Insurers receive few claims after Kanpur train tragedy

In the wake of derailment of Indore- Patna Express in Kanpur district last Sunday, insurance firms have promised "quickest possible" settlement of claims, but have received very few claims so far.

ICICI Lombard, Royal Sundaram and Shriram, selected by IRCTC to provide cover to train passengers as an option with e-ticket since September 1, said they had received very few claims.

As many as 148 people were killed and close to 200 were injured after the Indore-Patna Express derailed in Kanpur district on Sunday.

The insurance industry is issuing around 3.5 million policies per month since the inception of scheme and hopes to cover 10 crore passengers by March. But only 30 per cent of the passengers are found to be opting for the Rs 0.92 insurance cover per ticket.
 

"There have been a few claims, may be one or two, intimated to us under the scheme. We are in continuous touch with the authorities after the (Kanpur) accident," ICICI Lombard General Insurance chief of underwriting, claims & reinsurance, Sanjay Datta, said.

"We are pro-actively trying to reach out to the hapless victims so that we can guide them on the claims process...We have also deployed personnel at Kanpur station so that we can extend our help in all possible ways," he told PTI.

Asked if the premium will go up after the accident, he said the premium has been fixed at Rs 0.92 until August 2017, and it is early to predict if it will change.

He hoped that more passengers opt for this scheme so that they are assured of a payout in case of death/ disabilities that may happen.

Royal Sundaram has received two death and two injury claims following the tragedy and the two death claims have been approved for settlement, said managing director M S Sreedhar.

"We would be settling claims in the quickest possible manner with minimum documentation and waive other formalities and documents that are not critical for the settlement of the claims," he said.

Shriram General Insurance, which has covered around 1 crore passengers under the scheme and expects to increase it to 2.20 crore by March, said it has received only one death claim and two injury claims from Kanpur mishap.