Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged insurance companies to expedite the process of claim settlement for cyclone affected victims. During his trip to Vizag, on Tuesday, PM Modi assured Vizagites that the insurance companies will be asked to 'sympathetically process the claims'. Apart from immediately releasing a relief fund of
` 1000 crores for cyclone hit areas, the Prime Minister said that the centre planned to send an assessment team to gauge the amount of financial loss incurred due to Hudhud's fury.
Not long ago, the Supreme Court during Kashmir floods too had instructed insurance companies to compensate insured victims of natural disasters liberally. The Court had stated, "Sometimes we have to ignore the rules and regulations (for paying insurance claims) in the interest of the people suffering from natural calamities".
Insurance companies are setting up specialized cells to carry out in-depth surveys for assessing the nature of loss and the extent of damage to movable and immovable properties in Andhra Pradesh. The area has been affected substantially. Electricity and telephone services are still not restored in some areas. The assessment work that was delayed earlier due to a non-functional airport, has resumed recently. The insurance surveyors have a busy month ahead with numerous claims already reported by citizens.
An anonymous industry source added, "While clients are pestering us to conduct surveys and get the settlements done, we have to first study the situation intently and calculate the losses after conducting the due diligence. The issue is that many people tend to inflate losses during times of tragedy and claim higher amounts, and so we want to tread carefully".