November 15: Although the earthquake memory of the Nepali people has started to blur, the insurance sector of the country is yet to free itself from the rubbles of the quake. Even after one and half years of the devastating earthquake, the insurance claims for the destroyed physical infrastructure and properties have not been completely settled. The statistics of Insurance Board shows that 74.82 percent of the total claims submitted at general insurance companies have been settled so far.

However, considering the number of claims, the total payment stands at 93 percent of the total claims. 16,549 out of 17,848 claims made demanding compensation have been sorted out. It is evident through the report submitted by 15 general insurance companies except NB insurance to the board.

As per the statistics of the board, the companies has paid Rs 12.41 billion out of Rs 16.55 billion claim amount  to their insured. It also shows that 7.04 percent claims and 25.18 percent amount are still waiting to be settled.  

According to Dhruba Timilsina, Deputy Director of the board, among the total paid claim amount, Rs 6.31 billion has been received through re-insurance. He also said that settlement of 75 percent claims in the 19 months of period is satisfactory. "It is normal for some delays if the damages of insured properties and infrastructures, field reports and insurance companies do not match during the process of claim payment.

The board informed that the insurance companies have made payment on various headings including fire, vehicle, marine, engineering and miscellaneous.  The highest amount of insurance claim has been paid under fire insurance coverage which was Rs 8.11 billion. Similarly, Rs 173.7 million has been paid under vehicle insurance claims followed by engineering claims of Rs 659 million. Likewise, Rs 3.46 billion has been paid under miscellaneous heading. During the period, the lowest claim amount is paid under marine insurance of Rs 400,000.

Although insurance companies have paid insurance claim amount to the majority of policy holders, big and complicated insurance claims are still waiting to be settled. A survey shows nearly 1,000 claims submitted at insurance companies are big, controversial and complicated. These big companies include apartments, shopping malls and hydropower companies. “The big companies’ claim are bit complicated, thus will be settled after some times,” said Timilsina. Among the total claims received by the insurance companies, Himalayan General Insurance Company received the highest amount of the claims of Rs 4.99 billion whereas Rastriya Beema Sanstha received the insurance claim of the least amount. Rastriya Beema Sanstha received a total number of 266 claims for Rs 128.3 million.