“all about product designing of Life Insurance
Corporation of India”
Life Insurance Corporation of India or simply known as LIC is an
Indian company that deals in insurance and investments. This largest company of
insurance is an Indian state owned company and has its headquarter in Mumbai,
India. It is the largest
insurance company in India with an estimated asset value of ₹1560482 crore (US$230 billion). As of 2013 it had total life fund of ₹1433103.14 crore with total value of policies sold of
367.82 lakhs that year. The Life Insurance Corporation of India was founded in
1956 when the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalized
the private insurance industry in India. Over 245 insurance companies and
provident societies were merged to create the state owned Life Insurance
Corporation.
Product in the Marketing mix of LIC
LIC- Life Insurance has designed several
products in accordance with the requirements of the common people. Insurance is
mainly taken out with the purpose of providing for the family members in case
of death by natural causes or accident to the breadwinner of the family. Life
insurance corporate of India has business operations in foreign countries also.
Life Insurance offers its customers various insurance products such as the following:-
- Life Insurance
- Investment
Management
- Health
Insurance
- Mutual Fund
- Property
Insurance
- Auto Insurance
- Home Insurance
- Casualty
Insurance
- Liability
Insurance
- Credit
Insurance
Besides this, various pension plans,
annuities, group schemes, special plans and unit-linked plans are also in place
for the benefit of consumers. LIC- Life Insurance has also launched several
products especially for children, senior citizens, women and handicapped. LIC
also has schemes for people who are on the borderline of poverty. Some products
of the LIC are also available through online.
Place in the Marketing mix of LIC
As LIC- Life Insurance is a service
industry, the distribution of its products and facilities is done through
various channels – direct and indirect. Numerous routes are taken to reach the
potential customers. The most important and basic channel member until this
date has been the “Insurance agent”. Taking various innovative routes in order
to reach the corner that is the farthest and remotest is the objective of the
LIC. Physical distribution of the service products, which in this case is funds
and support at the right time and place, is an important factor of marketing
policy of LIC- Life Insurance.
The organization’s channel of
distribution consists of agents, brokers, development officers, retail services
related to finance, branch office, alliance with banks and distributors,
corporate agencies and proper and well-maintained infrastructure. Presently LIC-
Life Insurance distributive channel consists of numerous development officials,
agents and service branches who are active participants. Presently the number
of zonal offices LIC has is eight, divisional offices are 109, satellite
offices is 992, branches is 2,048 and numerous corporate offices. It also has a
network of corporate agents that are 242, individual agents that are 1,337,064,
referral agents that are 79, brokers that are 98 and tie-ups with 42 banks.
Price in the Marketing mix of LIC
A suitable pricing policy is a very
important factor in the successful running of an insurance company as it is the
pricing policy that affects the sales volume of a company. Price is actually
the valuation that is offered for the product by the offer. For any LIC- Life
Insurance policy, the policyholder has to pay a premium that is paid either
annually, half-yearly, quarterly or in some cases monthly. The management takes
the decision of fixing the premium of every policy relating to a particular
period.
A complete market analysis is done and
information about various facts are collected like how much money can an
individual afford for a particular scheme, and what is the economic and
financial condition of the market at that particular time. This data helps in
making the fair and reasonable pricing policies. The management also makes
pricing decisions about the premium mode, premium level, investment return,
loan interest and the commissions. If you compare LIC products with other
insurance products, then you will find that LIC is very much a value for money
product. With its excellent brand value, and service quality, a customer can
get full value as per the price paid for an LIC product. The premium of LIC is
much lower than other life insurance company for same sum assured and the
returns of the LIC are better than any other life insurance companies.
Price
An
amount of money charged for a product or service is price. Broadly it can be
defined as the sum of the values that consumers exchange for the benefits of
having and using the product or service. Price is an important element in the
marketing mix that produces revenue. Price is also one of the most flexible
elements of the marketing mix, which can be raised or lowered quickly. Firm's
internal factors — marketing objectives, marketing mix strategy, costs and
organization for pricing — influence its pricing decisions. The firm's or
company's target market and positioning objectives determine the pricing
strategy, which is affected by product / service design, distribution, and promotion
decisions.
