The claim ‍settlement rate of life and non-life insurance companies in the country increased by 4 percent year-on-year in 2023, said Mohammad Jainul Bari, chairman of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA).

Claim settlement rates have increased as the regulator has passed a strict directive on insurance companies to focus on claims settlement to improve the image of the insurance sector, he said.

Bari made this comment at a press conference organised by the IDRA at its Motijheel office in Dhaka today to inform of celebrations marking National Insurance Day which is scheduled to be celebrated on March 1.

At present there are 35 life insurance and 46 non-life insurance companies active in the country. Of them, 49 are listed with the stock market.

Currently, there are 17.11 million people who have availed insurance.

Corporate governance and regulatory guidelines have been issued to make the country's insurance system up-to-date, said Bari.

Recently, provisions for bancassurance have been formulated for selling insurance products through banks, he said. The prime minister is scheduled to make the official launching on March 1.

There are 15 crore bank accounts in the country but a large portion of account holders are without insurance.

When trained and skilled manpower of the banks will engage in selling insurance products, the number of insurance customers will increase and the rate of policy lapse will decrease, he said.

Besides, insurance penetration will increase and there will be a positive perception among people about this industry, he added.

For bancassurance, five banks have already been licensed and licences of another five to six banks are in the pipeline, he informed.

Bari said the regulator alone cannot do anything for the development of the sector if the companies do not want to improve their own situation, he added.

"If there is no attitude to serve people, if there is no mentality to do business honestly, no matter how many laws the regulator makes, they will always find a gap," Bari said.

Companies have to take the initiative to create a positive image of this sector, he said.