Non-life insurance sector’s premiums rise 14% in December led by growth in health, motor and fire segments

Indias non-life insurance sector did well in December 2025. The total amount of money that people paid for insurance policies went up by fourteen percent compared to the same time the year before. This means that the total amount of money collected was around 28,446.8 crore rupees. The main reason for this increase was that more people bought health insurance, motor insurance and fire insurance policies. Indias non-life insurance sector is looking good because of the growth, in these areas especially health insurance and motor insurance and fire insurance.

This is important because non-life insurance is the part of the industry that helps households and businesses deal with costs, accidents, damage to vehicles, fires, loss of property and other problems. Non-life insurance also covers things like engineering risks, marine losses, liability, travel risks and more. When the cost of -life insurance goes up it can be because more people are buying non-life insurance or because they are buying non-life insurance that covers more things. It can also be because companies are getting better at selling -life insurance or because people are more aware of the risks and want to protect themselves with non-life insurance. Sometimes the economy is just getting better which means people have money to spend on non-life insurance.. Sometimes the cost of non-life insurance goes up just because of changes, in the way that companies keep track of the money they make from non-life insurance.

1) Let us take a look at the numbers: the big increase in premiums that happened in December and also what is really going on with these numbers. The headline numbers, like the premium jump in December are very important. We should understand what is, beneath the headline numbers.

CareEdge Ratings’ December update shows:

Total non-life premium (GDPI) in Dec 2025: ₹28,446.8 crore

YoY growth: +13.7% (double-digit growth for the second consecutive month)

The growth happened because things were going well from the start. This is because December 2024 was a case. It was affected by a rule called the 1/n rule. This rule changed how premiums and expenses were accounted for for policies that last a long time. The growth was supported by this base meaning the 1/n rule had an impact, on the growth of the growth, which is the growth we are talking about the growth.

The 14% growth is real. It looks better because of what happened last year. This is pretty common in insurance and finance. If the numbers were bad the year before the next year will seem better. The years numbers might have been low because of things, like timing so the next years numbers will look stronger by comparison. The 14% growth is still good. We have to consider what the numbers were like last year to really understand it.

The growth is not just because of a starting point. Health insurance really took off. People are still buying motor and fire insurance, which shows that people really want these things. This is a sign that people will keep buying health insurance and motor and fire insurance. The demand, for these things is really strong.

2) So I was thinking about the things that’re really important to us like health, motor and fire insurance and I realized that these things are leading the way when it comes to growth. The reason health insurance is growing much is because people are getting more aware of how important it is to have good health. Motor insurance is also growing because more and more people are buying cars and they need to protect them.. Fire insurance is growing too because people want to make sure their homes and businesses are safe from fires. So when we talk about health, motor and fire insurance we are talking about the things that are really driving the growth. Health insurance, motor insurance and fire insurance are the leaders, in this area.

A) Health insurance: the biggest engine (and still the largest segment)

Health is still the part of the non-life business and it is doing very well.

Health premiums (Dec 2025): ₹12,127.1 crore

YoY growth: +33.2%

CareEdge has a table that shows how different parts of the company are doing. This table says that both the group health business and the retail health business at CareEdge grew by 34 percent over the past year which is from December, to December. The growth of CareEdges group health and retail health businesses is really strong. CareEdges numbers are looking good because both of these parts of the company are doing well.

Group health: ₹6,559.2 crore (YoY +34.0%)

Retail health: ₹5,308.6 crore (YoY +34.0%)

So I was thinking about why health became such a deal all of a sudden. Why did people start paying much attention to health. The thing is, health surged in importance because people started to realize how important it is to take care of their bodies. Health. Now everyone is talking about it. Health is a concern, for many people and that is why health surged.

The Goods and Services Tax exemption and lower tax cost make things more affordable, for individual buyers of the Goods and Services Tax. This tends to make more people buy the Goods and Services Tax and renew it. Sometimes the Goods and Services Tax even makes customers want to buy a sum insured of the Goods and Services Tax.