Costs help in deciding the floor of
the company's price — the price must cover all the costs of making and selling
the product, plus a fair rate of return. Common pricing objectives include
survival, current profit maximization, market share leadership and product
quality leadership. In order to coordinate pricing goals and decisions, a
management must decide who within the management possesses the ability of
deciding the price or influencing the pricing decisions. External factors that
influence pricing decisions are the nature of the market and demand,
competitor's price and offers, economy, reseller needs, and government actions.
Ultimately, the consumer decides if
the company has set the right price. The consumer weighs the price against the
perceived values of using the product. Demand and consumer value perceptions
set the ceiling for prices. Consumers differ in the values they assign to
different product features. They also compare a product's price with the prices
of competitors, products. As a result a firm must learn the price and quality
of competitors' offers and use them as a starting point for its own pricing.
Pricing approaches
A company or a firm can select one
or a combination of three general pricing approaches: the cost-based approach
(cost-plus pricing, break-even analysis, and target profit pricing), the value
based approach and the competition based approach. Cost-based pricing sets
prices based on the seller's cost structure. The value-based pricing relies on
consumer perceptions of value to drive pricing decisions. Competition-based
pricing sets prices based on what competitors are charging. Pricing is a
dynamic process and companies design a pricing structure that covers all their
products. They change this structure over time and adjust it to account for
different customers and situations. Pricing strategies usually change as a
product passes through its life-cycle. The company can decide on one of several
price-quality strategies for introducing an imitative product, including
premium pricing, economy pricing, good value, or overcharging. In pricing, it
can follow a skimming policy (high pricing) or a penetrating policy of pricing
(low pricing). Companies use a variety of price adjustment strategies to
account for differences in consumer segments and situations by way of discount
and allowance pricing, segmented pricing, — psychological pricing, promotional
pricing, geographical pricing — FOB pricing, uniform-delivered pricing, zone
pricing, basing-point pricing, freight-absorption pricing ; and, international
pricing (global pricing).
Pricing in LIC :-
LIC observes the above principles
and strategies in fixing its premium rates or price for its products or plans
that depend upon the amount of sum assured as well as the age of the potential
policyholders to meet the needs of different target segments who may have
different levels of spending power. The policies concerning with 'with profit
plans' are relatively high priced as compared to 'without profit plans'. The
price is the key element of the marketing mix and it must be acceptable to
target customers and it must reflect the other components of the mix accurately
so that the profitable relationship may be maintained in view of the rendered
services and the value attached to them by the service provider in
correspondence with the customer's perception of value. And, LIC, for the above
purpose, appoints an Actuary who deals with pricing decisions in regard with
premiums and certifies that the premium rates charged by the company are
adequate and fair. The Actuary determines the value of its net liability. He
also ensures that the values of its assets are sufficient not only cover the
value of the net liability but also to satisfy the solvency margin
requirements. And, in this process, the pricing Actuary has to satisfy the
needs and requirements of different functional units: marketing, agency,
claims, finance, underwriting, investment and legal. He has to keep in mind
their separate priorities also and their adjustable combination. The LIC
considers the following factors before fixing the premium or price:
(1) Rate
of mortality.
(2) Rate
of Interest.
(3) Operational
Expenses
(4) Margins.
(1)
RATE OF MORTALITY
In deciding the premium or price,
the LIC considers the rate of mortality, as the function of LIC is to eliminate
risk or substitute certainty for uncertainty. The financial loss suffered by a
few on account of some eventual death is covered by the LIC by distributing
that equally among all people facing the risk and by the contribution of every
one (every policyholder) to the common fund. And the measure of this
contribution to the common fund is called the premium or price. The method of
measuring the involved risk is worked out scientifically in order to determine
the amount of each individual's contribution to the common fund. This
measurement of risk is done by applying the following mathematical and
statistical tools:
(i) Laws of Probability.
(ii) Laws of Large Numbers.
The
LIC measures the risk factor with reference to mortality. At the same time, it
co-relates the relationship between the rate of mortality and premium.
(i)
LAWS OF PROBABILITY
The laws of probability are
considered in estimating the likelihood of future events. The forecast is done
by - Deductive reasoning — Conclusion drawn from the previous experience of
whole or all and (b) Inductive reasoning — conclusion drawn from the previous
experience based on individuals'. The deductive method is not a safe basis
because of the limitations of human mind to identify all such causes. The
inductive method is a safer basis for deciding premium or price and it can be
applied to life insurance. The prediction of laws of probability becomes
possible when the inductive reasoning is applied on the large number of lives
at birth and at death — and when the mortality statistics is applied. The
accuracy of mortality statistics depends on two factors: (1) estimates and (2)
the number of units taken. The mortality statistics should be carefully
scrutinized in order to avoid inaccuracies in the original data; and, the
second factor is the number of units or trials undertaken.
