Bleeding motor insurers find novel ways to stem losses

MUMBAI: General insurers, which have been in losses for much of the last decade, are working out novel ways to boost their income, including charging higher premium for those who park their cars in open, and from those who are in field jobs such as sales.

The insurance premium on automobiles is set to add to your annual expenses with insurers planning to introduce many parameters to calculate the premium, said three people familiar with the developing agenda in the industry.

"Chances of a tree falling or any damage is higher on car parked in open than the one parked in covered space,' said Vijay Kumar head of motor insurance Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. "We are taking into account different factors to price car insurance."

General insurance industry has been reeling under losses mainly due to bogus third-party motor claims and due to poor under writing standards. Motor insurance contributes over 35% of the premium income for the insurers and it is the fastest growing segment. The premium income from auto policies in the first half the fiscal year was Rs 13,626 crores.

These are proposals which have to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority before becoming a norm.

Insurers justify the new parameters citing the practice in the West. In the US premium is lower by as much as 5% if in an elite profession. In the UK, the colour of the cars is added to determine the policy price.


Claim ratio on third party motor insurance, which is the proportion to the premium earned, has soared 213% last fiscal from a year earlier, implying for every Rs 100 earned in premium, companies paid a claim of Rs 213.

Insurers are also looking out ways to extract higher premium from those in occupation where the usage of the vehicle is quite high and where there are more than one user for a vehicle.

This will be in contrast to the most common factors used by insurers now which include the age of the car, model of the vehicle, fuel type, zone, engine capacity and the market value of the vehicle. As a carrot, the industry is planning to offer a discount to female car and motorcycle owners.
"Gender is another parameter in deciding premium. Women are given a discount as they are expected to be better drivers." said Sanjay Datta head of motor insurance ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

But he defended the plan for higher premium for open space parking, "chances of another car banging is higher in open parking so there is a discount offered on closed parking."
Profession will also become a significant factor in the determination of premium as the industry argues that by nature some are mild users and others are not.

Doctors and teachers will be among the preferred category with normal premium, but salesmen and businessmen will have higher premium. But the industry at this point does not have a scientific study to back the claim.

The new factors are profession, gender, income group and occupation,'' said an executive who did not want to be identified.

Insurers are using risk analytics with an objective to compartmentalise further based on colour of vehicle and usage of vehicle.

Insurers are offering discount to people in high-income group as they are expected to use more than one vehicle that lowers the damage risk.