KOCHI: The New India Assurance Company, the country’s largest general insurance firm, has to pay claims worth Rs 580 crore to victims of the great deluge that ravaged Kerala in August 2018. Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) and Kochi Metro are the major claimants. While CIAL has submitted claims to the tune of Rs 336 crore, the insurance company, after assessing the damage to airport assets will pay around Rs 175 crore. Kochi Metro will receive claims to the tune of Rs 110 crore, New India Assurance Company chairman and MD Atul Sahai said here on Saturday.
Though the total claim was in the range of Rs 580- Rs 600 crore, the company’s net payment as claims will be around Rs 140 crore as it had reassured the assets, said regional chief manager S Preetha. The loss incurred by Kochi region due to payment of flood claims in 2018-19 will be compensated when it receives reinsurance claims, said Sahai. He said the company was getting a lot of queries about insuring buildings after the floods.
Decline in vehicle sales in the country has adversely affected motor vehicle insurance companies. The New India Assurance Company, the top insurer in the automobile segment, has recorded a six per cent decline in insurance during the first quarter of 2019-20.
However, it managed to register a 16% growth in the first quarter of the year with fire, marine, aviation and engineering sectors, said Sahai. We are expecting a turnaround in motor vehicle insurance in the next three months, he said.