December is usually the time when we see a lot of renewals happening and companies finalizing their insurance covers for the year. CareEdge thinks that the renewals that happen at the end of the year are a thing, for them. They actually point out that these year-end renewals are something that will help them.

People are more aware of things since the pandemic. Medical costs are also going up. Because of this people who buy insurance and the companies they work for are getting protection even if the rules do not change. They just want to be safer with their expenses and have some peace of mind. The pandemic and medical inflation are making people think more, about insurance and protection so they are getting more of it. This is happening with the consumers and the employers of the companies.

Standalone health insurers gained a part of the market. These standalone health insurers, also known as SAHIs are doing well and people are buying insurance from them so standalone health insurers are getting more customers.

CareEdge says that SAHI is doing well. It had an increase in premiums, which is the money people pay for insurance of 38.8 percent, from the year before in December 2025. SAHI is also getting a part of the health market. CareEdge notes that SAHI is still going strong and getting more people to buy health insurance from them.

That tells you something health growth is not only coming from general insurers that sell everything but also from specialist health players that are pushing deeper into the retail market and the employer market. This shows that health growth is coming from these health players as well. Health growth is really about the specialist health players making an impact, in the retail and employer markets.

B) Motor insurance: still a core pillar (especially OD)

Motor is typically the second-largest non-life segment. In December:

Motor premium (Dec 2025): ₹9,735.7 crore

YoY growth: +12%

Motor growth often tracks the development of a kids Motor skills. When we talk about Motor growth we are referring to the Motor growth that happens as children get older. This kind of Motor growth is very important for kids to learn things and get better at doing things on their own. In the case of Motor growth it is interesting to see how Motor growth can affect the way kids play and do tasks.

New vehicle sales (especially passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and two-wheelers)

Financing and dealer networks (bancassurance, OEM tie-ups)

Compliance and enforcement

Pricing trends are really interesting especially when we talk about third-party pricing. This is the area where the rates are regulated by someone. So when we look at pricing trends we need to think about how these regulated rates, in third-party pricing’re changing over time.

CareEdge is connected to the fact that people are buying a lot of vehicles and there are policies in place. This includes the effects of GST on how affordable vehiclesre. CareEdge thinks that these things will help keep the momentum of vehicle sales going strong. CareEdge believes that this will have an impact, on CareEdge.

There is something to know about a motor. A motor has two parts:

Motor own damage is something that covers damage to your vehicle. The price of motor damage is pretty good so you do not have to worry about that. Motor own damage is a thing to have because it helps you when your vehicle gets damaged.

Motor insurance, from companies, which is also known as Motor third party insurance is something that you have to get. This type of insurance is called liability cover. The price of this insurance is. It usually changes a little at a time when they decide to revise it. They make these changes in steps so the price of Motor third party insurance does not change suddenly.

If the people who make the rules decide to increase the TP premium rates the motor premium growth will get a boost. The timing of this change depends on when they tell us about it and when they actually start doing it. This is because the motor premium growth needs the push, from the higher TP premium rates to really take off.

C) Fire insurance: helped by economic activity and pricing/renewals

Fire insurance is something that helps protect properties from damage. This includes places like factories and warehouses and offices and homes. It even covers the things that people have in their shops. Sometimes this type of insurance is packaged with kinds of protection like insurance that covers other types of accidents or disasters. Fire insurance is really about covering fire risks to properties, like homes and offices and factories and warehouses.

CareEdge says that the fire part of their business is still doing well and helping them grow. The amount of money they got from fire premiums far this year is up by 20.1 percent, which is a big improvement from last year when it actually went down. CareEdge is happy to see this change, with CareEdge fire premium growth being so strong.

Things that usually support fire premiums include

* the cost of firefighting operations

* the price of equipment and personnel and

* the cost of damage, from fires. Fire premiums are also supported by the fact that fires can be very expensive to put out. Fire premiums are what people pay to protect themselves from fires.

