The pack gathering and annual insurance summit on “Effective Delivery Mechanism for Better Penetration of Insurance in India” at the Trident, was all ears as Hon’ble Justice B. N. Srikrishna, Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, provided some valuable insights in his special address on issues pertaining to the growth of insurance sector. According to Justice BN Srikrishna, nearly 60 to 70% of vehicles in India are uninsured and these figures are lower in urban areas as compared to rural pockets. He also further elaborated that consumer preference is more towards government companies and this lack of trust on private companies was a major obstacle for greater penetration of insurance in the country at large. Justice Srikrinshna observed that even among those who opted for insurance cover, a vast majority of them were over insured or under insured.

T .S. Vijayan, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), was extremely optimistic is his assessment of the prevailing scenario in insurance sector and further felt that it had great potential and was poised for major expansion. “Awareness about insurance is a major hurdle for better penetration” emphasized Mr. Vijayan. He concluded by some pertinent observations about greater benefits, standard formats, simplicity of policies, among others to ensure greater trust and faith in minds of the consumers.

Mr Probodh Thakker, Vice President, IMC stated, “We are happy that the insurance summit received an over whelming response from all stakeholders, since it is an honest attempt of the chamber to work alongside the government and the regulatory authorities to achieve common objectives for faster growth and adequate levels of insurance penetration and density”. He further added that IMC had many specifically identified and recommended firsts:

1.      The Protection of Policy Holders’ Interests has been viewed from a new angle – of not just protection but promotion as well – therefore, we have endeavored to lay down a definitive framework to:

Align current laws and regulations around “Contract Certainty”

Creating an Underwriting platform with global best practices,

Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism for Insurance Claims Disputes and also offering Institutional IMC as the ADR Center with proposed rules and mechanisms

Looking at individual Policy Holders’ grievances differently

2.      New frontiers and ideas on Delivery of Insurance

3.      Innovative ways of risks and catastrophe financing in line with tremendous work already undertaken by the IRDA, the General Insurance Council and NDMA.

4.      To move in the direction of Risk Based Capital modelling and the agenda to nudge the Companies move to underwriting profits – to create more trust in the system, service better deliveries, and attract healthier investments for future growth and penetration.

The Insurance Summit comprehensively focused on all issues, at the policy level, that have a strong bearing on the effective delivery mechanisms which added help in the insurance services and penetration levels in the Indian market. The summit deliberated on these issues through panels consisting of eminent subject experts, on approaches and policy / administrative framework. Head honchos and senior personnel from the Insurance and associated industries attended the Summit.

A report from IMC on ‘Effective Delivery Mechanism for Better Penetration of Insurance in India’ was also released by Shri T. S Vijayan, Chairman, IRDA. IMC in collaboration with New India had worked on the Insurance Policy for Domestics, which was launched during the inaugural session of the summit.

Among the other prominent speakers at IMC’s exclusive summit were Mr. Kaushal Mishra, MD and CEO, Tata AIG General Insurance Company Ltd., Mr. NeeleshGarg, ED, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd., Ms Monica Agarwal, Principal-Global Financial Markets, Korn/Ferry International and Mr. Sandeep Bakhshi, MD & CEO, ICICI Pru Life Insurance Company of India Ltd., Mr. R. Raghavan, CEO, Insurance Information Bureau,  Dr. Praveen Sandri, Managing Director & Senior Vice President, AIR Worldwide India Private Ltd., Mr. G SatishRaju, Head GP South Asia & Director, Global Partnership, Swiss Re Services India Pvt Ltd., Mr. Mehul Shah,Appointed as Actuary and Head ERM,L&T General Insurance and Mr. Arun Agarwal, Chairman, Insurance Committee, IMC.

Source : Sachin Murdeshwar