India’s general insurance industry saw its underwriting losses worsen to ₹45,279 crore in FY26, with only one of the industry’s 32-odd players managing to keep its combined ratio below 100%, indicating that most insurers continued to lose money on their core underwriting business.
The non-life industry, comprising public and private general insurers, standalone health insurers and specialised public sector insurers, reported ₹31,043 crore in underwriting losses in FY25, according to financial highlights published by the General Insurance Council. In contrast, gross direct premium income of non-life insurers grew only 9% to ₹3.36 lakh crore in FY26.
Underwriting profit is a key measure of an insurer’s financial health, as it reflects the profitability of its core insurance business after accounting for claims and insurance-related expenses.
PSU Insurers Lead Escalation
The four public sector general insurers accounted for a major share of the increase, posting combined underwriting losses of ₹29,071 crore, compared with ₹18,863.24 crore in FY25. Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry asked public sector general insurers to improve insurance penetration and reduce claim ratios after reviewing their financial and business performance for 2025-26. According to a Finance Ministry release, the secretary urged public sector general insurers to focus on profitable lines of business and take suitable measures to bring down the incurred claims ratio (ICR), which measures claims incurred as a proportion of premium earned.
Private Players
The cumulative underwriting losses of private sector general insurers stood at ₹16,682.34 crore, compared with ₹14,033.31 crore in FY25. Tata AIG General Insurance posted the highest underwriting loss among private general insurers at ₹2,442.25 crore, while ICICI Lombard’s underwriting loss stood at ₹1,024 crore. Bajaj General Insurance reported the best underwriting performance among private general insurers, with an underwriting loss of ₹103.29 crore. HDFC ERGO trimmed its underwriting losses by ₹392.94 crore to ₹1,042.89 crore from ₹1,435.83 crore in FY25.
Except for private sector Universal Sompo General Insurance, all private and public sector general insurers and standalone health insurers reported combined ratios above 100%. Among PSUs, Oriental Insurance had a combined ratio of 145.71% in FY26, implying that it incurred ₹145.71 in claims and operating expenses for every ₹100 of premium earned. United India Insurance reported a combined ratio of 144.45%, while New India Assurance’s stood at 122.55%. Standalone health insurers such as Galaxy Health Insurance and Narayana Health reported combined ratios of over 156%, primarily driven by higher management expenses.