Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (SUD Life), a joint venture of Bank of India (BOI), Union Bank of India, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Japan, has registered a high growth rate of 23.2% putting them in the top position amongst all players in the industry, as per the year-on-year growth ranking for the period July 2010 – July 2011.
This high growth rate has been successfully achieved even in the backdrop of the private life insurance industry registering a negative growth rate of 24.8%. IRDA data suggests that the life insurance industry has recorded a negative growth rate of 21.8% for the year-on-year growth in premium up to July 2011.
According to the data released by IRDA, only 6 companies (including SUD Life) registered a positive growth rate during the said period while only 3 of these companies showed a positive growth rate in the number of policies sold. Star Union Dai-ichi recorded a massive 32.7% increase in the number of policies sold for the period July 2010 – July 2011. On the other hand, the private life insurance industry showed an overall negative growth rate of 38.6% for the number of policies sold during the stated period.
SUD Life is not only amongst the fastest growing life insurance companies in India but is also amongst the few cost-efficient companies in the insurance sector. The company boasts of the lowest claims rejection ratio amongst the private players, which stands at a nominal 1.7%; further highlighting its commitment and intent to prioritize customer interest at the highest levels.
Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance is primarily a bancassurance company at this juncture and has been distributing its products through Bank of India, Union Bank of India, and branches of 7 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) with whom the company has tied up for business development. The company successfully piloted the launch of its agency channel in some select centres of Eastern Region towards the end of the last financial year and is expected to go full throttle and make visible contributions towards last quarter of the current fiscal.
The company has insured 69,581 lives under its various Group Schemes this financial year. It has also exceeded its social sector mandatory obligations of 10,000 lives by covering 25,453 lives.
According to Mr. Kamalji Sahay, MD & CEO, Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd, “Since our inception, we have strived to build an infallible trust in our brand and deliver on its promise. We aim to continuously provide the highest levels of service excellence and to this end our quality initiatives have played a pivotal role. At Star Union Dai-ichi, we constantly explore ways to provide solutions to a wide variety of customers. We recognize and adhere to these evolving trends in customer psychology to provide customized solutions to meet these aspirations.”
