General insurers settle only third of claim amount due to natural calamities during FY21

General insurers settled only a third of the total claim amount due to natural calamities during the financial year ended March 2021, amounting to nearly Rs 761 crore, according to data from IRDAI.

Catastrophic events due to cyclones and floods in 2020-21 led to the reporting of as many as 34,304 claims worth Rs 2,559.10 crore, according to the 2020-21 annual report of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

The fiscal gone by witnessed cyclones such as Amphan, Nisarga and Nivar affecting states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat and other neighbouring states during June 2020.

While Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra witnessed floods in October last year.

Against a claim amount of Rs 2,559.10 crore due to these catastrophic events, the general insurers settled claims worth Rs 760.68 crore (27,576 claims), nearly 30 per cent the claims amount.

Claims worth Rs 1,705.52 crore are outstanding against a total of 3,428 claims, IRDAI said in its annual report FY21.

Of the claims settled during the year, the highest was towards cyclone Amphan at Rs 470.94 crore (11,512 claims) affecting West Bengal and Odisha, followed by floods in Telangana (Rs 151.30 crore), cyclone Nisarga in Gujarat and Maharashtra (Rs 93.03 crore).

“In respect of the majority of the cases, claims are outstanding due to reinstatement of property not having taken place. There are also some instances of the required documents not having been submitted by the insured due to lockdown. However, on-account payments have been made in several instances,” IRDAI said.

In 2021, cyclones Tauktae and Yaas caused losses to property in some parts of the country.

IRDAI said that during the current financial year 2021-22 also, it has issued guidance to insurers to attend to the claims arising out of such events promptly.

As on June 30, 2021, claims amounting to Rs 1,351 crore were reported by 18,194 claimants due to cyclones Tauktae and Yaas. Out of this, claims amounting to Rs 38.40 crore were settled to 6,671 claimants, it said.

The disposal of pending claims at  various stages is being monitored by the Authority regularly, it said in the report.