Second wave pushes COVID-19 health claims up 27%

According to sources in the General Insurance Council, health insurance claims related to COVID-19 have jumped to 9.9 lakh worth Rs. 14,500 crore, up 27% from 7.8 lakh claims worth Rs. 11,850 crore as on January 31, 2021. The surge follows the second wave of infections that hit the country in February, 2021.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance’s head of claims Sanjay Datta remarked that March, 2021 has recorded last year’s peak figures driven by claims filed from Maharashtra.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance’s head of health claims Bhaskar Nerurkar stated, Claims applied for COVID treatment have gone up by 50% at 150 claims per day in March, as compared to the lowest recorded in January at 100 claims per day.”

Liberty General Insurance said that COVID claims, which have almost doubled in recent weeks compared to a month ago, are likely to increase further as there is a lag in reporting the reimbursement of claims by some customers.