As of fiscal 2021, there were over 25 lakh life insurance agents and 8 lakh standalone health insurance agents, according to the IPO prospectus of Star Health and Allied Insurance. This implies that only 3 out of 10 life insurance agents have tie ups with standalone health insurance (SAHI) companies.
The data, according to the document, indicates the "Huge underlying growth opportunity for health insurers in India to tap the under penetrated market by enhancing their agent network.”
"While selecting a health insurance, people are largely influenced by insurance agents to take decisions as regards to features, exclusions and more. Agents thus play an important role in promoting insurance products in the market," the prospectus stated.
IRDAI norms allow individual agents to sell policies of three insurers – one life insurance company, one non-life insurer and one standalone health insurer.
Here's the number of agents empanelled with different health insurers and life insurance companies:
Individual agents dominate the retail health insurance space in India with 75% share. Their share in retail premium went up substantially between FY 2015 and FY 2020 as banks lost ground in retail distribution.
Individual agents have highest aggregate share
Individual agents account for 34% of the health insurance premium garnered by standalone health insurance companies (SAHI) and general insurance companies. Their share went up 3 percentage points between FY 2019 and FY 2020. Along with brokers, they command over 50% share in total health insurance premium.
