Negative outlook on India's non-life insurance market maintained - AM Best

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- United States-headquartered global credit rating agency, AM Best has maintained its negative market segment outlook on India’s non-life insurance segment, citing insurers’ reliance on investment income to offset persistent underwriting losses as a key factor.

The Best’s Market Segment Report titled, ‘Market Segment Outlook: India Non-Life Insurance’, states that key lines of non-life business, including health, motor and crop insurance, have been challenged for several years by poor underwriting performance.

Despite an improvement in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, the market’s combined ratio remained unfavourable, at 115 per cent, compared with approximately 120 per cent in the previous two fiscal years.

The state-owned insurance companies, which accounted for 45 per cent of earned premium in fiscal-year 2021, posted a combined ratio of over 120 per cent. These companies help to enforce government insurance schemes and increase insurance penetration by offering lower-priced products.

According to a statement, while this approach benefits policyholders, it constrains the insurers’ profitability. AM Best expects a deterioration in technical metrics in fiscal-year 2022, driven by a further decline in health insurance results.

Impacting these lines of business and investment returns is the ongoing pandemic and global geopolitical tensions. “The Indian equity market index has risen quite strongly in recent years,” said Trung Tran, senior financial analyst, AM Best.

“However, an increase in market volatility is a risk to India’s insurers that could materially affect their capital position and investment performance.”

While the segment is poised to grow strongly as the country’s economy recovers, AM Best expects India’s non-life companies to continue facing headwinds in the near to midterm from their core underwriting portfolios.

For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA