Kerala floods: More than 11,000 claims worth Rs 1,200 crore filed

Thiruvananthapuram:More than 11,000 claims worth an estimated Rs 1,200 crore have been filed by flood-affected people with the four public sector insurance companies in Kerala, a top official said .
United India Insurance Company Director and General Manager K B Vijay Srinivas said the public sector insurance companies had decided to simplify the process and dilute norms for speedy disbursement of claims to the flood-affected people.
“As of yesterday, the New India Assurance Company, General Insurance Corporation, United India Insurance Company and Oriental Insurance Company received more than 11,000 claims with an estimated loss of Rs 1,200 crore. We are expecting more claims in the coming days,” he told reporters here, adding the process of settling claims would be done soon.
More staff have been brought from other states for quick disposal of cases, he said.
All flood-related deaths will be treated as accident cases eligible for insurance claims, Srinivas said, adding the companies will go by the list of deceased provided by the government.
“The procedure for all types of insurance claims has been simplified and the companies will stick to the basic standard formalities,” he said.
As a pro-active step to process the claims relating to floods, the companies have started collecting preliminary information on the loss to policy holders through phone calls, e-mails and direct communication, the official said.
On steps taken for speedy and hassle-free settlement of claims, he said postmortem and police reports have been done away with while disposing personal accident claims.
The rains and floods in Kerala, the deadliest in the last century, have claimed the lives of 474 people since May 29 when the south west monsoon set in over the state.