Life, Non-life and Health Insurance Products in one Bundle
Life Insurance Council has been directed by IRDA to design a single insurance product that will have a combination of life, non-life and health coverage under one policy. This product will cover the individuals against the risks of life, personal accidents and loss of assets such as cattle, vehicles etc., as confirmed by IRDA Chairman Mr. J Hari Narayana.

The main reason for this single product is to reduce cost and effective distribution. Life Insurance Council will have to contemplate on the implications of bundling of policies in one package and come out with the outcome.

IDBI Federal offers Term Assurance Cover for Senior Citizens
The private life insurer, IDBI Federal Life Insurance has launched its Term Assurance product named as “Termsurance Senior Insurance Plan” on 21st May 2012. This is the maiden online product of IDBI Federal and this aims at targeting people in the age group of 50-85 years.

IDBI Federal Life Insurance Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer GV Nageswara Rao said that this policy is to help those people who had missed the opportunity of taking insurance cover when they were young. According to him, Termsurance Seniors Insurance Plan will help the parents to be self reliant and not dependent on their children. The unique feature of this plan is that it does not require the prospects to undergo the process of medical examination and answering of questions related to health. The policy covers the entire life of the individuals and is entitled for tax deduction. While the premium payment term is till the age of 90 years and the premium remains same from the start, the insurance cover will continue for the whole of the life of the insured.

In the event of death of the insured person after two years of commencement of the policy, the sum assured will be paid to the beneficiary provided the premiums have been paid regularly. In the event of death of the insured person within two years from the commencement of the policy, the nominee will get 125% of the total premiums paid.

This policy can be purchased online with a simple and easy to follow three-steps. The three steps involve calculation of the premium, entering of nominee details and making the payment.

Jeevan Vaibhav – Single Premium product from LIC
Life Insurance Corporation of India has launched a non unit-linked single premium product Jeevan Vaibhav. This is a traditional plan which covers both insurance cover and guaranteed returns. This policy is available for a limited period only up to a maximum of 120 days. While the entry age is 8 years, the upper age limit is 65 years.

The minimum sum assured is Rs. 2 lakhs and there is no upper limit. The policy term is 10 years. The minimum policy premium is Rs. 95,210 and there is no upper ceiling on the same.

This policy is suitable for both the youngsters and the old people. The youngsters who want to save to accomplish their passions can opt for this policy. The old people can invest in this product with a view to save funds for their own financial security of for their children.

Hike in Interest Rates on Loans against Policies
Life Insurance Corporation has hiked the interest rates on loans against policies along with increase in interested rates on delayed payments.

So long, the interest rate charged by the LIC was 9%. This helped the policy holders to take loans on their policies at 9% and deposit the same under fixed deposit schemes with companies like HDFC which offers an interest of 9.5%. The policy holders no longer can do this as LIC has increased the interest rates on loans to 10%. The reason for the increase in interest rates on loans is mainly due to the volatility of interest rates in the markets and LIC has to align with the market rates. With regard to the interest on delayed payments, earlier LIC was charging 8% and now this has also been increased to 10%.

It should be noted here that the private life insurers like Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance have already been charging higher rates of interests on loans.

Record Profit by SBI Life for 2011-2012
SBI Life’s approach towards life insurance inclusion from the rural segment has resulted in 22% of total lives covered from the rural segment.

SBI Life Insurance posted a record profit of Rs. 5.56 billion for the financial year 2011-2012 . This reflects an increase of 52% over the last financial year. The operational efficiency ahs been the driving factor for the record profit of SBI Life for this financial year. This has resulted in the declaration of dividend of 5% for the first time since its inception in 2001 As per the latest report of IRDA, SBI Life has been ranked number one amongst the private life insurers for the financial year 2011-12 in the area of new business premium (NBP). SBI has been topping in the area of both individual NBP and Group NBP. The company’s market share has been increased to 19.9% in 2011-12 as against 19.2% during 2010-11 amongst private life insurers. The company has expanded its operations by increasing 85 new branches across India with additional employee strength of 618.

M N Rao, MD & CEO, SBI Life Insurance said “We attribute our sound holistic performance to the strength of SBI brand, efficiency and productivity of our distribution channels, customer-centric approach and robust multi-distribution business model. We will continue to strengthen our business practices to accomplish excellence across multiple dimensions of business.”

The awards and accolades received by SBI Life during the financial year 2011-12 includes “NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award 2011”, “Best Presented Accounts Award” from South Asian Federation of Accounts (SAFA) and “”Silver Shield” from Institute of Charted Accountants of India (ICAI). SBI also has been recognised as the “Most trusted Private Life Insurer 2011” based on the ET – Brand Equity Nielsen Survey:.

SBI Life receives PSU Award 2012
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, today announced and presented the ‘Dun & Bradstreet PSU Awards 2012’ in New Delhi.

SBI Life has bagged the “Top Indian Public Sector Enterprise” award under the Insurance Sector for the year 2012.

Mr. Veerappa Moily, Hon’ble Minister of Corporate Affairs presented the Awards. Mr., Vincent Sussfeld, Deputy CEO, SBI Life Insurance and . Ashutosh Sharma, Regional Director – North 2, SBI Life Insurance received the award in the presence of Kaushal Sampat, President & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet.

Marked Decline in Life Insurance Complaints in 2011-12
There has been substantial fall in the number of complaints from life insurance customers by 9.5% during 2011-12. The number of life insurance complaints decreased 4.3% to 0.39 million in 2011-12 from 0.41 million in 2010-11 and the number of non-life complaints fell around 26.5% to 93,155 from 0.13 million.

The reason for this fall can be attributed to the establishment of the Integrated Grievance Management System.

The Integrated Grievance Management System has reported almost 20,000 complaint escalations to the authority through Internet and IRDA toll free call centre. This has sharply reduced the number of complaints received by the IRDA through post.

Bharti AXA Life to launch new Traditional Insurance Plan
Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company has announced its launch of Young India Plan which is expected to redefine the insurance needs of individuals. The product provides an insurance cover of up to 25 times of base sum assured on reaching the milestones of marriage and child birth and does not require any medical tests. The features of the policy include money back option at the choice of the policy holder during the term of the policy, premium waiver facility in the event of sudden demise of the policy holder, 200 per cent of base Sum Assured, along with accrued annual Reversionary Bonus, if any etc.,

The plan allows the customer to choose any two important milestones in life for money back and also offers up to 25 times base protection at marriage and child birth”

Aviva Life Insurance declares profit -2011-12
Ranked among the top 10 private life insurance players, Aviva Life Insurance has reported a net profit of Rs. 740 million for the financial year 2011-12 against Rs. 290 million in FY10-11. The company declares profit for the second consecutive year. As per IRDA’s report of March 2012, Aviva India’s market share has increased to 3.2% in FY11-12 from 2.3% in the corresponding period last year.

TR Ramachandran, CEO & MD, Aviva India said,“ The profitability has been as a result of higher productivity and efficiency of our multi-channel distribution model, a strong focus on expenses and a balanced product portfolio with a focus on protection oriented products. While bancassurance is our core competence, we will also continue to invest in a focused, high quality agency force concentrating on customer needs.”

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