Iran: A 2nd standalone life insurer gets licence
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Dec 2017
The High Council of Insurance has issued the licence for the establishment of Iran’s second specialised life insurance company, the President of Central Insurance of Iran (CII) has announced.
“CII is licensing new specialised life insurance companies to expand the share of this type of policies across the country,” Dr Abdolnaser Hemmati said, according to a report in Financial Tribune. The report did not disclose the name of the new life insurer.
Middle East Life Insurance Company, affiliated to the Middle East Bank, is the first specialised life insurer in Iran. The company was established with an initial capital of IRR1.2 trillion (US$34 million), after CII approved the board members of the firm in October 2016.
Dr Hemmati said he hoped that specialised life insurers would increase public awareness about the benefits of life insurance.
“Specialised life insurance companies can boost their revenues through marketing because out of Iran’s 80 million population, only 20% of them are covered by life insurance policies,” he added.
Last year, CII announced that it will no longer issue any permits for the establishment of new general insurers.
Under the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22), the share of life business in the overall insurance industry is expected to reach 21% by 2022, compared to 14% at present. M
IRR1,000 = US$0.03