Max Life posts 11% growth in new business premium in H1

Private sector Max Life Insurance today posted 11% growth in new business premium at Rs 904 crore for the first half ended September, 2013-14. 

The gross written premium of the company grew 4% to Rs 3,005 crore during the period. At the same time, the company's market share increased to 10.4% and maintained its rank as fourth largest private life insurer.

The profit before the tax grew marginally by 2% to Rs 248 crore.

In view of a strong all round performance during the first half of 2013-14 fiscal, it declared a net interim shareholder Dividend of Rs 128 crore, 29% upward revision from interim dividend announced in the previous year, Max Life Insurance managing director Rajesh Sud said. 

http://www.myallagents.com/Max-Life-posts-11-growth-in-new-business-premium-in-H1/details.htm 

Kotak Life Insurance launches immediate annuity plan

Kotak Life Insurance has launched Kotak e-Lifetime income plan, an immediate annuity product. The plan offers the purchaser of the annuity the option to choose an annuitant or beneficiary other than self. This will ensure regular income to any close blood relative or spouse, other than self. The plan is also available online, said a press release issued by Kotak Life Insurance. The one time premium paid by the proposer is paid out to the annuitant or beneficiary at the interval chosen – monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly at the predefined annuity rate promised at the time of purchase. Annuity rates will depend upon the age of the annuitant, the amount invested and the annuity option chosen.  http://www.myallagents.com/Kotak-Life-Insurance-launches-immediate-annuity-plan/details.html

Has Right to Information come to your rescue?

The Right to Information (RTI) Act was implemented in India nine years ago. The Bill was introduced in 2004's winter session of Parliament and passed in June 2005.
RTI remains a potent legal weapon to fight opacity in public offices and politicians continue to fear it. In the last winter session, a Parliamentary standing committee, while supporting passage of an amendment in the Act, concluded political parties should be kept out of the ambit. The RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2013, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2, which states any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, will not be considered a public authority 
.http://www.myallagents.com/Has-Right-to-Information-come-to-your-rescue/details.html 

Do not delay filing an insurance claim

Getting insurance companies to pay claims is the hard part at times. Though the claims ratio of most insurance companies is 94-98 per cent, claimants often have to run pillar to post to get these. There are various reasons due to which claims can be rejected. Among these is a delay on the part of theclaimant. Under the Limitation Act, a claimant has to tell the company about the death in three years. The company can refuse to pay the claim if told beyond this period. But, in case of genuine reasons, the company has to pay  http://www.myallagents.com/Do-not-delay-filing-an-insurance-claim/details.html

Get the most out of your car insurance

Comprehensive motor insurance policy without Add-on covers, in reality is not comprehensive in its true sense. If motor insurance policy holder has to pay from his wallet (partly or fully) for replacing rubber or metal parts in case the car met with an accident, then the entire purpose of insurance gets defeated. One can overcome this if motor insurance is bought with some very useful add on covers like Engine protection, Road side assistance, Protection for no claim bonus, Nil depreciation, Return to invoice and Personal belongings. Furthermore, spare parts in high-end cars are very expensive. It is recommended that cars valued upwards of Rs. 8-10 Lacs should have Add-on covers as part of the motor comprehensive policy. This reduces the financial impact on the car owner in the event of a claim  http://www.myallagents.com/Get-the-most-out-of-your-car-insurance/details.html

A supplementary cover at best

Most individuals defer buying health insurance as they believe the main cost they will have to incur is for surgery, say insurance players. To address this, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has introduced a new plan – Surgical Protection Plan, a benefit plan which proposes to repay surgical expenses. 
http://www.myallagents.com/A-supplementary-cover-at-best/details.html 

Cashless motor insurance has limited benefits

The pitch ‘our insurance company has tied up with 1,600garages’ seems attractive to buy cashless motor insurance. However, this means little if the garages aren’t located close when needed As is the case in the health segment, insurers offer cashless motor insurance, too, provided you choose to go to a garage that is part of the insurer’s network. These schemes are gaining popularity— about 80 per cent of claims are from such policies, say industry players. For cashless motor insurance, most companies have a reasonable number of tie-ups. For instance, Bajaj Allianz has tie-ups with about 1,700 garages, while HDFC Ergo has tie-ups with about 1,600 garages across the country  http://www.myallagents.com/Cashless-motor-insurance-has-limited-benefits/details.html

ICICI Prudential Launches ICare II Online Term Plan

ICICI Prudential, one of India’s biggest life insurance companies in the private sector launched iCare II as a sequel to its online term insurance plan.
In September 2011, ICICI Prudential had launched iCare which was India’s first no medical online term plan. And now they have come up with a better version of the plan by launching ICICI Pru iCare II with some improved features. 
The first striking feature of the new iCare II is its pricing. Premiums are attractively lower and now competing within the top 5 low premium online term plans.  
http://www.myallagents.com/ICICI-Prudential-Launches-ICare-II-Online-Term-Plan/details.html 

Queries of Life Insurance

I have a LIC policy in my name that is nearing maturity next month, the premiums were all paid by my mother in India. I am US citizen and hold a valid NRE account with SBI. Can LIC submit the money upon maturity into my NRE account, or will i have to open an NRO account?

