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Life Insurance Companies

Life Insurance Companies in India

There can be no denial to the fact that life is very unpredictable. None of us knows where the next moment might take us. Therefore, it is important for all of us to have a good life insurance plan by our side as it provides protection to the policyholder as well as their family members during unfortunate times. However, deciding which life insurance plan to buy often becomes a challenging task for most of the customers since there are several insurance providers present in the insurance market these days. According to IRDA, there are 24 Insurance companies that cater to life insurance products in India. All of these companies offer a comprehensive range of life insurance solutions to meet the insurance needs of individuals, families, and businesses.

While deciding which insurance plan is best for you, it is also important to pay attention to the reliability and market reputation of the insurance provider. To help you with the same, we’ve created here a list of top life insurance companies in India. Please note that the companies in this list are ranked on the basis of their claim settlement ratio as published by IRDA in its annual report for the financial year 2019-2020.

List of Best Life Insurance Companies in India

S.NoInsurance companyClaim settlement ratio (in %)Solvency Ratio
1.Max Life Insurance99.222.07
2.HDFC Life Insurance99.071.91
3.Tata AIA Life Insurance99.062.10
4.Pramerica life Insurance98.423.46
5.Exide life Insurance98.151.94
6.Canara HSBC OBC98.123.78
7.Reliance Nippon Life Insurance98.122.41
8.Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance98.027.65
9.Aegon Life Insurance98.012.39
10.ICICI Prudential Life Insurance97.842.07
11.Aditya Birla Sunlife Insurance97.541.90
12.Aviva Life Insurance97.532.89
13.Bharti AXA Life Insurance97.351.80
14.PNB MetLife India Insurance97.181.93
15.Star Union Life Insurance96.962.56
16.LIC96.691.55
17.India First Life Insurance96.651.78
18.IDBI Federal Life Insurance96.473.17
19.Kotak Life Insurance96.383.00
20.Future Generali Life Insurance95.281.58
21.SBI Life Insurance94.522.15
22.Shriram Life Insurance91.611.88
23.Sahara India Life Insurance89.458.32
24.Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance83.442.20

*Please note that the data in this table are sourced from IRDA’s annual report of 2019-2020.

Brief introduction of Life Insurance Companies

Now, let’s take a look at the section given below where we’ve provided a brief discussion of all the 24 life insurance companies of India.

1. Max Life Insurance Company

Max Life Insurance Company Limited was established in 2001 as a joint venture between Max India Ltd and Axis Bank. The company was formerly known as Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited. At present, this company offers a variety of insurance products to its customers which includes life insurance, health insurance, long term savings, protection and retirement insurance plans. Max Life Insurance has established a strong PAN India presence with more than 270 branches located across various cities in the country.

2. HDFC Life Insurance Company

Established in 2000, HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint partnership between HDFC Ltd.- one of India’s leading housing finance institutions and Standard Life Aberdeen- an international investment company. The company is also recognized as one of the leading long-term life insurance companies in India and offers a variety of insurance products to cater all types of needs of the customer including Protection, Pension, Savings, Investment, Annuity and Health insurance plans.

3. Tata AIA Life Insurance Company

Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited came into existence through a joint venture between the highly reputed Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. and AIA Group Ltd- one of the largest, independent listed pan-Asian life insurance groups in the world. The Company commenced its operations in India in the year 2001 and has established a strong presence with more than 200 offices spread across different parts of the country, along with a robust multi-channel distribution network of 40,000+ licensed agents and 437+ licensed brokers. TATA AIA delivers a wide range of general insurance products including liability, marine cargo, personal accident, travel, and rural-agriculture insurance.

4. Pramerica life Insurance Company

Formerly known as the DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company Limited, Pramerica Life Insurance Company commenced its operations in India on September 01, 2008. The company was formed as a joint venture between DHFL Investments Limited and Prudential International Insurance Holdings, Ltd. It provides a wide range of life insurance products to cater for the needs of individuals as well as groups. At present, this company has established a PAN India presence with more than 136 branches located across the country.

5. Exide life Insurance Company

Established in the year 2001-02, Exide Life Insurance Company Limited is a fully owned subsidiary of Exide Industries Limited. This insurance company offers a variety of insurance plans including retirement plans, group insurance plans, long term investment and savings solution plans. The company has a strong presence and distributes its products through multi-channels comprising of more than 40,000 advisors that are attached to 200 Company offices across the country.

6. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance

Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance came into existence in the year 2008 as a joint venture between Canara Bank, HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited and Punjab National Bank. The headquarters of this company is located in Gurugram, but it has its branch offices located across PAN India. The company provides a wide range of individual and group insurance solutions which includes life, health, online term plans, retirement solutions, credit life and employee benefit segments.

7. Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company is one of the largest non-bank supported private life insurers of India. The company operates as a joint venture between Nippon Life- a leading Life Insurance company of Japan and Reliance Capital Group- a private sector financial services and non-banking company. At present, Reliance Nippon has served around 10 million customers and has a strong distribution network of 713 branches and 42,604 advisors.

8. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited was established as a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited, one of India’s most diversified non-banking financial institutions and Allianz SE, one of the world’s leading asset manager and insurer. The company started its operations in the year 2001 and ever since its inception, the company has established a PAN India presence with more than 509 branches and 80,000+ agents. The insurance products offered by Bajaj Allianz company includes term, health, savings, investment, retirement, childcare and group insurance plans.

9. Aegon Life Insurance Company

Aegon Life Insurance is a new-age life insurance company that started its operations in 2008. The company was formed as a partnership between the Aegon Group- an international provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management and The Times Group- India’s largest media conglomerate. This company deals in a wide range of insurance products that cater to different sets of customers to meet their long-term financial goals. Aegon Life Insurance is also recognized as the first life insurance company to launch Online Term Insurance Plans in India.

10. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

Established in 2001, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited came into existence as a partnership between two reputed firms- ICICI Bank Limited (a leading private sector bank in India) and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited (an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Prudential plc.). The company offers an array of insurance solutions to cover the insurance needs of all segments of the society.

11. Aditya Birla Sunlife Insurance Company

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited was established in 2000 and started its operations on January 17th, 2001. The company operates as a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc.- an international financial services organization in Canada. This company provides a wide range of insurance solutions to its customers including children future plans, wealth protection plans, retirement and pension solutions, health plans, traditional term plans and Unit Linked Insurance Plans.

12. Aviva Life Insurance Company

Aviva Life Insurance India Limited is a joint venture between Aviva Plc.- a UK based insurance group, and Dabur Invest Corp.- one of India’s oldest and most respected business houses. The company offers a vast range of insurance products including term insurance, group insurance, child insurance, savings and retirement plans. Aviva is also recognised as one of the first insurance companies to set up business in India in 1834.

13. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company

Bharti AXA Life Insurance company was established in the year 2006 as an amalgamation between two reputed financial groups- AXA (a French multinational insurance firm) and Bharti Enterprises (one of India’s leading business groups with interests in Telecom, agricultural business and financial services). This company delivers high-quality and reliable insurance solutions that are designed to meet the needs of customers from all segments of society. It also established a strong market presence with around 263 branch offices located across India.

14. PNB MetLife India Insurance Company

PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited was established in the year 2001. This company has two main shareholders- MetLife International Holdings LLC (MIHL), Punjab National Bank Limited (PNB). In addition to these two groups, the company also has partnerships with M. Pallonji and Company Private Limited, Jammu & Kashmir Bank Limited (JKB), and other private investors. PNB MetLife offers a variety of insurance products and solutions and caters to the financial requirements of customers covering their 4 different stages of life- Child Education, Family Protection, Long Term Saving and Retirement.

15. Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company

Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance was formed in 2009 as a joint venture between India’s two leading public sector banks- Bank of India and Union Bank of India, and Dai-ichi Life Holdings, a leading life insurance company in Japan. The company holds the record of having one of the largest life insurance distribution footprints in India. At present, this company has around 15,000 bank branches located across the country and has successfully served more than 9.2 million customers. Insurance solutions offered by this company include protection plans, retirement plans, savings plans, child plans and group insurance plans.

16. Life Insurance Corporation of India

Established in 1956, Life Insurance Corporation of India- LIC is one of the oldest and most popular life insurance companies of India. This company holds a record of setting unprecedented performance records in various aspects of the life insurance business. At present, LIC offers a variety of insurance products including pension plans, unit-linked plans, health plans and micro insurance plans. The company has established a very strong nationwide presence with more than 2048 fully computerized branch offices, 113 divisional offices, 8 zonal offices, 1381 satellite offices and the Corporate office located across different cities in the country.

17. India First Life Insurance Company

IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited, also known as IndiaFirst Life is one of the youngest life insurance companies of India. The founding partners of this company include Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank (now, Union Bank of India) and Legal & General. This company offers a rich and diversified suite of 31 need-based insurance products that cater to all segments of the customers and leverages multiple distribution capabilities.

18. IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company

IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd, now renamed as ‘AGEAS Federal Life Insurance Company’ was established in December 2007. The company operates as a joint-venture between Federal Bank- one of India’s leading private sector banks and Ageas- a multinational insurance giant based out of Europe. This company deals in a variety of insurance products including term insurance, health insurance, group insurance, retirement and savings plans.

19. Kotak Life Insurance Company

Kotak Life Insurance is a popular and one of the fastest growing private life insurance companies in India. Formed in 2001, the company has now established a strong presence across the country with more than 229 branches located in around 129 cities and towns in India and over 1 lakh agents. This company deals in a variety of insurance products that includes health insurance plans, protection plans, savings and investment plans, child plans and retirement plans.

20. Future Generali Life Insurance Company

Future Generali Life Insurance Company came into existence as a partnership between three leading firms: Future Group, Generali Group and Industrial Investment Trust Limited (IITL). The Future Group is a leading retailer in India, and Generali Group is recognised as a global insurance group that features among the top 50 smartest companies in the world and the IITL is a leading investment company. Future Generali offers a comprehensive range of simplified insurance solutions for the financial security of customers and enterprises.

21. SBI Life Insurance Company

SBI Life Insurance Company started its operations in India in the year 2001 and has established a nation-wide presence with around 947 offices, 17,333 employees, a wide spread individual agent network of about 157,792 agents, 58 corporate agents, a bancassurance network of 14 partners, more than 29,000 partner branches, 107 brokers and other insurance marketing firms. This company provides comprehensive protection to the customers by offering a diverse range of insurance products to individuals as well as group customers. Some of the popular plans offered by this company include protection plans, pension plans, savings plans and health insurance plans.

22. Shriram Life Insurance Company

Shriram Life Insurance Company Limited was established in the year 2005 and came into existence as a joint venture between Shriram Group and Sanlam Group. This company has established a strong presence in India and is recognized as one of the largest Indian life insurance companies, especially in rural areas. It also provides high- quality and affordable comprehensive range of life insurance and pension products at competitive prices.

23. Sahara India Life Insurance Company

Established in the year 2004, Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd is recognized as the first wholly and purely Indian company that entered the Indian Life insurance market without any foreign collaboration. The company provides its customers with a rich variety of insurance plans to fulfill the needs of individuals coming from all age groups. Some of the popular insurance plans offered by Sahara India company include money-back plans, unit-link plans, endowment plans, and group assurance plans.

24. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company is one of the most popular life insurance companies of India. The company holds a strong nationwide presence in the country and has around 15,845 agents working in more than 100 branches located across different cities in India. It provides the customers with a rich variety of insurance products that include term insurance plans, health insurance plans, ULIP and guaranteed income plans.

Factors to consider while selecting a life insurance company

As discussed above, there is a plethora of life insurance providers available in the Indian Insurance market. And due to this, it has become all the more important for the customers to critically evaluate their needs and then select an ideal insurance provider that is capable of fulfilling their needs properly. Given below are a few important factors that should be necessarily considered while selecting a life insurance company in India. Let’s take a look at those points-

Company’s financial background:

The first and foremost thing to consider while selecting a life insurance company is evaluating the financial background of that company. Customers should always invest their funds in an insurance company that is financially strong and holds the capability of settling the maximum number of claims of the customers. There are two very useful parameters designed for this purpose- Claim settlement ratio and solvency ratio.

The claim settlement ratio is used to determine the percentage of claims settled by an insurance provider within the given financial year. Whereas, the solvency ratio helps in measuring the ability of a company to meet its long term debt and other obligations.

Availability of an ideal plan:

Every insurance company offers a rich and unique variety of insurance plans to its customers. Therefore, it is important that while looking for an ideal insurance company, customers should first check the list of plans offered by that company. It is advisable to select the insurance company which provides a good insurance plan that fits the needs and budget of the customer properly.

Market Reputation:

In addition to the above-stated factors, the customer should also pay attention to the market reputation of their insurance provider. An indicator of a good insurance company is that it is trustworthy, has good customer feedback and reviews and has received some renowned awards for its service. Therefore, it is suggested that a customer should focus on the above-listed factors and then select an insurance company.

Country-wide presence:

An insurance company with a wider presence always proves to serve an additional benefit to the customers by helping them to avail of instant support from the nearest branch of the insurance company. That is why it is suggested that customers should select an insurance company that has a good number of branches along with a well-established distribution network.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, as per IRDA guidelines, customers can not port their life insurance policies from one insurer to another.

Contacting any life insurance company is a very simple task. Customers can either call at the customer service number, write an email, or visit the nearest branch of their selected insurance company. All types of contacting details of a company can be found from its respective website.

All general, life and health insurance companies in India are regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority-IRDA.