THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The four public sector general insurance companies of the country will have to shell out around Rs 4,500 crore as settlement claims for around 25,000 claims following the devastation in the state owing to the floods. This was stated by B V Girija Kumar who is the chairman of Oriental Insurance Company who is also the chairman of the General Insurer’s (Public Sector) Association of India which is a consortium of all the public sector insurance companies.
He, however, added the actual amount of claims will be lesser than this figure as after total verification, it will generally be less. The senior officer said claims are trickling in as is the case in natural calamities as during the first two weeks it will be slow and then it will catch up. He said the estimation is around 25,000 claims for the four public sector insurance companies taken together while that of the private sector will again be around another 25,000.
The chairman said the public sector insurance companies have requested the state government to provide the full details of the dead persons with their address and based on this it will verify as to how many of them are insured. On this basis, the claims will be expedited. 483 deaths are already reported in the state following the flood and devastation and those who have insurance based on the records available with the company will be compensated, he said.
Girija Kumar said in India, the maximum number of insurance claims is for motor vehicles while there is much less penetration for the housing sector. The chairman said while Kerala floods affected the state totally, except for one or two districts, the Chennai floods were confined to the city and its immediate suburbs. However, in Chennai, the claims were around Rs 6,500 crore and he attributed this to the penetration density in the city.
When asked what the strategy of the insurance companies will be when all the records of insurance are missing, he said, “We will be taking records from the websites if the records are washed away.”The chairman said that Oriental Insurance Company itself has set up 25 camp offices and appointed nodal officers in all districts and claim awareness publicity advertisements are given. He also added the focus is on speedy settlement of motor, households, shopkeepers, PA and cattle claims and interim relief to commercial organisations.
Girija Kumar also said the delay in intimation of claims is waived up to September 30 and on cases by cases it can be further extended. The chairman said the claims of householders will be settled up to Rs 1 lakh without bills based on physical evidence by surveyor. For simple repairs in two-wheelers motor claim settlement of Rs 3,500 is made without any bills and for other motor claims the settlement on cashless basis up to 60 per cent of the assessed loss is made without bills.
When asked on the malpractice conducted by a surveyor and his subsequent arrest in Kochi, Girija Kumar said, “It was an unfortunate incident and we have set up 25 nodal offices in the state and general public can directly contact our officers who are there to help the people.”Balwant Singh, director, Oriental Insurance Company, and KS John, Kerala head, Oriental Insurance Company, were also present.