Insurance may be described as a social device to reduce or eliminate risk of life and property.

Under the plan of insurance, a large number of people associate themselves by sharing risk, attached to individual. The risk, which can be insured against include fire, the peril of sea, death, incident, & burglary. Any risk contingent upon these may be insured against at a premium commensurate with the risk involved. Insurance is actually a contract between 2 parties whereby one party called insurer undertakes in exchange for a fixed sum called premium to pay the other party happening of a certain event. Insurance is a contract whereby, in return for the payment of premium by the insured, the insurers pay the financial losses suffered by the insured as a result of the occurrence of unforeseen events. With the help of Insurance, large number of people exposed to a similar risk make contributions to a common fund out of which the losses suffered by the unfortunate few, due to accidental events, are made good. The insurance sector in India has come a full circle from being an open competitive market to nationalization and back to a liberalized market again. Tracing the developments in the Indian insurance sector reveals the 360-degree turn witnessed over a period of almost 190 years. The business of life insurance in India in its existing form started in India in the year 1818 with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is the country's leading private life insurance company. It is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, a premier financial powerhouse, and Prudential plc, a leading international financial services group headquartered in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential was amongst the first private sector insurance companies to begin operations in December 2000 after receiving approval from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).ICICI Prudential's equity base stands at Rs. 675 crore with ICICI Bank and Prudential plc holding 74 and 26 stake respectively. In the year ended March 31st 2004, the company issued in excess of 430,000 policies, with a total sum assured of over Rs. 8000 crores and a premium income in excess of Rs. 980 crores. In terms of distribution strength, the company has about 30,000 advisors and some 12 Bancassurance tie-ups. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company instigated in December 2000 is one of the leading private life insurers in India. A product of a highly lucrative joint venture between ICICI Bank India and Prudential PLC of UK, ICICI Prudential is most commonly known as ICICI Prulife. Spanning the country with over 100 offices and 2.6 lakh advisors, ICICI Pru Life is one of the most trusted private firms in life insurance services in India. The various services by ICICI Prudential include life insurance plans, retirement solutions and health insurance plans. Under the ICICI Prudential Life Insurance or ICICI Pru Life, the company offers education insurance, wealth creation, guaranteed premium and protection plans as customized services. For life stage pension plans we have specialized retirement plans and life time gold services available with ICICI Prudential. Health insurance services include crisis cover and major and chronic disease coverage plans that include cancer, diabetes and other health problems. ICICI Prudential is a joint venture company between ICICI Bank India Ltd. and Prudential PLC UK. Having started India operations in Dec 2000, ICICI Prudential enjoys the elite position of the most trusted private sector life insurer in India. The distribution network of ICICI prudential is being expanded along with the product range and customer bank.

The services by ICICI prudential include: o ICICI Prudential Life Insurance o ICICI Prudential Health Care Plans o ICICI Prudential Retirement Solutions and Pension Plans ICICI Prudential Asset Management o ICICI Prudential Life time gold investment o ICICI Prudential Tax saving plans o ICICI Prudential Mutual funds like ICICI Prudential Discovery Fund, Infrastructure Fund, Equity Fund, ELSS In addition to these insurance policies, ICICI Prudential bring to you easy premium payment solutions by cheque or cash at the branches, cheque payments at the drop boxes, ECS, credit card payment and online payment options. Login to the ICICI Prudential website and on the homepage find online premium payment option. You also get an online asset allocator, inflation index calculator, human life value calculator and life stage profiler. ICICI Prudential offers you an opportunity to buy the desired insurance policy online or get full details from an insurance agent or broker send to you or even get first hand direct information at the helpdesks in the ICICI Prudential branches. Questions : 1. How did ICICI Prudential capture the market inspite of heavy competition? 2. Discuss about the customer preference with regard to insurance and risk management. 3. List out the functions of insurance in the perspective of a consumer.