As the country mourns the dead in the terror attacks in Mumbai and governments may announce compensation to the bereaved families - insurance claims may not really be settled easily - thanks to the 'fine print' and in fact, lack of a proper cover against terrorist violence.
Insurers have already paid 60 per cent of the total hull losses, which was estimated at $50 million (about Rs 230 crore), while AI will receive the balance 40 per cent by this week, industry sources said.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, in a circular to insurance companies, said it had been receiving many complaints that claims were being rejected by the insurers on the ground of delayed intimation and submission of documents.
Insurance claims arising out of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 are estimated to wipe out about Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from the corpus set up by general insurers to fund such losses.
Pulling the plug on inflated medical insurance claims, the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune has brought out a first-of-its-kind standard treatment guideline that specifies the average treatment cost for 35 common diseases.
If you contract a disease a few years after buying a health cover, disclosure isn't mandatory. But if you want to increase the sum assured, premiums could go up.
Term insurance policy premiums are set to rise by 25 to 30 per cent with Munich Re, the largest reinsurer for the Indian insurance market, increasing its rates for underwriting portfolios of pure protection plans by up to 40 per cent. According to a senior executive of a private life insurance company, the global reinsurer has communicated its decision about increasing rates. About 8-10 insurance companies have been informed about the move, sources said.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on Wednesday warned third-party administrators (TPAs) on not settling health insurance claims in time and said rules will be tightened to ensure prompt payment.
Kamal has a crisp pen when it comes to writing short and yet powerful film dialogues. But while speaking ex tempore -- and that has been his style -- he looks every bit a confused man, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The judgment from a five-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, offers clarity on licensing regulations and is expected to prevent insurance companies from rejecting claims based on the type of licence of drivers involved in accidents.
State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has committed Rs 600 crore for its digital transformation journey, Sunder Krishnan, chief risk officer said on Wednesday. The insurance giant is also aiming to become completely "paperless" in two years. "We have hired a large system integrator for more than Rs 400 crore, a consultant for digital transformation for Rs 100 crore, and Rs 100 crore for agency transformation.
Health premiums have picked up again after a slight moderation in growth, taking the non-life insurance industry's growth to 22 per cent in November, and to almost 17 per cent so far this financial year. Health premiums grew by 22.54 per cent in the April-November period, driven largely by group health plans, which have seen good growth due to rationalisation of discounts in premiums caused by adverse claim ratios in prior periods, medical inflation, and enhanced coverage. Health premiums grew by 29 per cent in the same period last year.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
With Covid-19 cases across the country rising rapidly once again, demand for health insurance products has spiked. Insurers are seeing an uptick in inquiries for such products and underwriting more premiums in the segment. Already, health insurance was growing at a rapid pace since the onset of the pandemic as awareness around risk had heightened among consumers. But the country recorded more than 600,000 Covid-19 cases in the past week, which is almost a six-fold rise than the previous week. Owing to this, the spike in demand for health insurance products is inevitable, experts said.
Govt could cut the GST rate payable every time someone buys a health insurance product; or it could also provide a larger income tax set off for those who buy a health insurance product
The Central Bureau of Investigation has asked former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik to answer certain queries in connection with an alleged insurance scam in the Union Territory, officials said on Friday.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) announced on Monday that it had signed up tech giant Infosys to develop a next-generation digital platform that will act as the foundation for new high-value business applications, such as customer and sales super apps, portals, and digital branches. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed. The tie-up with Infosys is part of LIC's "long-drawn" strategy, said a senior executive of India's biggest insurer, who noted that the IT giant "won the bid to develop the next-generation platform through a request for proposal (RFP) process".
Here's how you can avoid these claim rejections, says Mukesh Kumar, Executive Director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company
Roopam Asthana, CEO and whole-time director, Liberty General Insurance Ltd, will answer your queries on HEALTH insurance and AUTO insurance.
Though COVID-19 will wreak more damage to the finances of the Indian population, the insurance sector is unlikely to get hurt.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has slashed its standalone debt by 87 per cent to Rs 475 crore after it cleared outstanding dues of Life Insurance Corporation of India, ICICI Bank and other lenders, the firm said on Wednesday. In stock exchange filings and press statements, Reliance Infrastructure said its standalone external debt has reduced from Rs 3,831 crore to Rs 475 crore. "Consequently, the net worth of the company will stand at Rs 9,041 crore."
From mining through claimants' social media updates to performing a background check, insurance companies have their own set of measures to sniff out whether the statements of the claimant are true or not. Beware!
The Forum said Daily Diary entry and the NCR was sufficient to support the claim of the consumer.
Come October, life insurers may have to tighten their underwriting standards further for retail term plans at the behest of one of the largest reinsurers in the Indian insurance market, Munich Re. According to a source aware of the development, "Munich Re has been studying long-term mortality trends for the past few years, and has suggested some tightening in the underwriting process." "As far as financial underwriting is concerned, the reinsurer has suggested that insurers should ask for additional documents. "For example, apart from income proof, they can ask for bank statements of the prospective customer before issuing policies," added the source.
Till June-end alone, insurance regulator is expected to bring about more than half a dozen reforms that will have a significant impact on the customer.
A crucial point anyone purchasing health insurance must heed is the need to declare PEDs.
'Covid-related claims were almost 2.5 times the normal claims size.'
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Sanjib Jha, CEO, Coverfox Insurance Broking, answers your health insurance related queries.
Roopam Asthana, CEO and the whole-time director, Liberty General Insurance Ltd, will answer your queries on HEALTH and AUTO insurance.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued guidelines that will allow car dealers to become Motor Insurance Service Providers (MISP) and offer the policies of multiple general insurers, says Sanjay Kumar Singh.
A Central Bureau of Investigation team on Friday arrived at the Som Vihar residence of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik in connection with its probe in the alleged insurance "scam" in the Union territory which came to light after his statement that he was offered bribes to clear related files, officials said.
Capital market regulator Sebi on Tuesday rejected the competing open offer made by the US-based entity Danny Gaekwad Developments & Investments for acquisition of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) as it did not meet necessary regulations.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of Sunak Bali, who was an aide of Satya Pal Malik when he was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and 11 other locations in Delhi and Rajasthan in the alleged insurance scam case, officials said.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Sukhwinder Kaur doggedly pursued her case against Bharti Axa Life Insurance in the consumer courts.
The National Commission noted that if the policyholder wanted reinstatement, he should have made a written request and should have also cleared the premium till that date, but no such request had been made.
Those who have an insurance policy need to check its clauses to determine if it covers home care treatment, advises Bindisha Sarang.
If you have a health insurance policy, you can earn benefits on premiums paid on health check-ups, says Sajja Praveen Chowdary, head-Term Life Insurance, Policybazaar.com.
