NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, MAY 10
Chola MS General Insurance Company (Chola MS) on Monday said it settled COVID-19-related claims worth over Rs 140 crore in the last financial year.
The company also had gross written premium at Rs 4,388 crore during 2020-21.
A joint-venture between India’s Murugappa Group and Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Chola MS said the premium written during FY21 draws level with the previous year’s volume despite the pandemic-related lockdown and economic slowdown.
“During the year, COVID-19-related health claims of over Rs 140 crore rendered the Combined Ratio (CoR) higher at 107.28 per cent. Profit before taxes grew by 47 percent to Rs 374 crore supported by strong investment income of Rs 804 crore with the investment corpus crossing Rs 11,000 crore,” it said in a release.
CoR is a metric to measure the profitability of an insurance company in terms of its daily operation.
Chola MS said it re-oriented its product mix both across and within motor to step up volumes in commercial lines and retail health and in cars/two-wheelers.
“Despite the slowdown in lending among our major financier partners, Chola MS has attained growth in volumes from newer channel acquisitions, growth in fire line of business in bancassurance, OEM programs and in agency business across motor and health,” Suryanarayanan V, Managing Director of Chola MS said.
The company had 14 percent growth in the three months ended March 2021 over the corresponding quarter which was higher than the industry growth, he said.
“Chola MS expects to sustain higher than industry growth rate in FY21-22,” he said.
South India-based Chola MS has a market share of 2.6 percent and ranks 8th amongst private players in the general insurance industry.
