Life insurers gain from demonetisation; LIC's premium collection more than doubles in November

Amid concerns over a demonetisation-induced economic slowdown, most of the life insurance companies in the country posted sound premium growth figures in November with insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) leading the race.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) data, India's largest life insurer LIC recorded around 142 percent rise in its premium collections in November this year against the same period last year.

Total premium collections of LIC stood at Rs 12,528.07 crore in November this year against Rs 5,182.50 crore reported a year earlier.

Notably, after government's announcement of banning high-value currencies like Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, economic activities in the country have been badly hit owing to the ongoing cash crunch. However, insurance companies have witnessed larger inflows after this move with LIC becoming the major gainer.

Not only LIC, even private sector insurance firms seems to have benefited from the note ban. 

Total premium collections of private sector insurers in November stood at Rs 3,533.33 crore, up 49 percent year-on-year. Private sector life insurer ICICI Prudential posted 91 percent rise in its collections to Rs 740.88 crore during this period. Similarly, while SBI Life's premium jumped around 61 percent to Rs 730.66 crore; HDFC Standard Life saw its collections growing to Rs 521.23 crore, up 34 percent over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, collections for the whole industry more than doubled to Rs 16,061.40 crore last month over the corresponding period last year. During April-November period of this fiscal, total premium stood at Rs 1,03,404.60 crore, up 39 percent over April-November period of last fiscal.

Interestingly, insurance companies see such growth figures towards the fag end of any financial year, usually during January-March period, as most people buy insurance products for tax savings during the last quarter.