More commercial activity (more assets, more stock, more projects)

Higher insured values due to inflation and asset revaluation

Renewals with updated sums insured

Better underwriting discipline and pricing adequacy (especially after loss experience)

When fire and engineering work together this is a sign that a project is really moving forward and that there is a lot of activity in the industry. It is not, about people buying things from stores. Fire and engineering coming together usually means that something big is happening with the project and the industry as a whole not with retail sales.

3) The part that did badly was crop insurance. This is because of the time of year and not many people were taking part in it. Crop insurance really fell down.

Among major non-life segments, crop insurance was the notable drag:

Crop premium (Dec 2025): ₹947 crore

YoY change: -67.9%

CareEdge says that the decline is because of things, like:

Reduced state-level participation

Limited premium recognition outside peak Kharif/Rabi windows

Lower carryover of deferred premium recognition

Crop insurance is structurally different from retail health or motor:

The thing that really affects this is the way the government designs its schemes how they handle tendering what the state budget is focused on. The time of year. This is because government scheme design plays a role and so does tendering and the state budget priorities and also the seasonality of the government scheme design.

Premium booking can be lumpy (big spikes in certain months, then quiet periods).

Changes, in the number of people who participate can really affect the group of specialised insurers. This is because specialised insurers are a group and any big changes can swing the entire specialised insurers bucket.

CareEdge also notes that specialised insurers had a drop in December. This is because of the way things usually go at that time of year and the way the schemes work. CareEdge says this is what happened to insurers.

Interpretation:

The Crops weakness does not have to go against the story that demand for things that’re not life insurance is getting better. It basically says that the money coming in from government linked schemes was not very strong, in that month and the sector was able to grow because of the Crops retail and commercial lines. The Crops retail and commercial lines were the reason the sector was able to grow.

4) One big technical reason why December 2024 did not look good is the 1/n rule. The 1/n rule is a thing that made December 2024 look weak. December 2024 looked weak because of the 1/n rule.

If you want to know why base effects are really important you have to think about the one over n rule because the one over n rule is really central to understanding base effects and how base effects work. Base effects are a deal and the one over n rule is key, to figuring out why base effects matter so much.

The Indian Express summary explains the idea in a way. Insurers have to think about the premium and the expenses that come with it like the commission they pay every day for the whole time the policy is, in effect. They should not just consider a part of it at the beginning especially for policies that last a long time. The Indian Express summary is talking about how insurers need to recognise the premium.

So you want to know why that affects how fast things grow. It is because that thing has an impact, on growth rates. The reason that affects growth rates is that it changes how things develop over time. When we talk about growth rates we are talking about how something gets bigger or more successful. That thing can make growth rates go up or down.

When the rule is introduced the premiums that people report in some months will seem lower. This is because the part that people normally pay at the beginning, which’s the upfront portion of the premiums is spread out over time. The upfront portion of the premiums is basically divided into parts.

Year things might look better when we compare because the month we are using for comparison had some changes made to it. The changes that were made to the base month will make the comparisons look better for the year.

This does not mean that insurance companies did not sell insurance policies. It just means that the time when they recognize the money from these insurance policies is different for accounting purposes. Insurance companies still sold insurance policies. The timing of when they account for the money, from these insurance policies is what really differs.

So what does this mean for you when you are reading this?

When you see the words “14% premium growth” you should think of it like this:

The demand is getting better particularly when it comes to health. Health is really where we are seeing the improvements, in demand.

The thing is, when we look at things from one month to the next or from one year to the next regulation plays a role.. Recognition rules also have a lot to do with it. Regulation and recognition rules are really what shape these comparisons of month-to-month and year-, to-year things.

That is why analysts usually look at the year to date numbers and the segment mix, not one month. They want to see the picture of the year to date numbers and how the segment mix is doing so they do not just look at one month. The year, to date numbers give them an idea of what is going on.

