Dear Sir/ Madam,

As you are aware, General Insurance Industry is a dynamic field and is well regulated now in India.

In order to open up the general insurance market and to make it competitive for the benefit of the insuring public, regulatory changes have been brought about from time to time particularly in the Property ( FIRE & ENGINEERING)  Insurance segment and Motor Vehicle Insurance segment.

As you have experienced in the past, risk based and claim experience based pricing through IIB rates have been brought about, certain covers were made mandatory and some additional covers were introduced.

The latest changes that have been brought about now (formal notification from IRDA would be released anytime soon) will change the whole non-life insurance scenario in the country.  As first step in this direction, IRDA has formed a committee with a stiff timeline of 3 weeks for submission of report.

It is being made as a truly open market where it would be left to the insurance companies to charge any price, issue any additional covers and also have any type of policy wording they wish to depending on the clients’ requirement particularly in the property segment. To put it simply, all the Fire and project insurance policies will be tailor made to suit the requirements of the individual industry and specific client.

    This may facilitate:

• IIB referred rates or minimum pricing restrictions would go
• Excess of Loss insurance coverage
• First Loss Insurance coverage
• Agreed value insurance
• Stand Alone Perils Insurance
• Risk specific underwriting based on risk quality

    The advantages to you as Insured:

            ⁃           General insurance industry in India moves into a different plane altogether on par with the best practices of the global standards

            ⁃           Pricing becomes very competitive as there is no restriction on tariff

            ⁃           You can chose the type of policy coverage and extensions you need and that to specific to your industry

            ⁃           You can truly judge the technical efficiency of your intermediary and your insurance company

    Disadvantages:

            ⁃           It will become increasingly difficult for you to select the right policy and the right insurance company for you due to the sheer variety of products/policies

            ⁃           There could be hidden exclusions and warranties in the fine print which you may not be able to notice unless a claim    arises

           ⁃           Policy excess/deductibles would increase depending the claims frequency not only based on the experience of your unit but also judged by the experience of the respective industrial segment

            ⁃           Unless you are presented with all the facts with data and comparison of coverages and strengths of the insurance companies you may end up choosing the wrong policies for your industry.

The above facts, pros and cons are placed before you just to update on the changes and to show as to how these changes can affect you.

However, we at Beacon with the mixture of experience and talent, are fully geared up to take on the challenges the market offers and are always available to guide you to choose the right policies and the companies that is most suitable for your industry.

We are also proud to say that we have very senior officials in Beacon who have the good experience of working in a completely open markets in various parts of the world outside India’.