This is not a concern of LIC but according to the banking norms, all income within India needs to be credited only in an NRO Account of an NRI and only income which is earned outside India can be credited in NRE Account, which is freely repatriable. Money of NRO Account is also repatriable but after the payment of the applicable taxes, if any.

Hence, you would have to contact LIC but they would provide you with a cheque of the maturity amount favouring your name and the sae needs to be credited only in an NRO account. 

http://www.myallagents.com/Queries-of-Life-Insurance/details.html 

No medical test sought? Claims may be rejected

Kapil Mehta, managing director of SecureNow Insurance Brokers, does not favour online term products that don’t require medical tests. This increases the possibility of repudiation, he says. Typically, online term plans don’t require medical check-ups up to a particular sum assured, typically Rs 45-50 lakh and up to 40-45 years of age. For higher sums assured, insurers issue policies after medical declarations. 
http://www.myallagents.com/No-medical-test-sought-Claims-may-be-rejected/details.html

LIC hopes to retain market share of 82 percent this fiscal

"We hope to retain the existing market share in the current financial year at 82 per cent," LIC Managing Director SB Mainak said

LIC 's market share increased to 82 percent last fiscal as against the previous year's level of 76 percent, he sai

He added that LIC has introduced many new products since January 2014"Products require time to get market acceptance," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organized by BCCI on Tuesday. 

http://www.myallagents.com/LIC-hopes-to-retain-market-share-of-82-percent-this-fiscal/details.html 

Should you opt for a high-value health cover?

The demand for a higher health insurance   cover is increasing. Renuka Kanvinde, assistant vice-president, health insurance,Bajaj Allianz General Insurance , says the company has seen a 35-40 per cent increase in demand for their Extra Care, a top-up plan, in the past two years. They also saw buyers shift from a Rs 3-5- lakh policy to Rs 7.5-10 lakh in the period.
This led the private insurer to believe health insurance policybuyers want a bigger cover. Hence, a fortnight earlier, it launched a Health Care Supreme product, offering a cover between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Should-you-opt-for-a-highvalue-health-cover/details.html

Replacing your life insurance policy might get tougherv

Often, insurance policyholders are misled into replacing their policies with new ones, with promises of lower premia or better returns. Though the process wasn’t difficult so far, this might change soon. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has issued draft guidelines on replacement of life insurance policies. Now, an agent should secure the written consent of the policyholder, inform the existing insurer 15 days before submitting new proposal forms, and send the forms to the new company only after this 15-day period. In their policy documents, insurance companies must advise customers not to surrender, lapse or make paid-up existing policies before taking on a new one. They should also advise customers not to withhold full or part amount of the surrender value payable, and inform the new company of a customer’s existing policies. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Replacing-your-life-insurance-policy-might-get-tougher/details.html 

A to Z of Issuing a Whole Life Insurance Policy

ou've determined the amount of life insurance coverage you need, decided on the type of policy you want, and you've shopped around for life insurance quotes. You've even selected a carrier and completed an application--now what?
While each carrier has its own procedures, most insurers review applications and issue policies using similar methods.

Initial Review 
http://www.myallagents.com/A-to-Z-of-Issuing-a-Whole-Life-Insurance-Policy/details.html 

Investment Properties

Getting the ball rolling on any project often takes more energy than it should. When you do get things rolling you really want to be organized enough to keep up the pace. In the home rehabbing business, this seems to be common difficulty. Many times the most glaring issue that is wrong with a home is not easily discovered. 
http://www.myallagents.com/Investment-Properties/details.html 

Top Mutual Funds in India

Deciding or searching for the top mutual funds generally requires lot of things to be taken into consideration. It is here that the role of the fund manager creeps in. The fund manager determines the performance of the fund for that particular period, so it is a compulsion that he is consulted prior to making the investment. Another important segment that should be taken care of is the proper selection of Assets. Asset Allocation is the art of bifurcating your finances into a mixture of Assets (stocks, bonds, etc). It is imperative that some amount of research is done prior to choosing a fund for investment. The performance of a mutual fund over the last few years does give an insight to it’s value. The Mutual fund performance 
http://www.myallagents.com/Top-Mutual-Funds-in-India/details.html  

Final Thoughts

Even though the American insurance industry was greatly influenced by Britain, the US market developed somewhat differently from that of the United Kingdom.  Contributing to that was America's size, land diversity and the overwhelming desire to be independent.  As America moved from a colonial outpost to an independent force, from a farming country to an industrial nation, the insurance business developed from a small number of companies to a large industry.  
http://www.myallagents.com/Final-Thoughts/details.html 

Home Insurance Leads

After loads of man-made and natural calamities in USA the Home Insurance market has come much into prominence. And at present the competition is at its peak.
Homeowners Insurance is a guarantee, which pays the cost of your house if it gets damaged in some natural or man made disasters like fire, floods, storms etc 
http://www.myallagents.com/Home-Insurance-Leads/details.html 

Health Insurance Guide

Health has always been uncertain. We can try our best to keep fit, but after a certain age the expenses on health do increase. Its better to keep ourselves insured under a Medical Plan to make sure that our medical expenses are taken care of.
If we talk about Individual Health Insurance Plans in US, they are designed to help an individual and their families access care and cover the medical cost of receiving medical services from any physician, hospital or other provider 
http://www.myallagents.com/Health-Insurance-Guide/details.html