Life Insurance in India

Life Insurance

Life insurance is a contract between the insurer and policy owner. Insurer is agreed to pay an amount to the person insured or his nominee either at the date or maturity or a periodic intervals or unfortunate death of the policy owner. Policy owner has to pay a fixed amount called premium in periodic intervals. This can be monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly. Policy owner is allowed to choose the type of payment and payment cycle. There are many life insurance schemes availability today in India. Premium amount varies depends on many factors like age of the policy owner, scheme, type of the policy, sum assured etc. 

Benefits of Life Insurance

Apart from the insurance coverage there are many other advantages with a life insurance policy. Policy owner can avail loans from banks and other financial institutions with a life insurance policy. Individuals can avail tax benefits as per Income tax department of India's rules with an investment in life insurance policy. It is also a good investment method for future needs. Above all the policy owner gets life insurance coverage for the insured period. 

Life Insurance - Indian Scenario

Life insurance in India was nationalized in 1956 by incorporating Life Insurance Corporation of India and all private life insurance companies were taken over by LIC. Again in 2000 Govt. of India passed a new insurance bill Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act and appointed a new insurance regulator – Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to issue license to private insurance companies. This again opened door to private players and major Indian financial companies tied up with global insurance giants to get more share in Indian life insurance market. But still Life Insurance Corporation is the biggest player mainly due to the fact that it is backed by Govt. of India. 

Life Insurance Companies in India 

1. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)

2. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

3. Bajaj Allianz Life

4. Birla Sunlife

5. HDFC Standard Life

6. Tata AIG Life

7. Kotak Mahindra

8. Aviva Life Insurance

9. Reliance Life Insurance

10. Metlife India

11. Max Newyork

Major Players in Indian Life Insurance Sector

Life insurance Corporation of India continues to be the dominant life insurer in India with 2048 fully computerized branches, 100 divisional offices and 7 zonal offices. All divisional offices are interconnected with Metro Area Network and LIC has tied up with some banks to offer online premium collection in selected cities. Also LIC has info kiosks, Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and Info centers in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune.

In private sector ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is the no.1 player. It is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, India's no.1 private bank and Prudential, a leading international financial services group company from United Kingdom. Today ICICI Prudential has around 1,20,000 insurance advisors all over India 8 bancassurance partners and 200 corporate agent tie-ups.

Future of Indian Life Insurance Segment

Indian Life Insurance Segment is growing at a rapid rate due to more liberal approach from Govt. of India and due to the upward trends in Indian economy and share market. More financial groups and banks including global players are eyeing the Indian Life Insurance Market.