It has been revealed that from the start of 2010 life insurance firms will have to comply with new regulations.

The new rules will help to ensure that all policies sold are compliant with the new charge structure launched by the sector.

Insurance premiums now have to be more transparent and entail less jargon, meaning that consumers can make a more informed decision.

M Suresh, from a life insurance group, commented on the changes and welcomed them. He said: “With transparency in cap charges, customers will be well-informed. It is a great opportunity for life companies to increase penetration.”

He furthered: “The opportunity for more customers to come in is going to increase now and distributors see that. The volumes will start compensating for the lower commission.”

He added that his company will also follow the reform: “Thankfully, our design of products has been more or less in sync with the cap structure prescribed by the regulator. Bulk of our products required some minimal tweaks. As a portfolio, we have more than 13-14 products, which will undergo some change, but it will not be a major structural change.”