Non-life insurers have so far received 10,000 claims valued at Rs 2,500 crore arising out of the Tamil Nadu deluge, a top insurance official said today.
"All non-life insurers put together have received 10,000 claims valued at Rs 2,500 crore from the Tamil Nadu floods and the industry is fully geared to face the situation and settle all claims," G Srinivasan, chairman of General Insurance Council and of New India Insurance, told PTI.
"All the four state-owned general insurers have opened 12 centres in Chennai which bore the brunt of the floods, to expedite claim settlement.
"New India has received 1,300 claims worth Rs 400 crore and has already settled 25 claims worth Rs 2 crore," the head of the country's largest non-life insurer said.
General Insurance Council, which represents all the non-life, health and re-insurers, said insurance companies are taking all steps to expedite settlement with minimum documents for the purpose.
General insurers have also set up toll-free numbers, helplines and call centres to assist policyholders in submitting their claims.
"Insurance companies are taking all steps to assess, process and settle the claims of policyholders expeditiously as they have done in previous disasters like Jammu & Kashmir floods and the Hudhud cyclone," Srinivasan said.
The maximum number of claims has been received by Chennai-based United India, which has received over 1,800 claims.
"We have received 1,852 claims, valued at Rs 657 crore and we have already settled over 70 claims as of now," United India chairman and managing director Milind Kharat said.
"The company has opened 8 centres in Chennai and one in Puducherry to settle claims. Mostly, claims are coming under segments like motor and property," he added.
State-owned Oriental Insurance Company has received 600
claims valued at Rs 150 crore.
"The company has received 600 claims valued at Rs 150 crore as on date," Oriental Insurance Deputy General Manager in Chennai, Ajit Kumar said.
"We have given waiver of certain documents and we are telling the policyholders that intimation given by them is sufficient," he said, adding that the claim settlement process will start from Monday.
Tata AIG General Insurance has received 382 claims.
Also, the company has opened three dedicated centres in Chennai alone to provide assistance to its policyholders.
"Tata AIG has received 382 claims from the Tamil Nadu floods as of December 2. It includes 130 claims which had been received by the company from the first spell.
"Gross claim estimate may climb to Rs 50 crore, which includes the prior claim amount of Rs 32 crore from the first spell of rains," its president M Ravichandran said.
