Three Public Insurers Report Negative Solvency

IRDAI's Annual Report 2024-25 explains the rule. Every insurer must keep its Available Solvency Margin at least 150 per cent of its Required Solvency Margin, at all times. That is a ratio of 1.50, which the report calls the control level. The Available Solvency Margin is defined as the excess of the value of assets over the amount of liabilities.

So a ratio below 1.50 means the insurer is under the required level. A negative ratio means the available margin itself is below zero, on the report's own definition.

The report says 28 private-sector general insurers, including the standalone health insurers, complied with the 1.50 requirement at 31 March 2025. Three public-sector insurers did not:

• National Insurance: −0.67

• The Oriental Insurance Company: −1.03

• United India Insurance: −0.65

The fourth public-sector general insurer, The New India Assurance, reported 1.91, above the required level.

Statement 12 also gives the ratio at four dates during FY 2024-25 (June, September, December and March):

• National: −0.46, −0.45, −0.53, −0.67

• Oriental: −1.03, −1.02, −1.05, −1.03

• United India: −0.73, −0.71, −0.91, −0.65

So National's ratio moved further below zero through the year, Oriental's barely changed, and United India's was less negative at the end than at the start.

Because this site is about health cover, here is where the standalone health insurers stood at 31 March 2025, from the same table (all above 1.50):

• Aditya Birla Health: 1.84

• Care Health: 1.68

• Galaxy Health: 4.70

• ManipalCigna: 1.76

• Narayana Health: 1.61

• Niva Bupa: 3.03

• Star Health: 2.21

Some large private multi-line insurers in the same table: HDFC ERGO 2.00, ICICI Lombard 2.69, Bajaj Allianz 3.25, Tata AIG 1.81, SBI General 2.03.

The report's Statement 9 lists equity share capital. During FY 2024-25 the private general insurers together added ₹863.18 crore. The four public-sector general insurers added nothing (0.00 for each). This is only about new equity share capital. The report's table does not show other forms of support, so it doesn't tell us whether any other support was given.

The solvency ratio is one measure of an insurer's finances. It is not a claim-settlement figure, and it does not tell you how any individual claim will be handled. The report publishes the numbers. It does not, in these tables, say what will happen to these insurers next, and neither do we.

Nothing in the solvency table by itself changes the terms of a policy you already hold. If you hold one, your policy documents and your insurer remain where you check what your cover is and how to claim.

Treat the solvency ratio as one data point among several, next to claim-settlement data, the plan's waiting periods and exclusions, and its network hospitals. Each insurer's page on FinResp shows its claim data, and the plan comparison shows plan features side by side. This is information, not a recommendation for or against any insurer.