State-run general insurers continue to lose market share in terms of gross direct premium underwritten to their private peers. Collective market share of the four public sector general insurance companies fell 426 basis points year-on-year to 37.86% at the end of the first quarter this fiscal.
All four PSU insurers — New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance Company and National Insurance Company — lost market shares during the 12-month period ended June 30. New India Assurance, which continues to have the highest market share in the general insurance space at 17.53%, lost 235 basis points year-on-year during the period. The company was the only PSU general insurer which had earlier been able to expand its market share.
Market share of private sector general insurance companies like ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo, Bajaj Allianz, Tata AIG and SBI General Insurance increased on the y-o-y basis. ICICI Lombard General Insurance’s market share rose 146 basis points y-o-y to 9.86% at the end of Q1FY23, while that of HDFC Ergo General Insurance soared 27 bps to 5.64%. Market share of Bajaj Allianz and Tata AIG rose by 13 bps to 5.69% and and 68 bps to 5.35%, respectively. SBI General Insurance gained market share to reach 3.21% from 2.62% a year earlier.
Collective market share of the five standalone private insurers stood at 9.66% at the end of Q1FY23 compared to 9.50% a year ago.
Notably, collective gross direct premium underwritten for non-life insurance companies grew 22.99% y-o-y to Rs 54,491.27 crore for the first quarter this fiscal from Rs 44,303.91 crore for the same period last fiscal.
Up to June this fiscal, gross direct premium underwritten for 25 general insurance companies grew 22.73% y-o-y to Rs 48,860.47 crore, while for the five standalone private insurers it increased by 28.63% y-o-y to Rs 5,263.79 crore, according to data compiled by Irdai.
Agriculture Insurance Company of India and ECGC, the specialised PSU insurers, collectively posted a 8.34% y-o-y de-growth to Rs 367.01 crore in their gross direct premiums underwritten for the months of April, May and June, from Rs 400.39 crore for the same period of 2021. Market share for the two PSU insurers stood at 0.67% against 0.90% at the end of Q1FY22.
