"We were fearing that the claims will run into several hundred crores but the ultimate figure was far less. Even the number of claims was negligible," said an official of a general insurance company. The January fire had destroyed around 4,000 shops. The property loss was estimated at around Rs 1,000 crore.
"Only about 10 per cent shop-owners were insured, and even if the property was insured, the requisite papers were reduced to ashes in the fire. All this resulted in fewer claims," said an industry analyst.
"Most markets in the area are unorganised and the insurance penetration is low," he added. According to an executive of National Insurance Company Ltd, the total number of claims were around 10 and the settlement amounted to around Rs 10 lakh.
"Most claims were small, ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000. The total claim settled would amount to Rs 10 lakh," the executive claimed.
For United India Assurance Co Ltd, the claims amounted to around Rs 15 lakh. "According to our data, the total claim settled would be in the region of Rs 14.5 lakh," a company executive said.