Insurance regulator Irdai on Monday directed all life and non-life insurance companies to initiate steps for quick registration and disposal of claims of victims of the triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district.
The recent train accident has caused immense loss to human lives and injuries to a thousand of passengers and train crew members, Irdai said in a circular. “There is an urgent need for the insurance industry to take immediate steps to mitigate the hardships of the affected insured population by ensuring immediate registration and settlement of eligible claims,” it said.
The regulator directed the life insurance, general insurance and standalone health insurance companies to designate a dedicated helpline under the supervision of a senior officer who would act as a nodal officer for affected people. The officer will be coordinating the receipt, processing and settlement of all eligible claims.
“Claims shall be processed proactively, if the insured name is in the list of deceased or injured persons, and was travelling in the trains which met with the accident as identified by the appropriate/government authorities,” Irdai said and asked all the insurers to disburse claim payments at the earliest.
In a statement, SBI Life Insurance said to mitigate the hardships of the claimants of the company, it has taken immediate steps to ease the claim settlement and documentation process which includes receiving alternative valid proofs of the claimants and support the family members of the deceased.
“While the rescue operation by the concerned authorities continues, the company has put in place measures and policies to immediately expedite the claim settlement process for providing financial relief to policyholders who have been the victim of this tragic train accident and their family members. As the company promises to stand by its policyholders as well as their immediate family members, efforts are put in place to ensure our services reach the affected,” the company said.
LIC chairperson Siddhartha Mohanty has announced concessions to mitigate the hardships of the claimants of LIC policies and also of the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. “In lieu of registered death certificates, list of casualties published by railway authorities, police or any state or central government authorities will be accepted as the proof of death…” LIC said in its statement.