Contemporary Trends in General Insurance Industry

The paper presents a theoretical framework on ever changing competitive dynamics of Indian General Insurance Industry. The insurance sector is highly concentrated with the large number of private and government insurance companies in India. The growth of the insurance sector in India has been phenomenal, offering a diversified product portfolio and excellent services. The main theme of this paper is to expose the ever changing approach of general insurance industry in the era of LPG and especially after detariffing. The de-tariffing of Indian general insurance industry has occurred in three phases, - in 1994 marine cargo, personal accident, health, aviation; in 2006 - marine hull segment and in 2007 - Fire, engineering and motor own damage (OD) segments. The general insurance industry is facing many challenges, particularly in terms of profitability. Profitability pressures are arising from the pricing, claims fronts, and changes that are happening because of motor third-party provisions.