Now Reading: Life cover rises as crop and fire insurance premiums fall
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Life cover rises as crop and fire insurance premiums fall
Indians are buying higher life insurance cover, while crop and fire insurance premiums have fallen sharply, according to data cited by The Economic Times and Mint. Average annual premium per in-force life…
The Story in Brief
Indians are buying higher life insurance cover, while crop and fire insurance premiums have fallen sharply, according to data cited by The Economic Times and Mint. Average annual premium per in-force life policy rose 42.6% to Rs 22,195 between FY2021 and FY2025, even as policy numbers stayed near 343 million. Policies with cover above Rs 50 lakh increased 68% to 74 lakh.
Mint reports that total non-life premiums rose 9.5% year-on-year to Rs 1.19 trillion in April-July of FY27, helped by health and motor insurance. Crop premiums fell more than two-thirds to Rs 1,183 crore, while fire premiums dropped 28.5% to Rs 10,062 crore. Analysts attributed the declines to scheme changes, discounting and, for crop insurance, enrolment timing.
The Indian Opinion
The easy narrative is that Indians are suddenly fully insured, or that falling crop and fire premiums prove insurers are offering better deals. Neither follows from the data. Life cover has increased among existing policyholders, but low-cover policies still made up 53.6% of the total in FY2025. In non-life insurance, health growth sits alongside sharp rate cuts that may test underwriting discipline. The next useful test is whether fire premiums recover after regulatory scrutiny, without a jump in claims or insurer losses.
Sources (2): economictimes.indiatimes.com, livemint.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