5) Let us see how the different types of insurance companies did. We are talking about insurance companies versus public insurance companies, versus specialist insurance companies. How did private insurance companies perform compared to public insurance companies and specialist insurance companies?

That is a thing to think about: who actually collected these premiums?

The Indian Express report says that

Private general insurers saw a jump in their gross direct premium income. It went up by sixty percent from last year to thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty one point four crore rupees in December. Private general insurers got a lot of money from premiums, which’s thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty one point four crore rupees. This is an increase, for private general insurers.

The public general insurers had an increase, in their Gross Direct Premium Income. It went up by fifteen percent from last year to ₹10,126.4 crore. The public general insurers saw a lot of growth in their Gross Direct Premium Income.

Private players tend to be stronger in areas. Private players have an edge when it comes to a things. For example private players are usually stronger because they have resources. The private players are stronger in some fields. Private players are often stronger, than others.

Retail health distribution (digital + bancassurance + agents)

Motor OD through OEM/dealer ecosystems

Faster product iteration and pricing sophistication

Public players often have strengths in areas like the ability to work with other people and think on their feet. Public players usually do well when it comes to things such as:

* Being good at sports and games that need a team

* Knowing how to talk to people and make friends

* Being able to think and come up with good ideas. Public players are often very good, at working with public players to get things done.

Certain government-linked portfolios

Wider legacy distribution

Some commercial accounts and institutional relationships

The exact mix of things is not the same every time it changes from one cycle to another. This is especially true when there are changes, in crops and government schemes the mix of these things can really swing back and forth. That affects the exact mix of the crop and government schemes.

6) What this means for the consumers and the businesses

For households

People are starting to think that health insurance is an idea. It is getting cheaper and more people know about it. So more families are getting health insurance earlier. They are also renewing their health insurance more often. This is because health insurance is becoming more important, to people. Health insurance is something that more families want to have.

When we talk about retail health growth it is really good for people because it means we have types of products to choose from. However retail health growth also means that there are people trying to sell these products so it gets really competitive. This competition can affect the prices of these products. How we handle claims. Retail health growth can be an edged sword because on one hand we have more product variety due, to retail health growth but on the other hand retail health growth makes it harder to manage prices and claims because of the competition that comes with retail health growth.

People still want to buy motor insurance because the law says they have to get a kind of insurance which is called third party insurance. This kind of insurance is required when you own a vehicle. So when more people buy vehicles the demand, for motor insurance goes up. Motor insurance demand is doing well because of this.

For businesses

Fire and engineering growth usually means that people have valuable things that are insured, like buildings and equipment. This is because there is industrial and commercial activity going on and more projects are being worked on. Fire and engineering growth is something that happens when companies are growing and doing things so they need to make sure they have insurance to cover their assets in case something bad happens.

Having insurance coverage can really help small businesses, like SMEs deal with big losses. This is because insurance can reduce the impact of losses and make people feel more confident, about lending money to these small businesses, the SMEs.

7) The outlook: what things can help keep the growth of the economy strong and what things could possibly slow down the growth of the economy. We are talking about the growth of the economy and the outlook, for the growth of the economy is what we need to consider. The growth of the economy is important so we need to think about what can keep the growth of the economy going and what might slow it down.

CareEdge thinks that the amount of money people paid for -life insurance went over ₹2.50 lakh crore this year so far in FY26. This happened because the government helped more people used services and there are more people, with good incomes now. CareEdge says these things helped non-life insurance premiums to go up.

Tailwinds

Digital distribution + insurtech adoption: faster onboarding, better renewals, improved reach.

The policy platforms and the ecosystem initiatives are supposed to make things better and help more people use them. This will make the policy platforms and the ecosystem initiatives work efficiently and reach more people.

