Royal Sundaram takes Rs 9 cr hit due to floods

Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company hopes to mop up Rs 450 crore of new business premium by the end of the current fiscal, up from Rs 331 crore in the previous year.

Mr Antony Jacob, Managing Director, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company, announcing the launch of the Royal Sundaram Citibank credit card, said the floods in Mumbai and Chennai had caused a net outgo of Rs 9 crore to the company and affected the profits.

The company, which has a sizeable motor insurance portfolio, has a claims-to-premium ratio of 65 per cent in the private car segment but over 100 per cent in the commercial vehicle segment, he said. He said 25 per cent of the premium came from bancassurance and Citibank contributed around 8 per cent.

Citibank and Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance on Wednesday launched a co-branded credit card with benefits for the health and general insurance needs of the customer.The card provides members with health insurance worth Rs 50,000 free for the first year and access to insurance packages developed by Royal Sundaram. Mr T.R. Ramachandran, Business Manager - Cards, Citibank India, said that the credit and debit card industry generates spends of about Rs 19,000 crore.

In Asia-Pacific, debit and credit cards account for 6 per cent of the total expenditure. However, in India, only 0.6 per cent of the population used a credit card for personal consumption, he said.