Deccan Chronicle on the web
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Women’s share in insurance to rise |
15/08/2009 |
| Life insurance companies plan to give a boost to the share of women in life insurance policies, which stand at about 20 per cent.
Insurers are planning to launch women specific products with premiums than those paid by men for similar policies. For instance, a 40-year-old insured male will pay a premium of Rs 7,522 per annum for a 10-year life cover policy offered by Future Generali assuring a sum of Rs 20 lakh. While for the same policy, a 40-year-old female needs to pay a premium of Rs 6,486 only.
Some life insurance companies like Future Generali, Birla Sunlife, IDBI Fortis and Kotak charge less premiums to women for the similar policy offered to men.
Explaining the reasons Mr Yashish Dahia, co-founder and CEO of policybazaar.com said: “Women live at least six years longer than men. They are less prone to deaths by road accidents and heart attacks, biggest causes for deaths. Thus, the life expectancy of women is higher and it is logical that the mortality charges for women would be lower than of men. So, in order to cater this, some companies have started offering lower premiums in policies for women.” But some life insurers for example, ICICI Prudential, LIC, Tata AIG are yet to offer lower premiums, he added.
Mr G.N. Agarwal, chief actuary of Future Generali Life Insurance said: “In the life insurance industry, about 75 to 80 per cent policies are sold to males and this underlines the huge potential to sell women specific products. We are planning to bring some women specific insurance products in a couple of months. These products would cover women against diseases like cancer. We would also bring a product that would offer flexibility in the premium amount.” The product would target women having irregular incomes, he added.
Source: deccanchronicle.com |
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