press trust of india, Mumbai, April 28: GIC Re, which is the largest re-insurer in Nepal, said the company is expecting to pay a whopping `1,000-crore claim against the damages caused by the earthquake that has ravaged the nation.
“My company, which is the largest reinsurer in Nepal, is preparing itself to pay around USD 160 million (Rs 1,000cr) of claim out of the devastation caused by 7.9 earthquake that shook the densely-populated Kathmandu valley and the rest of the Himalayan kingdom,” GIC Re chairman and managing director A K Roy told PTI.
He further warned, “Rs 1,000cr is the maximum that we should be paying in the worst scenario. We have done reinsurance business with 13 Nepalese non-life companies. We are expecting claims from segments like power plants, housing complexes, commercial buildings and hotels. The claims may lead to higher reinsurance premium in the region.”
GIC Re also hinted that it may increase its reinsurance premium in Nepal in the future.
“As of now, we don’t know the quantum of our loss in Nepal. The only thing that I can say at the moment is in case our loss goes higher, then it will definitely result in increasing the premium amount for providing reinsurance cover in that country,” he said.
The company has already started the process of assessment and will begin claim settlement by next week. The Nepal market is under-penetrated and is expected to generate large claims, he said adding, “I am not expecting any large claims from India due to the earthquake.”
GIC Re has sent a team of its surveyors to Nepal at the request of non-life insurers there to help them assess the damage.
“There was a request from the non-life insurers in Nepal and hence we have sent a team of 10 surveyors for their help,” he said.
According to a report by AIR, a leading international catastrophe modelling firm, more earthquakes are expected in the Himalayan region.
LIC Nepal gears up to settle claims
Mumbai: State-owned life insurer Life Insurance Corporation’s subsidiary LIC Nepal is gearing up to settle the claims in the earthquake-hit country. LIC’s corporate office in Mumbai has already issued special instruction to its Nepal company. “We have a separate company in Nepal, known as LIC (Nepal) where LIC has a majority of stake of 55 per cent in that company. It’s too early to reach any conclusion as everything is stuck there. School and colleges everything is shut over there since the earthquake took place,” LIC chairman SK Roy told PTI. LIC’s Nepal subsidiary will follow its normal instructions that are in place for settling claims during such calamities. “I have sent an advisory note to LIC Nepal to follow the same thing which LIC does in India in such circumstances. We give concessional methods of settlement of claims what we have already done in case of Uttarakhand floods,” Roy, who is also the non-executive chairman of LIC (Nepal), said. “The claims will be settled as and when they are lodged. The company has got sufficient solvency margin to settle the claims,” he added.