Here are life insurers in Sri Lanka that stand out for policyholder benefits (claims / payouts, financial strength, awards, fast service and customer reach). I list the reason to consider each and one or two sources you can check.

Top life insurers to consider

• Ceylinco Life — market leader, very large Life Fund and high claims/maturities paid (LKR 25bn in 2024); strong capital adequacy. Good track record for policyholder payouts and multiple industry awards. (ceylincolife.com)
• Softlogic Life — rapid growth, very large customer base and high claims & benefits paid (reported LKR 14.2bn paid in 2024); noted for fast claim turnaround on many products and strong financial metrics. (softlogiclife.lk)
• AIA Sri Lanka — part of the pan‑Asian AIA Group; consistently recognised for product, service and bancassurance partnerships (large bancassurance reach via Commercial Bank) and awards for best life insurer. Strong solvency metrics reported. (wwwuat.aialife.com.lk)
• Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC Life) — state‑owned insurer with high payouts to policyholders and an insurer financial strength rating (Fitch national rating) noted for stability. Good claims/maturity disbursements reported. (sliclife.com)
• Union Assurance — steady premium growth and large claims paid (public reporting of multi‑billion rupee claim payments), recognised regionally for service/innovation. (unionassurance.com)
• Janashakthi Life — strong growth and explicit reporting of benefits/claims paid to policyholders and healthy capital adequacy ratios in recent reports. (morning.lk)
• HNB Assurance — reported robust growth, consistently pays significant claims/maturities and reports healthy Life Fund and capital ratios. (ceylontoday.lk)
• Sanasa Life — mutual/co‑op style insurer with local reach and recognitions for service and management practices; good for community / coop‑oriented customers. (businesscafe.lk)

How I chose these (what to check)

• Claims & benefits paid (amounts and timeliness) — shows real policyholder support. (See company annual reports / news above.) (ceylincolife.com)
• Capital adequacy / insurer financial strength (RBC/CAR, rating agencies) — indicates ability to pay large claims over time. (ceylincolife.com)
• Awards, customer surveys and market share — helpful signals for service and reliability. (ceylincolife.com)
• Speed & process for claims (digital claims, one‑day settlements for some health claims) — matters for policyholder experience. (enbsl.lk)

Regulatory & market context

• The Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL) oversees the sector; the long‑term (life) sector has seen growth but the regulator requires minimum RBC/CAR levels and monitors solvency and disclosures. Check IRCSL / industry reports for the latest sectorwide metrics. (magzter.com)

Quick practical tips

• For a policy focused on “policyholder benefits,” prioritise: (1) historical claims paid & claim settlement speed, (2) insurer CAR / ratings, (3) product terms (maturity/bonus/survival benefits), and (4) read the policy exclusions carefully. Company annual reports and IRCSL updates are the best primary sources. (ceylincolife.com)

If you’d like, I can:

• compare two or three of these insurers on a specific metric (e.g., claims paid, CAR, Life Fund, product types), or
• pull the latest IRCSL report and each insurer’s 2024/2025 annual report figures into a short comparison table.

Which would you prefer?