Postal Life Insurance eyes untapped market

BANGALORE: Backed by her husband who told her to take her career to a different level, B Jansi Rani forged ahead in her chosen field of insuring people. Rani has won accolades every year for her services to the Postal Life Insurance (PLI) department in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.

This year, at the PLI national awards for outstanding performance by individuals, she swept up another one for overall performance. It is her third national award, and she travelled to Bangalore to receive the award on Tuesday.

"Postal work is monotonous and when I joined the PLI sector in 2006, I thought it would be challenging and interesting to meet people and understand them and their financial position, and convince them to take an insurance policy. It is hectic and I often go out of town for work, leaving my children with my husband, who is the pillar of my career," she said.

For R Venkadesan, it has become a habit to receive national awards for generating the highest revenue for the department. This developmental officer at Trichy circle of Tamil Nadu earned a whopping Rs 111 crore over the past year. "The term of this post is five years, but my term has been extended twice due to my capacity to generate revenue by selling insurance policies," he says with a humble smile.

Venkadesan's secret: his customers are king. Even when he's home with his children on Sundays, he finds time to attend to them, and balance work and family.

Then there's Hema Ram from Durg district in Chhattisgarh, who's mobilized over 12,200 people in 10 villages in his state. "I work in office from 6am, travelling to villages around to talk to people and convince them on insurance policies. The confidence they have in me has helped me win this award," said Ram. He earned Rs 31.25 crore in business this fiscal. He is also an agriculturist and grows vegetables and rice on his 20 acres.

PLI stands at second position after Life Insurance Corporation in the insurance sector, but is way behind in terms of business and market share. "A market survey reveals that around 80% of the country's population is still uninsured which means there is great potential in the market," said Faiz-ur-Rehman, chief general manager, PLI.

Source : The Times of India, 21 Nov., 2012