Chennai– A good number of Covid survivors will opt for life insurance in the country, said Vibha Padalkar, MD and CEO of HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd, while announcing the company’s Q4 results on Monday.
Padalkar told the media that Covid-19 survivors are now coming for life insurance, more so post the raging second wave of the pandemic.
The Covid situation has led to higher awareness around the need for protection and the inadequacy of the current insurance coverage, she said.
Padalkar said the company has provided Rs 165 crore as Covid reserve for FY22 based on the actual experience in FY21 after factoring in aspects such as latest mortality trends across businesses and customer segments and the geographic spread of Covid 2.0.
HDFC Life closed the last fiscal with an after tax profit of Rs 1,360 crore, up from Rs 1,295 crore logged in FY20.
Last fiscal, the company earned a total premium of about Rs 38,583 crore, up from about Rs 32,707 crore earned in FY20.
She said despite logistical challenges through the year, the company had insured close to 40 million lives in FY21.
The company sold about 9.8 lakh new individual policies, registering a year-on-year growth of 10 per cent.
On the claims front, Padalkar said over 2.9 lakh death claims were settled during last fiscal with a pay out of over Rs 3,000 crore.
According to her, given the resurgence of Covid and the looming uncertainty around economic and market momentum, the company will continue to maintain a cautiously optimistic stance for FY22 and evaluate its approach dynamically.
The company board has recommended final dividend of Rs 2.02 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each for the year 2020-21. (IANS)
