Notably, other three general insurers --Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance and National Insurance -- also lost market shares to the private sector players during April-December 2022.

Collective gross direct premium underwritten for non-life insurance companies grew 16.23% year-on-year to Rs 1.87 trillion for the first nine months of the current fiscal from Rs 1.61 trillion for the same period last fiscal, according to data released by the General Insurance Council.

According to the data, during the month of December last year, gross direct premium underwritten for non-life insurers rose around 14.52% y-o-y at Rs 21,871.57 crore compared to Rs 19,099.26 crore in the corresponding period previous year. Premium underwritten for 22 general insurance companies grew 13.42% y-o-y at Rs 18,279.68 crore, while for five stand-alone private insurers it increased by 22.79% y-o-y at Rs 2307.66 crore last month. In December the premium growth rate for the non-life insurance sector was less when compared to the growth rate during November. In November last year, premium growth for the sector was 22.08% y-o-y.

For the first nine months of the current fiscal, collective premium underwritten for general insurance companies grew 16.19% year-on-year to Rs 1.58 trillion, while for stand-alone private insurers it increased by 26.28% y-o-y at Rs 17,933.90 crore during the period.

According to the ‘Flash Report’ of the General Insurance Council, PSU insurer, New India Assurance, the market leader in the non-life insurance space, saw a 2.41% y-o-y increase in its premium underwritten to Rs 26,092.47 crore for the first nine months of the current fiscal. However, the insurer’s market share fell to 13.94% at the end of third quarter of FY23 from 15.82% for the same period of FY22.

Notably, other three general insurers –Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance and National Insurance — also lost market shares to the private sector players during April-December 2022.

Among major general insurers in the private sector, ICICI Lombard General Insurance premium for 9MFY23 grew 20.56% y-o-y at Rs 16,048.12 crore, while for HDFC Ergo it grew 24.99% y-o-y at Rs 11,933.03 crore during the period. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Tata AIG General Insurance witnessed 11.41% y-o-y jump and 34.92% y-o-y jump in their premiums during the period under review at Rs 11,608.60 crore and Rs 9379.86 crore, respectively.

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, which has emerged as the largest standalone health insurer in the country, witnessed a 12.58% y-o-y growth in its gross direct premium to Rs 8751.97 crore during the first nine months of FY23 from Rs 7774.32 crore for the corresponding period of FY22.

The domestic non-life insurance industry’s total premium grew from Rs 1.3 trillion in FY17 to over Rs 2.2 trillion in FY22 i.e., CAGR of nearly 11.5%, driven by rising income level, better product fit, strong distribution channels and rising financial literacy, CareEdge said in a recent report.

“The gross premiums of the non-life insurance industry in India are expected to grow at 13%-15% over the medium term backed by supportive regulations and economic activity. Health, which is expected to cross the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, along with motor that is envisaged to reach the Rs 85,000 crore level by FY24, would continue to constitute the primary levers of non-life insurance growth,” the rating agency added.