Insurance News: Fire losses account for half of non-life insurance claims in FY12

Fire losses accounted for over half of the claims lodged with general insurance companies in 2011-12. According to Insurance  Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) data, compiled by insurance broking house India Insure, engineering-related  issues such as machine failure constituted another 16.8 per cent of the claims and marine claims accounted for 14.1 per cent.

Besides, motor vehicle accidents were responsible for 4.7 per cent of the claims and health-related issues another 2.4 per  cent. The maximum number of claims was lodged by the power sector. But in terms of large claims exceeding Rs 25 lakh,  property-related ones formed the biggest category.

In FY12, around 3,600 claims were received for an amount exceeding Rs 25 lakh.

The largest claim reported during the year was related to a professional indemnity policy worth an estimated Rs 91 crore.

LARGE CLAIMS

Of the over 3,600 large claims that were reported, 20 per cent pertained to Oriental Insurance Company and 17 per cent to National India Assurance. Besides, United India Assurance and National Insurance Corporation accounted for 9 per cent of the total claims, taking the share of the public sector insurers to 58 per cent of the total claim amount.

This was in line with their premium market share of 52 per cent in 2012. Over 16 per cent of the large claims against OIC pertained to the power sector.

In the private sector, ITGI was saddled with 9 per cent of the total claims exceeding Rs 25 lakh, despite only having a 3.4 per cent market share. Most of the claims against the company were related to the property sector. ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Allianz accounted for 7 per cent of the claims each and Tata AIG another 5 per cent.

An analysis of the large claims received during the year reveals that 43.6 per cent were valued between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, while 28 per cent fell in the Rs 50-100 lakh category.

Besides this, 16.8 per cent of the claims were in the Rs 1-2.5 crore bracket and 2.9 per cent were valued at Rs 2.5-5 crore. The remainder of the large claims ranged from Rs 5 crore to more than Rs 50 crore.

The industrialised States of Maharashtra and Gujarat accounted for 34 per cent of the claims lodged with general insurance companies in 2011-12. Around 8 per cent of the non-life claims came from Tamil Nadu, while West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh accounted for about 5 per cent each.

PREMIUM COLLECTIONS

IRDA data shows that the PSU insurers registered a growth of 17 per cent in premium collections during the first five months of 2012-13, compared to 23 per cent last fiscal. The private insurers, on the other hand, registered 18 per cent growth in premium collections during April-August, 2012, as against 26 per cent last year. As a result, the PSUs’ collective market share has declined from 58.5 per cent to 58.2 per cent, while the private players saw their share go up from 41.5 per cent to 41.8 per cent.