Due to the COVID-19 breakdown in our country India, the value of insurance claims from corona patients has reached Rs 2040 crore with the number of claims rising to 1.29 lakh. As of 19th August 2020, the settled claims are 81000 which is equivalent to Rs 780 crore.
The claims from semi-urban and rural areas within the state of Maharashtra is rising. From the data obtained from the General Insurance Council, its seen that number of claims from the state is about 54000 amounting to Rs 700 crore. Tamil Nadu and Delhi also witnessed a large number of claims, being 15500 and 11200 claims respectively.
In Maharashtra, more claims are reported from places like Nashik and Solapur. A senior officer from a leading insurance company says that earlier more claims came from urban areas like Mumbai, Thane, and Pune. By August 19, 2020, the numbers are seen in Nashik, Solapur, and Mumbai have become 1281, 1170, and 17300 claims respectively.
Insurers are expecting a further rise in claims until a vaccine comes into play for the prevention and cure of the disease. The average ticket size for the claim is around Rs 1.5 lakh in urban areas and Rs 50000-75000 in semi-urban and rural areas. In the case where the patient is serious and is within the intensive care unit (ICU), the claims are of Rs 6-8 lakhs.
The pandemic has forced many investors to buy health insurance covers in the last couple of months. Report from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) highlights that between April and July, health insurance premiums have reached Rs 18425.52 crore, which was only Rs 16672.72 crore in the last year during the same period leading to a growth percent of 10.44%.
As a result of increased claims for health insurance and irrespective of the fact that people live in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas health has now become the biggest segment in the non-life insurance industry in terms of premium with motor insurance grabbing the second position.
