INSURANCE
Insurance companies settle around 15 lakh COVID-19 health claims as on June 22: IRDAI member
Jun-25-2021

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Member (Non-life) T L Alamelu said insurance companies have settled 80 per cent or 15.39 lakh COVID-19 health claims amounting to Rs 15,000 crore as on June 22. Insurance players have received about 19.11 lakh COVID-19 health claims so far. She said ‘Of the 19,11,384 COVID health claims reported as on June 22, 15,39,434 have already been settled for an amount over Rs 15,000 crore. This represents about 80 per cent of the claims getting settled as far as medical insurance or hospitalisation is concerned’.

She added as far as death claims are concerned, which are handled by the life insurers, about 55,276 claims have been intimated. Of that, around 88 per cent or 48,484 claims amounting to Rs 3,593 crore have already been settled. Alamelu said the repudiated claim for health insurance is around 4 per cent and in life it is nearly 0.66 per cent. According to her, life and non-life insurers have managed well despite the pandemic as they ended the year 2020-21 with a growth of about 9 per cent. In April and May this year, the industry has seen a growth of about 7 per cent, she added.

Alamelu said ‘In the next five years, the industry can easily grow well at 40-50 per cent, to be extremely optimistic if things settle down. And even if they have not settled down, it should grow at 25-30 per cent’. She said the insurance industry and the sector regulator have worked together during the pandemic to design new policies to cater to the demand of new and unprecedented situations. she also said the insurance industry has a tremendous responsibility to offer protection plans, and added that sector players need to be aggressive in selling insurance products because the COVID-19 pandemic has proved that having insurance cover is no longer an option.

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