Mumbai, July 7: In the aftermath of the worst disaster in Uttarakhand, public sector general insurer Oriental Insurance is assessing the claims arising from the calamity on behalf of all four PSU general insurers, say industry sources. "Normally, when a natural disaster of this scale happens, one of the general insurers coordinates the assessment of damages and claims on behalf of the other public general insurers. As Oriental is the lead insurer in the region, it is doing the assessment for all state-run general insurers," a source in the general insurance industry said.
According to the source, during Mumbai deluge in 2006, the largest insurer New India Assurance had evaluated the damages and claims for all four public insurers. On the types of claims that are likely to arise from the disaster, the source said property insurance, shop and commercial insurance along with claims arising from damages to infrastructure projects are likely to come up from this disaster.
He, however, declined to put any number to the claims. Meanwhile, companies like NHPC and Jaiprakash Power had informed the BSE that their hydroelectric projects had been affected due to the flash floods, indicating claims might shoot up for insurers. According to sources, the initial estimate of claims for the largest general insurer New India Assurance is pegged at around Rs 100 crore.
