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Individual agents continue to hold a lion’s share in the life insurance industry. IRDAI data shows that individual agents account for 51% of the total new business premium under individual plan in the life insurance industry.
However, the share of agents in the total new business premium has declined substantially over the last five years from 62% in FY 2019.
IRDAI shows that individual agents were the largest contributors for LIC India where they accounted for 96% of the total individual new business premium. In the private sector, individual agents contributed 23% of the total individual new business premium.
Manoj Kumar Jain, Managing Director of Shriram Life Insurance said that the agency model is a tried-and-tested and offers long-term sustainable business to the insurance industry. "Agents tied to a single insurance company form the backbone of this scalable model, driving growth consistently. While it is a higher-cost model compared to bancassurance, it offers long-term viability and ensures strong focus on agency development," he says.
Jain highlights the need for more individual agents in India, given the country's vast population and the current low agent-to-population ratio. "Customers feel more comfortable working with individual agents, as they provide consistency and build lasting relationships—an essential factor given the long-term nature of insurance contracts," he adds.
Corporate agents, especially banks, played an important role, contributing 52% of individual new business premium in the private sector and 23% in group premium.
Direct business channels also showed considerable growth, contributing 16% of individual new business premium and 55% of group premiums in the private sector. For LIC India, direct business made up 93% of group premiums, underlining the growing reliance on direct sales channels.
Brokers also contributed to the sector’s growth, accounting for 5% of individual new business premiums in the private sector.
Corporate agents, other than banks, contributed 3% to individual new business premium.
Emerging channels such as Point of Sales (PoS) agents, micro insurance agents and online platforms had minimal contributions, each accounting for less than 1% of individual new business premium.
Here is the detailed table:
|
Sl. No. |
Type of Intermediary |
Individual New Business |
Group New Business |
||||
|
Private Sector |
Public Sector |
Total |
Private Sector |
Public Sector |
Total |
||
|
1 |
Individual Agents |
22.69 |
96.00 |
50.90 |
2.17 |
4.91 |
4.15 |
|
2 |
Corporate Agents- Banks |
51.98 |
2.85 |
33.07 |
22.94 |
1.64 |
7.52 |
|
3 |
Corporate Agents- others |
3.14 |
0.11 |
1.98 |
11.77 |
0.01 |
3.26 |
|
4 |
Brokers |
4.85 |
0.21 |
3.06 |
7.38 |
0.10 |
2.11 |
|
5 |
Direct Business |
16.11 |
0.00 |
9.91 |
54.94 |
93.34 |
82.74 |
|
6 |
MI agents |
0.01 |
0.23 |
0.09 |
0.80 |
0.00 |
0.22 |
|
7 |
CSCs |
0.01 |
0.29 |
0.12 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
8 |
Web Aggregators |
0.02 |
0.00 |
0.01 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
9 |
IMF |
0.17 |
0.16 |
0.16 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
10 |
Online |
0.96 |
0.15 |
0.65 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
11 |
Point of Sales (PoS) |
0.06 |
0.01 |
0.04 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
|
Total Business |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
