In the nine months to December 2014, private life insurers reported a 16.7% y-o-y growth in first-year premium even as the industry’s growth contracted 13% on the back of a 21.45% decline in the first-year premium collection of LIC. Private insurers had the first-mover advantage as they had rolled out new products based on revised Irdai guidelines in January last year. Moreover, the number of policies issued in the nine months of FY15 dropped 53%.
