The IRDAI or the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, releases its annual report at the end of every financial year in which detailed analysis of the insurance sector is given along with analytical data on insurance companies. Here, we are providing you the IRDAI Annual Report for 2021-22, w.r.t. life insurance sector and life insurance companies in India. Also, we have listed the key indicators that you must look for when deciding an insurance company to get insured by.
Total Authorised Life Insurance Providers in India
Type of Insurance Company | Public Sector | Private Sector | Total |
Life Insurance | 01 | 23 | 24 |
Genera Insurance | 06 | 20 | 26 |
Health (Standalone) Insurance | Nil | 05 | 05 |
Total | 7 | 48 | 55 |
Claim Paid Ratio for Life Insurance Companies in India, 2021-22
Below-mentioned are the claim settlement ratios of all 24 life insurance providers in India including the only private sector insurer, LIC:
Name of Life Insurance Company (High to Low) | Claim Paid Ratio (in %) |
Max Life Insurance | 99.51 |
Bharti AXA Life | 99.09 |
Exide Life | 99.09 |
Aegon Life | 99.03 |
Bajaj Allianz | 99.02 |
Kotak Life | 98.82 |
LIC | 98.74 |
Reliance Nippon | 98.67 |
HDFC Life | 98.66 |
TATA AIA Life | 98.53 |
Canara HSBC | 98.44 |
Aviva Life | 98.39 |
Pramerica Life | 98.30 |
Edelweiss Tokyo | 98.09 |
Aditya Birla Sun Life | 98.07 |
ICICI Prudential | 97.82 |
SUD Life | 97.42 |
PNB Met Life | 97.33 |
Sahara Life | 97.08 |
SBI Life | 97.05 |
Aeges Federal | 97.03 |
India First | 96.92 |
Future Generali | 96.15 |
Shriram Life | 82.39 |
Key Points w.r.t Claim Paid Ratio for Life Insurers
- Looking at the above table, it can easily be deduced that the highest claims paid ratio in all of the 24 life insurance providers in India in 2021-22 is Max Life Insurance with a whopping 99.34% ratio. As per the Max Life report, the company has seen a growth in this number in 2022-23 as well with claims paid ratio increasing to 99.51%.
- The next in line are Bharti AXA Life, Exide Life, Aegon Life and Bajaj Allianz with 99.09, 99.09, 99.03 and 99.02, respectively.
- LIC, the only public sector life insurance provider, had an impressive 98.74% claims paid ratio, considering its huge (in fact the largest) market share in the life insurance sector.
- The company with the lowest claims paid ratio in 2021-22 was Shriram Life with 82.39%.
Holistic View of Life Insurance Sector in India (in the past 3 years)
The following table gives a bird’s eye view of how the life insurance sector in India is taking shape from 2019-20 to 2021-22:
Particulars/Year | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 |
Total Life Insurance Companies | 24 | 24 | 24 |
No. of Offices | 11,310 | 11,060 | 11,060 |
Life Insurance Penetration | 2.82% | 3.2% | 3.2% |
No. of New Policies Issued | 288.47 lakhs | 281.27 lakhs | 291.13 lakhs |
Total Premium | 5,72,910.19 | 6,28,731.04 | 6,92,614.14 |
Assets under Management | 38,90,274.09 | 44,79,973.46 | 49,52,187.17 |
Claims | 3,51,466.70 | 3,98,772.47 | 5,02,096.92 |
Income from Investments | 2,33,743.74 | 4,66,030.35 | 4,16,711.62 |
Key Performance Indicators of Life Insurance Companies
The following are the key indicators that one must not miss when analyzing a life insurance company:
Assets Under Management
Assets under management or AUM is the total market value of the investments managed by a company, here, insurance company. A higher AUM indicates the trust value that the company shares with its customers. Here is the list of AUMs of the top private insurance companies in India:
- SBI Life: Rs 314,686 Cr
- HDFC Life: Rs 2,33,839 Cr
- Max Life Insurance: Rs 1,22,857 Cr
- Bajaj Allianz: Rs 197,452 Cr
- Tata AIA: Rs 28,430 Cr
Claim Settlement Ratio
Claim Settlement Ratio, also known as the Claim Paid Ratio, is the percentage of claims paid by an insurance company in comparison to the total number of claims it received during one financial year. The higher this number, the better it is for you as a customer. In simpler words, it means how often your insurer has kept the promise of honouring the claims of its clients. Currently in India, there are 6 companies that have a more than 99% claim settlement ratio, viz.:
- Max Life Insurance: 99.34%
- Bharti AXA Life: 99.09%
- Exide Life: 99.09%
- Aegon Life: 99.03%
- Bajaj Allianz: 99.02%
Gross Written Premium
Gross written premium is the total premium an insurer receives against issued policies in a financial year. This gross premium is then further divided into new business (first year premiums received against fresh policies issued) and renewal premiums. This number shows how well the company is growing in the business. There should be positive growth in this number.
