SBI General to Settle 70% of Cyclone Hudhud Claims by Tomorrow

SBI General to Settle 70% of Cyclone Hudhud Claims by Tomorrow

MUMBAI: SBI General Insurance has received 541 claims after Cyclone Hudhud, which lashed the Andhra Pradesh coast recently, and would settle 70 per cent of claims by tomorrow, a top official of the company said today.

"After Cyclone Hudhud, we have received 541 claims until now, out of which 70 per cent would be settled by the close of business hours tomorrow (October 31). Of these claims, 80 per cent of smaller claims (amount less than Rs 5 lakh) would also be paid by the same timeline," SBI General Insurance Managing Director and Chief Executive Bhaskar J Sarma told PTI.

A total number of 87 claims have been reported as of today from the floods in Jammu and Kashmir, which hit the Kashmir Valley early in September. On a gross basis, the total estimated loss reported stands at Rs 5.86 crore tentatively for the company, he said.

"We have already settled 79 claims out of 87 claims from J&K floods victims as on date on account payment made amounting to Rs 1.58 crore, which means 91 per cent of claims reported have been settled. Our team is working on final payment for on account cases with the target date as October 31," he said.

He said that his company is adequately prepared with reserves and resources to handle any further increase in claim escalations and intimations.

"Our interest in responding to exigencies like these underlines what we are about as a business -- which is getting people back on their feet quickly and back to business as usual," he said. He said that his company is tracking Cyclone Nilofar very carefully and is fully prepared for it though the Met Department has downgraded the event from a severe cyclonic storm to a cyclonic storm.

Commenting on the business growth, Sarma said, "We continue to grow significantly faster than the market rate. This has helped in increasing our market share on a consistent basis. Our growth is close to three times the industry average and we intend to continue on our growth path in the future".

The company plans to launch three new products under the health insurance category by the end of the fiscal.

"We intend to launch three new products through our bancassurance distribution model in the last few months of the year," he said.

Speaking about the solvency margin of his company, Sarma said "Alongwith a fast paced growth in our business, we continue to maintain strong solvency margins. Against the IRDA mandated solvency ratio of 1.5, we maintain a ratio close to 3.6. This is due to our prudent financial management practices and demonstrates our very strong claim paying ability to the market."

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