Coronavirus lockdown: Life insurers' new premium down 25.4% in May 2020

Private insurers as well as Life Insurance Corporation of India saw a decrease in premium collection in April and May.

Moneycontrol News

June 09, 2020 / 17:33 IST

26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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The nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak that began on March 25 continued to have an impact on the new premium collections of life insurers with first-year collections down 25.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 13,739.01 crore in May 2020.

Here, private insurers as well as Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) saw a decrease in premium collection. LIC saw a 24.3 percent YoY drop in premium to Rs 10,211.53 crore in May 2020 while private insurers saw a 28.3 percent decrease to Rs 3,527.48 crore.

Due to the lockdown, bank and insurance branches have been operating with minimal staff. Customers have also avoided visiting branches as a safety precaution on one hand, while home visits by agents have also hit a pause due to societies not allowing non-residents amidst COVID-19 fears.

The only life insurers to see growth in new premiums in May 2020 were Aviva Life, Canara HSBC OBC Life and Tata AIA Life.

For FY21, data from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) showed that the premium collection for the April-May period dropped 28 percent YoY to Rs 20,466.76 crore.

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