The sales of vehicles are going well. That is good, for motor insurance. If people change the target price of these insurance companies it could help the companies make money from the premiums that people pay for motor insurance.

When we talk about health affordability effects we can see that lower costs really help with getting sales and keeping the customers we already have. This is because people are more likely to buy something and stick with it if they feel it is affordable. So lower cost is very important, for sales and retention of health services.

Risks / watchpoints

Distribution economics is a deal. CareEdge points out that when things like commission payments are adjusted it can cause problems. This is especially true when tax credits or the way commissions are structured change. These changes can really hurt the channels. Slow down growth. CareEdge says that changes in commission economics like adjustments to commission payments can be a problem, for distribution economics and impact the growth of distribution economics.

When insurance companies lower their prices much especially for car insurance they might not make as much money from premiums. This can also affect how well they do with underwriting, which’s a big part of their business. The thing is, competitive pricing, for car insurance and other types of insurance is important. Insurance companies have to be careful not to cut prices too aggressively or it can hurt their premium growth and underwriting profitability for insurance.

The government scheme can be really unpredictable. This is because crop insurance participation can change a lot from one month to another and from one quarter to another. The government scheme outcomes can be very different each month and each quarter. This happens because of the changes, in crop insurance participation. The government scheme is affected by crop insurance participation.

When there is a lot of industry activity it is really good for fire and engineering.. When things slow down it can make commercial lines not do as well. This is because big industry activity means work, for fire and engineering and that is what they need to do well.. Commercial lines do not do as well when things are slow.

8) Putting December in context: a “two-engine” story

December had an increase of 14 percent and this shows that the sector is doing well because of two main things that are driving it forward:

Engine 1: Retail-led protection (especially health)

Health is really taking off now. It is the main reason for all the growth. This is because health services are becoming more affordable, for people and they are also renewing their health plans. The health sector is doing well and health is the main story that people are talking about when it comes to growth.

Engine 2: Economic activity + mandatory covers (motor, fire)

The motor insurance business is really dependent on vehicle sales and the rules that governments make. On the hand fire insurance is more about what companies and industries need to protect themselves.

When you think about it motor insurance is closely tied to how many vehiclesre being sold and the laws that govern the industry. Fire insurance however is more focused, on the needs of industrial businesses and what they require to stay safe.

And then there’s a third, more volatile lever:

Government-linked lines (crop)

The crop swings are really important because they can make the headline a lot better or they can make it a lot worse in one month. Crop swings have an effect on the headline and this can happen very quickly. The crop swings can change things for the headline, in a short amount of time like a month.

So, the most accurate summary is:

The core retail business and the core commercial lines are getting better. This is a thing, for the company because the core retail and core commercial lines are very important. The fact that the core retail and core commercial lines are improving is a sign.

The growth we see in the headlines is also affected by things like base effects and the time of year when certain crops are in season. This means that the headline growth is not just about how things are doing but also, about what happened before and when the crops are ready to be harvested. The headline growth and crop seasonality are closely. We have to consider the base effects when we look at the headline growth.

Health is the standout performer

9) What to watch in the next few months

If you want to see if this growth will keep going pay attention to:

I want to know about the health growth trend. Is it about retail or the whole group? The main thing I am looking for is whether retail sales will keep going up by than twenty five to thirty percent every year. Will retail sales stay above twenty five to thirty percent year, over year?

The Motor Outside Diameter is different, from the motor Turning Point trajectory. The Motor Outside Diameter really depends on how many vehiclesre sold and what people pay for them. On the hand the motor Turning Point can change when people get notifications.

The fire and engineering fields are really moving forward. That shows the economy is strong. This momentum, in the fire and engineering sectors is a sign that the real economy is doing well.

When you are looking at crop insurance you should get ready, for some ups and downs. It is better to compare the numbers from one season to the season instead of looking at them from one month to the next month. This way you can get a picture of crop insurance booking windows.

Distribution channel health: commissions, persistency, and cost structures matter.