Below-mentioned is the comparison table for the first year premium of the top life insurance companies in India, as on 30th June, 2023:
Insurance Provider | First Year Premium (in Rs; in Crores) |
LIC | 73,004.85 |
HDFC Life | 5,990.10 |
ICICI Prudential Life | 3,051.23 |
Max Life Insurance | 1,853.46 |
SBI Life | 6,205.71 |
Bajaj Allianz | 2,156.58 |
Tata AIA | 1,618.21 |
Aditya Birla Sun Life | 1,661.46 |
Kotak Mahindra Life | 1,424.94 |
Value of New Business
The value of new business by an insurance company denotes the profit that will accrue from freshly issued policies during a financial year. It’s this profit that’s expected to flow to shareholders of the company in the future. A higher value is a good indication.
Below is a comparison of the top 5 life insurance providers in India and their value of new business premium for Q4 , March 2023:
- LIC – Rs 11,553 crores
- SBI Life – Rs 5,067 crores
- Max Life Insurance: Rs 3,320 crores
- Bajaj Allianz Life: Rs 6,434 crores
- Tata AIA Life: Rs 7,093 crores
Solvency Ratio
When we talk about the solvency ratio, it’s a good idea to first understand what we mean by solvency. So if we go by the dictionary, solvency is a state where we do not owe money to anyone. It also shows our ability to pay debts, if any. Now, putting it in the insurance picture, a good insurance company should always have a high solvency ratio, at least the mandatory 150%.
Solvency Ratio of the top insurance companies in India, ’23:
Insurance Company | Solvency Ratio |
Bajaj Allianz | 581% |
ICICI Prudential Life | 204.5% |
Tata AIA | 191% |
Max Life Insurance | 190% |
LIC | 187% |
HDFC Life Insurance | 187% |
But who is the insurance company paying debts to? Yes, potential claimants, i.e. the policyholders. So when finalizing on a life insurance company, do skim through their solvency ratio as well.
Customer Reviews
This is one of the easiest ways of ascertaining a company’s value in the eyes of its customers. If the existing customers are happy, they are most likely to continue with their policies. Thus, it’s a good idea to browse your mind through genuine customer reviews.
To conclude the topic, IRDAI issues its annual report of all the insurance companies in India at the end of every financial year for the public. You can easily download the report here and go through it if you wish to understand in further detail. However, the basic idea is detailed in this article and should give you an indication of which company you may go for and secure your life and your loved ones as well.
IRDAI full form – Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
As per the IRDAI report, Max Life Insurance enjoys the highest claims paid ratio of 99.51% for 2023.
Claims paid ratio is the ratio between the number of life insurance claims a company receives in a year and the number of claims it paid off. The higher this number, the better. It is also called the Claims Settlement Ratio.
If a company shows a high claims paid ratio, say 99.51% of Max Life Insurance, it indicates that the company pays all the legit claims it receives to the claimant. This works as a solid trust ground for the policy buyers.
You should look for these key indicators of an insurer, when buying a life insurance policy: Claims paid ratio (higher than 95% at least), solvency ratio (close to 100%-150%), value of new business and assets under management. These numbers will help you shortlist the best insurance company as per your needs and budget.
As of now, i.e. July 2023, there are 25 registered life insurance companies in India.
Currently, there are 25 registered private life insurance companies in India and 1 public, i.e. LIC or Life Insurance Corporation.