The New India Assurance Company Limited (NIACL) is one of the premier general insurance company in India. owned by Government of India, this public company is a subsidiary of General Insurance Company Limited (GIC) and operates both in India and many foreign countries. Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, it is the largest general insurance company in terms of the gross premium collection. The company has around 31 regional offices, 6 large corporate houses, 447 divisional offices, and 1239 micro hubs. Besides this, the company also runs its 578 branches, 27 direct agent branches, 1 auto hub, and 2 centralized legal hubs. This means that the company has a total of 2329 offices spreading over 29 states and seven Union Territories across 28 other countries.

The company has commenced its operation since 1919 and since then it has achieved new heights in the world of insurance. The company has managed to issue 27.10 million policies across all its segments. In short, the company has such huge scale of operations that NIACL had to transfer its life insurance business to the Life Insurance Corporation of India in 1956 nationalized in 1974, the NIACL has crossed a premium of INR 10000 crore in 2011-12 and INR 20000 crore in 2016-17. Despite the global economic recession, the company has still a strong global presence. All this has helped to add the following competitive strength in the company:

• An established brand for over 100 years and remaining stable in providing good service has made it a market leader.


• Since it has established its international operations, it has expanded its presence in Japan, Australia, and the UK for decades.


• The product offerings provided to wide customers are diversified according to one's needs.


• It has managed to establish and maintain a strong relationship with the customers and reinsurers.


• The distribution network is expansive and multi-channel.


• The information technology infrastructure remains intact for uninterrupted services.

Huge company with so many offices would also mean great job opportunities. NIACL offers jobs in multiple categories and posts. One of them is the post of the NIACL assistant. The nature of work that a NIACL assistant does shall comprise of routine clerical duties including issuing insurance policies, setting insurance claims, accepting cash, and routine office administration. This shall be marketed by insurance agents and development officers. Overall the work includes a variety of tasks. There are immense opportunities to proceed and get promoted. In short, one should grasp the opportunity of a job as NIACL assistant provided one clears the selection process.
Before one thinks of applying for a job at NIACL, it is important to know the job description, salary, career path details.
As an assistant at NIACL, one would have to:

• Undertake data entry at initial stages of work


• Issue policies


• Be responsible for assisting the administrative officers

There is no public dealing done by a NIACL assistant. But there are three major tasks that must be performed by the assistant. These are:

1. Underwriting: Under this, the assistant shall decide if someone seeking coverage shall be provided with the insurance or not. It is the duty of the assistant to explain the policies and maintain client's insurance records. This shall further be used for retrieving and gathering the financial data. They can also issue insurance policies, but their work is different from that of an insurance agent. An insurance agent will have to work as a sales agent and earn brokerages, but the work of a NIACL assistant takes place in an office. Seldomly, will the assistant shall go out to meet the clients.


2. Proceeding Claims: Assistant will also have to work as a claim adjuster. Customers who come at NIACL for claims have already experienced a loss. It is important that they get claims that they make hassle-free way. Therefore, it is the duty of the assistant to examine the insurance policies, appraise it or investigate the claims within the given time period. In this way, the assistant shall work in the legal and non-legal aspects of the claim.


3. Accounts: The work tasks of a NIACL assistant shall include working directly with an accountant, accounting manager, or a finance manager. This means the assistant shall work with the accounts to maintain the office and run it smoothly. This includes; preparation of balance sheet, payments, calculating and checking the payments, maintenance of the statutory books of accounts, managing petty cash transactions, reconciling financial accounts and direct debits, and other accounting related transactions.

All employees at NIACL are entitled to a basic pay package of INR 23, 500 per month. Besides, this there are other benefits that can be availed depending upon the place of posting of the assistant. These include;

• Lump sum domiciliary medical benefits


• For the purpose of reimbursement of hospitalization expenses incurred if any, membership in the medi-claim policy group is provided.


• NIACL has norms for providing its employees' facility of the company's accommodation or a leased accommodation.


• Leave travel subsidy, and


• Other staff welfare schemes

Selection Procedure for NIACL Assistant:
A candidate Who wants to apply for the selection process must be eligible to do so. The eligibility criteria for appearing in an examination for NIACL are:

• The candidate must hold a valid bachelor’s degree in any discipline but only from a recognized university.


• The candidate must be aged between 21 to 30 years while appearing for the exam. NIACL appreciates fresh blood.

The selection procedure begins at the time when NIACL issues notification for job openings. These notifications are issued in national dailies and are also issued online every year. One will have to apply through the application form within the given time period. Once the application form is submitted, one will receive the time, date, and place of the examination. The selection process takes place in three phases:

As per the NIACL company guidelines, once selected through the selection process, the assistant appointed shall be posted and transferred to any place in India. The appointed assistant shall stay at the initial posting place for a minimum period of five years. As soon as the assistant joins, there is a probation that lasts for around six months. Salary and benefits shall begin since the probation period.
NIACL have their own training schools and also developed modules for training their employees. There are zonal training centers located in Chennai and Kolkata. There are regional and agent’s training centers that have been established in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hubli, Mangalore, Mysore, Udipi, Baroda, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Chennai, Pondicherry, Coimabtore, Madurai, Salem, Delhi, Agra, Ernakulam, Calicut, Trivandrum, Guwahati, Dilburg, Kurnool, Hyderabad, Tirupathi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Panaji, Nagpur, Patna, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Pune, Kohlapur, Nasik, Surat, Vizag, and Guntur.
The training to officers of higher class or officers of the technical departments shall be imparted at the National Insurance Academy.