The slide in premium collection by life insurance companies continued in June. Led by a29 per cent fall in premium collection by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), first-year premium collections by life insurance companies fell 28.36 per cent in the April-June period, compared to the corresponding period last year.

Premium collections were down 12 per cent during the April-May period.

According to data collected by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), during the first quarter of the financial year, 23 life insurers collected `18,282.86 crore by writing new policies, compared with `25,522.21 crore collected a year ago. LIC, the country’s largest life insurer, collected premiums worth `13,341.97 crore, compared with `18,740.42 crore in the year-ago period, while collections by its private peers fell 27.14 per cent from `

6,781.79 crore to `4,940.89 crore. In June, the industry collection dropped 16.23 per cent to `6,022.98 crore, against

`7,190.07 crore in May. In 2010-11, the life insurance industry had collected

`1,25,826.03 crore by selling new policies, a rise of 15.13 per cent compared with

`1,09,290.38 crore collected in the corresponding period a year ago. This was the lowest growth rate since 2002, when industry sales were down 14 per cent.

GENERAL INSURER GROW 22%

The gross written premium of the general insurance industry rose 22.35 per cent during the first quarter of 2011-12, compared with the year-ago period. According to data collected by insurers, the industry collected `14,045.87 crore by writing new policies in the April-May period, compared with `11479.64 crore collected last year. While, private insurers registered a growth of 27.40 per cent at `6,020.09 crore, the four state-owned general insurance companies’ collection rose 18.82 per cent to `8,025.78 crore. During May, the industry recorded a growth of 23.15 per cent by writing new policies at `4,425.09 crore, compared with `3,593.06 crore in year-ago period. Governmentowned New India Assurance India Ltd collected `2,316.12 crore by writing new policies so far this financial year.