The overseas travel insurance segment is expected to grow by nearly 20 per cent in 2010-11, in terms of premium collection, with corporates and tourists stepping up international travel.
The segment had suffered a decline of 25-35 per cent in some companies during the recent slowdown.
The insurance policy, which provides health cover along with some associated benefits such as compensation for loss of luggage, is one of the few profitable lines of business for general insurers. The claims ratio in the segment is 40 per cent on an average compared with over 100 per cent in mediclaim policies.
In 2007-08, a total of 14,70,607 overseas health insurance policies were sold by all general insurers with the premium collection amounting to Rs 296 crore. This was roughly 6 per cent of the total health insurance premium collected by the industry. The total claim settled during the period under the category was Rs 91 crore.
�With the increase in IT deals in the last few months and rising movement of employees overseas, the foreign travel insurance spend is expected to go up this year. The insurance companies should, however, take another look at the tariff rates, Mr V.V.R. Babu, Senior Vice-President, ITC Infotech, said.
A senior official at National Insurance Company said that NICs premium collection from the segment had dropped by nearly 50 per cent in recent times to Rs 10 crore. �We are expecting over 10 per cent growth in the segment in the next fiscal,� NICs Chairman, Mr N.S.R.C. Prasad, said. Private companies with foreign stake, however, dominate the segment because of better access to international travel agents and foreign third party administrators (TPA).
Posts
