PEACE OF MIND: Gizmos changing the game

Digital disruption has been the biggest game changer for the sector. For instance, in case of crop insurance, companies use drones, satellite images and geo-tagging to estimate the crop cutting yield benchmark for a particular gram panchayat. Also, data gathered by gadgets like the Apple Watch or any other wearable technology gizmo can be used to calculate the exercise and sleep patterns of the customer. This data can be used to calculate the premium payable.

Bigger ticket size driving growth

Growth is happening at a nice pace. Edelweiss Securities analysts Nilesh Parikh and Kunal Shah said, “The life insurance industry (individual annual premium equivalent) grew  >22% year on year in June 2017 spearheaded by private players, who jumped  >27% compared to LIC that grew 17% YoY. Strong momentum in higher ticket size lent impetus to growth.”

Ulips become popular again

To make Ulips more customer-friendly, Irda capped charges, extended lock-in period to five years and raised minimum life cover. The big changes did not kill Ulips. Though Ulip premiums fell from a peak of over Rs 1 lakh crore during 2009-10 to Rs 37,500 crore in 2013-14, they have picked up pace and crossed Rs 46,000 crore in FY16. In FY15 and FY16, growth in Ulip premium was faster than traditional premium.