New India Assurance is set to break into the top 50 UK insurance companies this year, according to the latest forecast of its gross written premium.
The company estimated that it would write £60m gross premium in the year up to the end of March 2003. While this includes £15m reinsurance written from its Fenchurch Avenue office, the remaining £45m of non-reinsurance premium, mainly written from its Ipswich office, would place it 46th in the Insurance Times/Standard & Poor's Top 50 Insurers published in October 2002.
New India added that it aimed to write £70m to £80m gross premium in the UK by 2005. A spokesman said that while the premium is increasing, the insurer is not taking new agencies. "This figure will account for all our renewals going forward," he said.
New India said it writes small commercial property packages for retailers, restaurants, offices, clubs and elderly care homes. It has about 150 active brokers including roughly ten scheme brokers.
