Aviva Life Insurance plans greater rural penetration

Kolkata, Apr 11: Aviva Life Insurance, the joint venture between UK's Aviva Plc and India's Dabur group, is aiming at tapping the rural market in a big way.

Apart from setting up special branches in the rural areas, the company has launched its unit linked products to the rural markets.

''We have tied up with 15 co-operative banks having presence in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jammu&Kashmir and Maharashtra and Sikkim to take our products to the rural areas,'' Aviva Life Insurance's director-marketing Vivek Khanna said last night.

''We are also looking at increasing presence in the east and the north east,'' he said.

''Aviva is also keen to reach out to the underprivileged who have not had access to insurance so far.

''The association with Basix (a micro financial institution) has resulted in Aviva reaching the weaker sections of the society. For the rural areas, Aviva has adopted a differentiated approach, which focuses on the special needs of the customer,'' Khanna said.

''We have assured some five lakh lives in the rural areas,'' he said.

At present Aviva has tie-ups with ABN Amro Bank, American Express Bank, Canara Bank, The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd, Centurion Bank of Punjab and Punjab&Sind Bank and does 65 per cent of its business through bankassurance, he said.

The company's products include whole life (LifeLong), endowment (LifeSaver, EasyLife Plus), child policy (Young Achiever) single premium (LifeBond, LifeBond Plus), Pension (PensionPlus), Term (LifeShield), fixed term protection plan (Freedom LifePlan) and a tax efficient investment plan with limited premium payment term (LifeBond5) catering to different types of needs of the customers.

''We are also planning to bring in some unit-linked products soon and have approached the IRDA for approval,'' he said without elaborating.

Aviva has been ranked seventh among private insurance players according to the annualised premium equivalent (APE) method followed internationally, he informed.

The company has a capital base of Rs 459 crore after infusion of Rs 139 crore in January this year.

''We are growing at triple digits for the last three years as against the industry growth of 30 per cent. We expect to maintain the momentum this year also,'' he said.

Aviva is also looking at pension products and waiting for the pension scheme from the newly set up regulatory authority, he said.

He said joint venture partner Aviva, the UK's largest and the world's sixth largest insurance group, is interested to increase stake in the company if the sector is further opened up.

UNI