NIC MOVES INTO TITLE INSURANCE

Indian state-owned insurer NIC has moved into the title insurance market. Providing there are no objections from the Insurance & Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) within the next week, NIC’s product will cover risk of faulty or litigated title, disputes of transfer or forgery. Chairman and managing Director V Ramasaamy said that NIC was in talks with many bankers who had expressed “keen interest” in the product. He noted that, in the long term, bankers might insist upon title insurance before they lend on the purchase of property. The product, which  was part-designed by Alegion Insurance Broking, could generate premiums of RP5bn ($121m) in its first year. Alegion managing director N Raveendran said that his company would help in assessing the validity of titles that came up for insurance.