life insurance holds a place of importance in life and everyone acknowledges it. Yet, the fact that only 4.14 per cent of the population of the country is under the cover of insurance reflects that very few people actually get themselves insured despite their knowledge of its advantages. In an interaction with The Pioneer, Senior Divisional Manager (SDM) of Dehradun division Ramesh Chandra spoke about the awareness of insurance, new products and corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of lIC.
Following are the excerpts of the interview:
Question- Uttarakhand witnessed an unprecedented damage to life and property in last year’s disaster. Do you think that you have adequately risen to the occasion in the aftermath of the disasterIJ Do you think the people have become more aware of the importance of insuranceIJ
Answer- lIC decided that all the claims of the disaster victims would be settled promptly and a decision was taken to settle the claims even in the absence of policy and other documents. The insurers have settled 179 claims and disbursed Rs1.84 crore under these claims to the victims of the disaster. We are witnessing an increase in insurance penetration in the area where disaster struck as the people experienced the importance of insurance and its social significance.
Question- The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) brought in a new regulatory regime and closed all existing traditional plans. You have only 12 products in your kitty now as against 52 before March 31. How has the sales force adapted itself in such a scenarioIJ
Answer- The products which we have are adequate to meet the requirements of the sales force and the common people. The agency force is fully motivated and our collections are as per our target. lIC is getting a good response to its plan ‘Jeevan Rakshak’ in which the sum assured starts from Rs75000 to Rs2.0 lakh and the premium under the plan is very low due to which it had become a hit with the low income groups.
Question- The claim settlement ratio is the indicator of the efficiency of any insurer and how Dehradun division of lIC is performing on the claim frontIJ
Answer- lIC has the highest claim settlement ratio as it settles more than 99 percent of its total claims while the claim settlement ratio of private insurers is about 93 percent. This fact would suffice to highlight the brand lIC and the goodwill it enjoys among the masses. In Dehradun division, 5280 claims were lodged in the last financial year and only 33 claims were repudiated.
Question- Which is the preferred policy by the agency force these daysIJ
Answer- The agents are trained to sell policies as per the need of the customers. The agents are concentrating more on single premium plan ‘Jevan Shagun’ these days as it is getting closed on November 29. The plan offers guaranteed returns at the end of 10, 11 and 12 year of policy, ten times risk cover and tax benefits under 80 c and 10 -10 D of income tax act both at the time of inception and maturity.