Reliance Life
While the life insurance industry witnessed a drop of six per cent in premium collection during the 2012-13 fiscal, the large private sector insurers like SBI Life and Reliance Life recorded a steep fall in premium income.

Total premium collected during the April-March period of 2012-13 fiscal by the industry, comprising 24 players, stood at Rs 1,07,011 crore, down 6 per cent over the same period previous year, data released by regulator IRDA showed.

Among the seven large private sector insurance companies with premium income of over Rs 1,000 crore, SBI Life's premium income fell by 20 per cent to Rs 5,184 crore during April- March, 2012-13.

Reliance Life Insurance saw its premium income dip to Rs 1,376.58 crore during the fiscal, down by 23.92 per cent.

India's largest life insurer LIC reported a 6.4 per cent drop in its premium collection at Rs 76,246 crore during the period as against Rs 81,515 crore collected in 2011-12.

Formal Meeting with Life Insurers by IRDA
IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) chairman TS Vijayan has declared a meeting of the chief executives and appointed actuaries of life insurance companies on May 2.

The IRDA chairman would formally meet members of life insurance business and discuss issues related to the new regulations passed by the regulator.

HDFC Life Bags Celent Model Insurer of Asia for the Year 2013
HDFC Life, one of India’s leading private life insurance players, has been awarded the the Celent Model Insurer of Asia for 2013, which is the highest honor among the 17 technology initiatives which were selected as Model Insurer Component in the Asia Pacific region. The company has also received two Model Insurer Component awards namely Model Insurer Award in the area of Underwriting and the other in Distribution/New Business.

Speaking on this achievement,Thomson Thomas, CIO and SVP - Business Systems & Technology, HDFC Life said, “Being selected by Celent as a Model Insurer is a great honor by itself but receiving the Celent Model Insurer of Asia for the Year award is a remarkable achievement for HDFC Life Technology team. This recognition is based largely due to a successful Business-Technology partnership and hence we decided to send the Project sponsor to receive this award on behalf of the Technology team - HDFC Life. These projects are aligned to the organization’s strategic theme on unique customer/distributor experience and are built based on an 'outside in' architecture.”

Tata AIA Life Bags World Pension Fund Award
Tata AIA Life Insurance on Monday has won the World Finance Pension Fund of the year 2013 from India at a ceremony held at the London Stock Exchange.

The award was bestowed on Tata AIA Life in recognition of its financial strength, efficiency of the investment functions, customer relationship management, operational performance and human resource management.

Tata AIA Life was adjudged the winner based on a wide criterion. The most notable amongst them being the incorporation of the latest technologies and full automation that alleviated human error and created an excellent foundation for a highly efficient organisation.

New Online Investment Linked Plans by Aviva Life Insurance
Aviva Life Insurance announced that they have covered over 40,000 lives under Aviva i-Life, their online term plan, since its launch last year. To enhance the protection cover for their customers, the company has further strengthened its portfolio with an online health and term with return of premium product. The company soon plans to launch investment linked plans on the online platform.

Being among the leading players in the online segment, Aviva commissioned a research with IMRB to understand the online customer and their behavior and what are the key triggers and barriers to buying insurance. Research highlighted that nearly all insurance buyers research online but a larger component buys offline. Of the ‘online window shoppers researched’ as many as 23% visited company websites to buy, yet eventually bought offline. The concept of ‘self-service’ online makes these customers uncomfortable in this high involvement and perceived high risk and complex category. Also another barrier being, this segment is uncomfortable about sharing their financial details whether its card or net banking on the online platform – have concerns on security.

In line with the customer demand and to address the barriers, Aviva has launched a live chat option where customers can chat with company representatives to clarify any doubts while filling the form to enhance customer experience and simplify the process of buying the product. Aviva also offers ‘Click to Call’ facility as well for their online products. Also the company has ensured a robust post purchase engagement programme to enhance customer satisfaction.

Speaking on the occasion, TR Ramachandran, CEO & MD, Aviva India said, “We are delighted with the response our protection products such as Aviva i-Life, Aviva Health Secure and Aviva i-shield are generating which highlights the growing customer demand for these products. We initially saw a good response from high income groups, metros and mini-metros, however it is heartening to note that younger demographics (below 25 years) and people with lower income brackets (below 5 lakh) are also now purchasing pure protection products online. Additionally we are seeing increasing penetration of these products in Tier I and II cities. The success that we have seen clearly demonstrates the strength of this channel in increasing insurance penetration from its current level of 4.1% of GDP.”

He added, “We have further strengthened our processes and enhanced the customer experience in the online channel as we are targeting 20-25% of our new customers and about 7-10% of our premium income from this channel by 2013 end.

The entire process of purchasing the policy online is designed from a customer convenience perspective and is completely paperless. Right from application to medicals to policy issuance, the TATs for Aviva are one of the industry leading and focused on simplicity. The company will continue to invest in technology based solutions to further enhance the customer experience. The IMRB research highlights that Aviva i-life records high levels of satisfaction in pre and post purchase stages vis-à-vis competition.

IndiaFirst Life grows at 34%
India First Life has recorded its new business premium upwards by 34%, from Rs. 980 crore to Rs.1316 crore. The announcement was made by Dr. P. Nandagopal, Managing Director & CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance. The company has reduced its Opex ratio to 16% from 19%; while its Opex costs to total revenue has reduced from 2.2 to 1.5 times.

“We choose to follow a straightforward and simple strategy of introducing customer friendly products and processes right from the start. Our business strategy of keeping operational expenses low and pushing efficiency by introducing new technology initiatives is paying off,” said Dr. Nandagopal.

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