(ii)
LAWS OF LARGE NUMBERS
The laws of large numbers state that
"the more the number of trials undertaken, the lesser the variation".
The laws of numbers apply to life insurance and the future mortality is
estimated on the basis of the past mortality data. Because of the theory of
probability and the law of large numbers, it has been aptly said, "There
is nothing more uncertain than life and nothing more certain than life
insurance".
MORTALITY STATISCTICS
The two basic sources — the law of
probability and the law of large numbers — of mortality statistics are
population statistics — derived from census enumerations and the returns of
deaths from registration offices, statistics derived from insured lives. Thus
based on above, the mortality statistics represent the actual mortality of the
period and the mortality statistics of insured lives tend to be more accurate.
The mortality statistics remains based on the careful recording of the date of
birth, gender lives. The mortality statistics is arrived at by presenting a
mortality table that represents a record of mortality observed in the past and
is arranged in a form to show the probabilities of death and survival at each
separate age.
MORTALITY AND PREMIUM-LINK
There
is a link or relationship between the rate of mortality and premium. In
deciding the rate of premium in view of the mortality statistics, the LIC
introduced single premium plan, Installment payment plan and Level-premium plan
— called "Level Annual Premium System" or "Uniform Level Annual
Premium System". Many individuals prefer installment payment plan. Mortality
affects the premium rate.
RATE OF INTEREST
Interest is the second factor that
affects premium rates. LIC invests the excess premium collected from the Level premium
plan and the endowment plan and so in various investments and the earned income
(out of these investments) is passed on to the policyholder, as the income
belongs to them. This is done by discounting the premiums at a rate of
interest. The higher the rate of interest earned, the lower will be the premium
rate. The premium system based on rate of mortality alone is called the Natural
Premium System and the premium calculated based on the combination of mortality
rates and interest factor is called the Net premium.
OPERATIONAL EXPENSES
The third important factor that goes
into the computation of premium is the expense factor. The contingency factor
and the profit margin factor should be included in the expense factor. When
these three are loaded together, the premium so arrived at is called the Gross
or Office premium. The operational expenses — during the first year and the
following years for the payment of commission to the agents, medical fee to the
doctors etc — which are taken into account is fixing the premium are broadly
categorized into three groups such as (1) premium related expenses, (2) policy
related expenses and (3) the other expenditures, which are explained below —
(i)
PREMIUM RELATED EXPENSES
Premium related expenses are
concerned with three items: (a) commission to agents, (b) remuneration to those
who recruit, train and organize the agency force — the Development Officers in
LIC of India — and (c) expenses on promotion. It has been observed that the
premium related an expense, with regard to above, during the first year is
higher by 40 percent over the corresponding expenses during the subsequent
years.
(2) POLICY RELATED EXPENSES
Administrative expenses are to be
met by policy related expenses, which are done by two methods — (a) the policy
fee method and (b) the average cost method. (a) The
policy fee method is applied in the developed countries, like U.S.A. etc., where
a certain calculated fee of similar amount is added to every policy of varying
sum assured; thus, an equity is maintained among the policyholders. (b) The
average cost method is applied in the developing countries, like India, where
the LIC of India follows this method and adds average cost to the premium. If
one compares the policy fee method and the average cost method, in the former
loading for administrative expenses is done explicitly. The loading of expenses
is not explicit in the average cost method but it is incorporated in the
premium rate per thousand sum assured, so, high sum assured policies will be
payable more towards administrative expenses than low sum assured policies.
However, LIC provides some discount relief to high sum assured policies. This
system has helped LIC in bringing it within the reach of poorer sections of the
society.
