The concept of Life Insurance is about a century old in India. Bombay Life Insurance Society Ltd. Which was established in 1871, began the Insurance services for the Indians. Prior to this life insurance mutual firms in the country served only the British. In 1956 the entire life insurance business was nationalized and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) came into being.

Insurance is divided into four classes viz. Life Insurance, Fire Insurance, Marine Insurance and Miscellaneous Insurance. While LIC deals with life insurance, there is another insurance firm General Insurance Company (GIC) that deals with rest of them. GIC along with its four subsidiaries namely Oriental Insurance, New India Assurance, Insurance and United India Insurance was also taken over by the government in 1973. Medical Insurance, which is relatively a new concept in our country, is offered by both the LIC and GIC.

However with the introduction of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Act 1999 the insurance sector has been liberalized. Insurance coverage in our country is still abysmally low. Total insurance premium at 2.01% of GDP is among the lowest in the world. Liberalization would widen the insurance coverage by providing variety of products to different categories of consumers at competitive prices. Permitting competition in insurance sector will also enable consumers to reap the benefit in terms of service. Apart from these liberalization would expand the insurance market and increase job opportunities as well as generate much-desired funds for infrastructure and social sectors.

The increasing awareness in our country both in the area of general insurance as well as life insurance and government’s decision to deregulate the sector forebodes very well for those aspiring to join this sector. In fact following three new companies have already been given licence by IRDA and started operating:

1. Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd.,
2. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd.,
3. Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Ltd.

Educational Qualification:
Assistant Administrative Officers are the entry-level management cadre post offered by GIC and LIC. These officers are trained in different spheres of administration, accounts and development and deal with policymaking, marketing and procurement of business, as well as management of funds.

Graduates/postgraduates in any subject with a minimum of 50% marks and in the age group of 21-28 years are eligible for appearing in the AAO exam of LIC or GIC. In order to work as an Insurance Surveyor one needs to hold a license, and fulfil one of the following qualifications:

• Fellowship or Associate ship through exam held by the Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Adjusters (IISA) Bombay.

• A degree/diploma in architecture of a recognized university

• Fellowship or Associate ship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants or Cost and Works Accountants

• A degree/diploma from a recognized engineering institute

• A degree/diploma in naval architecture

A candidate interested to work in the insurance sector, in the capacity of an officer or an agent or an insurance surveyor has to have knowledge of Actuarial Science which is built up on statistical evaluation of the financial and economic implication of future contingencies and helps in calculation of insurance risk, premiums and pension programs etc. Those recruited by the insurance firms are given suitable training. However graduate course in Actuarial Science is offered by Bombay University and postgraduate course in Actuarial Science is offered by Kalyani University. Nowadays, with the opening up of the insurance sector many institutes have started offering specialized courses covering various aspects of the industry. These can be taken up as regular/par time courses or even pursued through correspondence. In the new liberalized environment management graduates, like in other sectors, would also have good opportunities in the insurance sector.