Shriram General to diversify, to increase non-motor insurance biz this fiscal: Official

Chennai: Shriram General Insurance has planned to diversify its product portfolio by focusing more on the non-motor segments like marine, fire, during the current financial year, a top official said.

Motor insurance has been the core of the business for the Jaipur-based firm accounting to about 92 per cent, company Chief Underwriting Officer Shashi Kant Dahuja said.

As part of the diversification plan, the company would launch new insurance products under the fire, marine, engineering segments, he said. "The idea is to double our non-motor business to around 15 per cent in two to three years from the current 7-8 per cent," Dahuja said.

The non-motor business was growing at 70 per cent, he said. To strengthen its presence in the non-motor business, he said the company would launch products in cyber insurance, pay as you drive, theft and pet insurance, soon. "As a business strategy we don't want to be excessively dependent on one vertical and we also want to diversify our products slowly and increase our non-motor portfolio to 15 per cent over the next 2-3 years," he said responding to a query.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2023, Shriram General Insurance reported a profit of Rs 98 crore, up by 37 per cent over the corresponding quarter of last year. The Gross Written Premium during the quarter under review was at Rs 560 crore, up by 39 per cent from Rs 401 crore registered in the same period of last year.

On the overall business growth targeted, he said the company has set a plan of growing 30 per cent during the current financial year. "This year, we will grow the overall business by 30 per cent. The general insurance industry grew by 12 per cent between April and August this year, but our growth has been strong and we hope the momentum continues for the remaining months," he said.

On the surge in electric vehicles in the domestic market, he said the sales of EV insurance policies were growing faster and the company issued policies worth Rs 82 crore during last financial year. "EV is a good business for us. Last year, we wrote policies worth Rs 82 crore, while we have achieved that mark in the first six months of the current financial year, we expect Rs 200 crore in this segment, by the end of this fiscal," he said.

Dahuja said the company was also expanding its employee base with plans to add 700 people during the current financial year. "The growth in business will be driven by aggressive recruitment of employees and agents. We have 3,780 employees now and will recruit another 700 in the current fiscal," he explained.

"Similarly, we have nearly 63,000 agents and that will increase to 1.50 lakh over the next couple of years," he said. On the medical policy segment, he said the company would grow this segment as it was witnessing traction in the market in the 'Benefit-based health insurance' category. "Shriram General Insurance will also grow its medical policy segment. Insurers offer two types of products - indemnity based and benefit-based policy. The most commonly known health insurance is the indemnity-based health insurance which is popularly known as Mediclaim," he said.

The other product is the 'Benefit-based health insurance which is a type of health coverage that pays a predetermined, fixed amount for specific medical services or conditions, the chief underwriting officer, said. "Shriram General Insurance has launched benefits-based health products that are gaining traction in the market. Benefits based policies are gaining popularity post COVID-19 due to its unique features" Dahuja said.

The unique features include paying a 'lump sum' or 'fixed amount' irrespective of actual hospitalisation expenses incurred without any deduction and questions asked for hospital bills, he added.