(C) OTHER EXPENDITURES
In addition to the premium related
expenses and policy related expenses, LIC has a lot of other additional
expenses. The LIC spreads the higher expenses incurred in the first year
uniformly over the entire term of policy. LIC should keep in mind about the
legal provisions of the country regarding the expenses to be incurred; and, the
Rule 17D of Insurance Act must be observed in maintaining the fixed ceiling
placed on both first year expense ratio and renewal expense ratio — 90 percent
and 15 percent respectively. Insurances — like LIC — make some provisions to
meet contingencies that may adversely affect their financial position. But due
to the development medical science and technology, the mortality rate has gone
down and the insurers are not adversely affected. They have more income which
they distribute among the policyholders, who go encouraged in for more
insurance and serve as an advertisement for the public regarding the prosperity
and good services of the insurance companies. Besides, to satisfy the wishes of
profit minded business people, regular provision is made in the premium for definite
scales of profit to be declared as bonus. Such premiums with definite provision
for participation in the profits of the insurer are known as 'with profit
premium'. All the same, insurers started providing margins in their 'without
profit premiums' to meet contingencies.
ADEQUACY AND
CONSISTENCY OF PREMIUMS
The calculation of premium is a
complex task. It is not easy. Premium rates are said to be adequate, if actual
experience regarding mortality, interest and expenses follows reasonably close
to the inferences made in their calculation. An 'Appointed Actuary' does the
works of pricing — or — fixing the premium rates of policies to suit the market
scenario. If the adequacy is upset or is to be upset, the insurer should revise
his calculation and change the rate of premium, which, in fact, should not be
unusually heavy and beyond the reach of common man. The disaster that is to
fall upon the insurer due to his wrong policy in the adequate rate of premiums
should be avoided. Regular revision of the rate of premium is essential. The
rates of premiums for the various classes should be consistent with benefits
offered. Also,
premiums for approximately similar durations should be consistent with the difference in the types of benefits offered. Besides, the pricing Actuary, while designing the insurance products must take into considerations the company's ability to take risks and the need for insurance coverage in each particular market segment. He will have to consider the prevailing market interest rate and its future trends and other factors that are peculiar to the economy where the product is designed.
premiums for approximately similar durations should be consistent with the difference in the types of benefits offered. Besides, the pricing Actuary, while designing the insurance products must take into considerations the company's ability to take risks and the need for insurance coverage in each particular market segment. He will have to consider the prevailing market interest rate and its future trends and other factors that are peculiar to the economy where the product is designed.
CALCULATION OF
INSTALMENT PREMIUM
The premium paid in installment —
monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly — is called installment premium —
which is paid at intervals. The LIC based on the mode of payment of premium and
also the amount of sum assured gives rebates and concessions to policyholders.
It also collects
additional charges from policyholders who make premium payments on ordinary monthly installment basic. The rebates depend upon products approved by IRDAI and may vary plan to plan. The rebates and concessions given and the additional charges collected are shown here in the following table (b):
additional charges from policyholders who make premium payments on ordinary monthly installment basic. The rebates depend upon products approved by IRDAI and may vary plan to plan. The rebates and concessions given and the additional charges collected are shown here in the following table (b):
Table (b)
Example
of Rebates and Extras on Mode of
Payment
Sl. No.
|
Particulars
|
Extras and
Rebates
|
1
|
Ordinary
monthly
|
5% extra
|
2
|
Quarterly
|
Rebate- Nil
|
3
|
Half
yearly
|
1.55% rebate
|
4
|
Yearly
|
3% rebate
|
5
|
Salary
Saving scheme
|
Rebate- Nil
|
Conclusion The product designing in Life
Insurance business are very important task and under the senior actuary actuarial
team are designing the product. Product always design based on demand of the
field force of the LIC of India. The products premium depends upon many factors
which is take care by expert i.e. Appointed Actuary. The LIC collects
additional charges basing on health status and level of danger in the
occupation pursued by people. Besides, it also collects additional charges, if
sufficient proof is not given regarding age. In the above table, health and
occupational extras and age proof extras are not shown as they vary from person
to person. Products cost depend upon so many factors as described above but out
of them the - Laws of Probability and Laws of Large Numbers are two main part
of defining products pricing. LIC of India servicing country from many decades
and are present in every corner of the country because of their trust and plans
which are fulfilling the desires of people. Products are the back bone of any
company and the same formula applicable in life insurance sector too. Method of
product designing and execution process and take care of every small and big
things towards products are make LIC universal in the sector of Life Insurance.
The market share of the LIC are 70 percent and including all life insurance
company they are restricted in 30 percent that self shows quality of products
and trust amongst people in India toward LIC.
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