How good is online insurance?

nternet is the buzz word these days. It is the virtual world where one can shop, meet people, find a job, play games and what not! Indians are one of the largest users of Facebook; we are also witnessing a ferocious growth of e-commerce market which is active with mergers and acquisitions. These are some credentials that the internet can boast about. To add further to it, even banking has taken the internet way and so have the insurers. As insurers, from the initial baby steps with only simple term products, the industry is now exploring the online market for slightly more complex endowment products and a variety of other products with a combination of riders. All this is available at just few clicks. 
http://www.myallagents.com/How-good-is-online-insurance/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. 

.http://www.myallagents.com/LIC-buys-Rs-4300crore-debt-from-bond-auctions-of-seven-states/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

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.  .http://www.myallagents.com/How-four-women-mutual-fund-managers-are-defying-odds-and-breaking-through/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.   http://www.myallagents.com/AXA-Assistance-iJet-foray-into-Indian-risk-management-market/details.html

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.   http://www.myallagents.com/Advantages-of-online-insurance/details.html

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  

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 

http://www.myallagents.com/LIC-seen-selling-banks-IT-shares-Dealers/details.html  

All insurers may offer digitised policies from July

All life insurance companies may be required to offer insurance policies in a digitised format from July onwards. In a recent meeting with the insurance industry, sources said that Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had asked companies to tie-up with all insurance repositories. At present, several insurers like Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC ) do not offer the facility of electronic policy since they have not tied-up with any repository. 
http://www.myallagents.com/All-insurers-may-offer-digitised-policies-from-July/details.html 

LIC close to seizing Unitech's Noida land

NEW DELHI: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has taken "notional possession" of a slice of real estate major Unitech's 350-acre land parcel in Noida after the company failed to repay a part of its nearly Rs 150-crore loan from the country's largest insurer.
In a 'Notional Possession Notice' issued, LIC cautioned the public against dealing with the land parcels in sectors 96, 97 and 98 in Noida, which is prime property along the expressway that connects the Delhi suburb with Greater Noida. Bankers said "notional possession" is a step short of taking physical control of an asset, although the property remains under the company's charge. The property can be handed back to the company once the accounts are settled. 
.http://www.myallagents.com/LIC-close-to-seizing-Unitechs-Noida-land/details.html

New bank licences in a few weeks: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan

NEW DELHI: India will hand out licences for setting up new banks in a few weeks after a go-ahead from the Election Commission, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Friday. 

"Yes, we will ask EC to make sure, because it's an important issue. The process has taken place last year. In that sense, it's nothing new. But certainly we would want them (EC) to be okay," Rajan said at a press conference, which he addressed jointly with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, after a meeting of the central bank's board in New Delhi.  

http://www.myallagents.com/New-bank-licences-in-a-few-weeks-RBI-Governor-Raghuram-Rajan/details.html 

Do not delay filing an insurance claim

Getting insurance companies to pay claims is the hard part at times. Though the claims ratio of most insurance companies is 94-98 per cent, claimants often have to run pillar to post to get these. There are various reasons due to which claims can be rejected. Among these is a delay on the part of theclaimant. Under the Limitation Act, a claimant has to tell the company about the death in three years. The company can refuse to pay the claim if told beyond this period. But, in case of genuine reasons, the company has to pay.  http://www.myallagents.com/Do-not-delay-filing-an-insurance-claim/details.html

Energy Health Plan For The Diabetic From Apollo Munich

Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company launches a New Plan today called Energy which has been especially designed for people suffering from Type II Diabetes Mellitus. It is a plan of its kind for the diabetic people so as to help them combat the expenses for medical exigencies! This plan is a similar one to Star Health Diabetic Safe Plan. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Energy-Health-Plan-For-The-Diabetic-From-Apollo-Munich/details.html

Bancassurance norms and products to give insurance industry a new direction

MUMBAI: After two sluggish years, the insurance industry is hoping that 2014 holds out better prospects amid expectations of stronger economic growth in the second half of the current fiscal. New product guidelines and bancassurance norms will also shape how the life insurance industry fares in 2014.  Life insurers will begin the year by launching 500 products aligned to comprehensive new norms aimed at making policies more customer-friendly. For instance, there will be a guaranteed surrender value after five years. There are new rules on the minimum death benefit as well.   http://www.myallagents.com/Bancassurance-norms-and-products-to-give-insurance-industry-a-new-direction/details.html

Pre-declaring medical rates beneficial for customers

Wouldn't it help if you knew how much your hospitalisationbill would come to before getting admitted? You will know at once whether you can afford treatment in that particular hospital or not. You will also know how much of the treatment cost will be covered under your insurance policy. This can be a reality if insurance companies implement the Bombay High Court’s suggestion that they declare package rates for different ailments and make hospitals fall in line with their rates. The court said this in a hearing earlier this month, in response to a public interest suit which said package rates should be treated as entitlement and need not be dependent on hospital gradation. That is, the court wants insurance companies to offer the same rates for all treatments across hospitals, irrespective of the kind of hospital. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Predeclaring-medical-rates-beneficial-for-customers/details.html

Exide Life Insurance targets 10% growth in 2014-15

Exide Life Insurance, the company which switched to its new name a couple of days ago from the ING Vysya Life , on Thursday said it has targeted to achieve a growth upwards of 10% in the current year on the back of a strong re-branding exercise and also helped by a turnaround expected in the economy.

Total premium income of the company grew 5% to Rs 1,830 crore in the year 2013-14 from Rs 1,742 crore in the previous year on the back of a reasonable growth in renewal premium. However, the growth in new business premium decreased by 3% during the same period, mostly on account challenging economic environment in the country, according to Kshitij Jain, managing director and CEO of the company.http://www.myallagents.com/Exide-Life-Insurance-targets-10-growth-in-201415/details.htm

No pre-payment charges on floating rate term loans: RBI

RBI has already prohibited banks from charging penalty for prepayment of home loans and now the same has been extended to individual term loans The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Wednesday said that banks should allow customers to prepay floating rate term loans without any penalty.  “It is advised that banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalties on all floating rate term loans sanctioned to individual borrowers, with immediate effect,” the RBI said in a statement.  http://www.myallagents.com/No-prepayment-charges-on-floating-rate-term-loans-RBI/details.html

Review of public sector health insurance policies

Smitha Hari There are four public sector players in the country with health insurance policies - United India Insurance Co Ltd, National Insurance Co Ltd, New India Assurance Company Ltd and Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. The greatest benefit of taking a policy with these players is the cost benefit, as you will need to pay lower premium for the same coverage when compared to a private sector player. However, there are some drawbacks also, like a co-payment clause in many policies and also limited option of choosing a high cover. We have analysed the Family Medicare Policy from United India Insurance Co Ltd, Parivar Mediclaim Policy from National Insurance Co Ltd, Mediclaim 2012 Policy from New India Assurance Company Ltd and Happy Family Floater Policy from Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. Let’s look at some features of these 4 policies.  http://www.myallagents.com/Review-of-public-sector-health-insurance-policies/details.html

Do not delay filing an insurance claim

Getting insurance companies to pay claims is the hard part at times. Though the claims ratio of most insurance companies is 94-98 per cent, claimants often have to run pillar to post to get these. There are various reasons due to which claims can be rejected. Among these is a delay on the part of theclaimant. Under the Limitation Act, a claimant has to tell the company about the death in three years. The company can refuse to pay the claim if told beyond this period. But, in case of genuine reasons, the company has to pay  http://www.myallagents.com/Do-not-delay-filing-an-insurance-claim/details.html