IASL – Uplifting Sri Lanka’s insurance industry

The Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) celebrated National Insurance Day on the 1st of September 2021 and its connected Insurance Month will be commemorated to spread awareness about the importance of insurance and its relevance at present.

As all industries in the country undergo continuous challenges and changes during the global pandemic, the insurance industry too has been dynamic in its approach to customers in providing timely policy solutions, IASL said in a media release.

Iftikar Ahamed, IASL President, explained the insurance industry, detailing the changes in the industry landscape and IASL’s role during this time.

“The pandemic has had mixed effects on the insurance industry in the past year. The Life Insurance Industry Gross Written Premium (GWP) grew by 16% to cross the Rs.100 billion threshold in 2020, and the first six months of 2021 saw a growth of 30%, which is a remarkable number despite the effects of the previous year. The import of motor vehicles had a detrimental effect of the General Insurance sector, which had a negative growth of 1.3% towards GWP of Rs. 99.5 billion in 2020. The first half of 2021 too recorded a negative growth of 0.3%.

“As the apex body of the industry, the insurance awareness month is utilised to spread awareness of the relevance and importance of insurance to every Sri Lankan. We have seen many insurance providers explore new avenues that would be timely solutions for our customers as they push the traditional limits in solutions and selling by transitioning into the digital sphere, reducing overall turnaround times. These have to be taken to the public in quick and efficient ways, where aggressive marketing and sales becomes key. The Insurance Awareness month therefore, becomes more crucial this year,” he said.

Speaking on how the pandemic has affected the industry and the steps taken to ease the burden of those affected as well as the government, Mr. Ahamed added, “The insurance industry has stood by its policyholders by coming forward to meet their COVID-19 claims despite the pandemic, which is usually an exclusion. Especially during the third and fourth waves honouring claims has been a moment of truth for many customers and a true testimony to the fact that we are there for Sri Lanka. In addition, rewarding and recognising efforts, especially at times such as these, is important for the industry given that their role has been extremely challenging during this period. The National insurance awards took place on 1st September as a virtual event where the brightest and the best talent in the industry received awards for both 2019 and 2020, since we could not have this event last year.”