The plight of Sichuan residents and business in the aftermath of the recent 7-magnitude earthquake has been highlighted in local media due to low insurance penetration in an industry with assets worth CNY16 trillion. Many damaged houses or buildings, especially private ones, were not covered with sufficient insurance. Other guest...
Major nonlife insurance firms plan to cut premiums on their voluntary motor insurance products by two to three percent on average in January. The companies see improved profitability in their auto insurance operations as the number of traffic accidents decreases amid improving vehicle safety technologies, according to a report in...
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (MSI) is acquiring Singapore’s First Capital Insurance for USD1.6 billion from Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, in the biggest takeover by a Japanese insurer in populous Southeast Asia – a key target region for global players. Japanese insurance firms have been aggressively expanding globally. In the last...
Data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) suggests that in the gross direct premiums underwritten by the insurance industry shows 35 percent more growth than the previous year for the same months. The strong growth has been attributed to performance in segments such as health, motor...
Health insurance firm Cigna has applied with the regulator to increase its stake in its Indian joint venture Cigna TTK to 49 percent from the current 26 percent. Cigna Corporation will put in an additional investment of INR113 crore (USD17.6 million) in Cigna TTK Health Insurance, a joint venture between the US firm and...
Insurance companies in Australia will henceforth be subject to stricter, more transparent consumer protection guidelines as part of the financial services industry’s first ever Life Insurance Code of Practice for consumers. As a result of the changes that came into practice on July 1, all Australian Financial Services Council (FSC) members must ensure that...
Some of the largest insurance providers in Australia have revised travel insurance policies that have long contained blanket exclusions for mental health conditions. Cover-More Australia and QBE Insurance have recently removed exclusions in their policies that deny cover to people who cancel or change travel plans due to a mental illness that...
Two bitcoin exchanges in Japan are launching insurance products aimed at preventing losses tied to failed transactions. According to a report from Nikkei, bitFlyer is working with Mitsui Suitomo Insurance, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Holdings Group, which offers non-life insurance products. Coincheck, another domestic bitcoin exchange, is pursuing a similar...
Three major non-life insurance companies saw sales of cyberattack policies more than triple to over 1,000 clients combined in fiscal 2016. Demand for cyberattack insurance, which covers losses caused by damaged computer systems, is surging as cybersecurity concerns spread to small and midsize firms. The Japan Network Security Association said...
With the country implementing a new tax regime with the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), consumers will now have to pay more for insurance premium payments. Most of the financial services will attract a higher tax of 18 percent as against the previous 15 percent under the...
