NE BUSINESS BUREAU
CHENNAI, JULY 30
When health insurance meets disciplined underwriting, the numbers begin to tell a powerful story. Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd has opened FY27 with a distinctly stronger financial pulse, posting a 25% year-on-year rise in Profit After Tax (PAT) to ₹550 crore in Q1 FY27, while underwriting profit surged nearly seven-fold to ₹111 crore from ₹16 crore a year ago.
- Underwriting profit zooms nearly seven-fold to ₹111 crore from ₹16 crore
- GWP rises 19% to ₹4,287 crore; fresh retail health premium surges 37%
- Normalised PAT climbs 44% to ₹386 crore, reflecting stronger core profitability
- Claims settlement, persistency and customer advocacy improve; NPS reaches 65
- Digital-first strategy gains traction as 97% of fresh policies are sourced digitally
The performance, for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, reflects the country’s largest standalone health insurer’s combination of premium growth, tighter risk selection, improved operating efficiencies and growing digital adoption.
Premium growth gathers pace
Star Health’s Gross Written Premium (GWP) rose 19% year-on-year to ₹4,287 crore on a reported 1/N basis. Fresh retail health GWP was particularly strong, climbing 37% to ₹730 crore, underscoring continued momentum in the company’s core retail franchise.
Under Ind AS, the company’s Combined Insurance Service Ratio (CISR) improved to 97% from 98.7% in Q1 FY26, signalling better underwriting performance.
Stripping out short-term mark-to-market volatility, normalised PAT rose 44% to ₹386 crore from ₹267 crore in Q1 FY26, based on a normalised annualised investment yield of 8%.
Claims, customer confidence strengthen
Customer service indicators also moved in the right direction. Star Health settled 9.6 lakh claims during the quarter, while its retail claims settlement ratio improved one percentage point to 91%.
Persistency improved 3% year-on-year to 102%, while the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) rose 12 points to 65 as of June 2026, indicating stronger customer advocacy.
Digital turns into a growth multiplier
The insurer’s digital-first strategy continued to gather momentum. Its proprietary D2C channel contributed 16% of fresh retail sales, recording a striking 142% year-on-year growth.
As many as 97% of fresh policies were sourced digitally, highlighting the scale of digital adoption across its retail distribution network.
Its AI-enabled ATOM PRO platform is supporting advisors with intelligent product recommendations, instant quotations, policy comparisons, network hospital searches and business dashboards. The platform was recognised at The Economic Times BFSI FinNext Awards 2026 under the “InsurTech Product Excellence of the Year” category.
The Star Health Customer App has crossed 14.7 million downloads and more than 1.5 million monthly active users, with increasing adoption of digital renewals, claims submission and wellness services.
The company is also deploying AI and machine-learning applications across its value chain, particularly claims operations, while working to layer Generative AI capabilities onto its existing systems.
A wide distribution moat
As of June 30, Star Health had 900-plus branches, over 8.5 lakh agents, 16,000-plus network hospitals and more than 18,500 employees, giving it a formidable distribution and service footprint as health-insurance penetration expands across India.
Commenting on the performance, Anand Roy, CEO & Managing Director, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd, said: “Our performance in the first quarter reflects the strength of our fundamentals and the consistency of our execution. Sustainable growth, driving improvement in core underwriting profitability, and sustained operating discipline have enabled us to deliver a strong start to the year.”
He added: “We remain focused on expanding health insurance access across the country while maintaining prudent risk selection and delivering superior customer experience.”
Roy said investments in digital capabilities, AI-led innovation and distribution were strengthening the company’s ability to serve customers more efficiently and at scale.
“As health insurance adoption deepens in India, we remain committed to building a resilient, digital-first organisation that creates long-term value for our policyholders and shareholders,” he said.
