New India Assurance does not see many claims from cyclone 'Phailin'

MUMBAI: Country's largest general insurer New India Assurance does not see many claims arising from super cyclone ' Phailin' that had left a trail of devastation on the East Coast earlier this month.

"We don't see much claims arising from this event as commercial installations have not been affected. Claims are likely to come from crop insurance space, in which we have less presence in the region," New India Assurance chairman and managing director G Srinivasan told reporters on the sidelines of an insurance event organised by Ficci here today.

On October 12, the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts were hit by high speed winds and heavy rains following the cyclone Phailin. Timely evacuation minimised loss of human lives but the heavy flooding damaged standing crops in tens of thousands of hectares in Odisha.

The public insurer had earlier said it was likely to see around Rs 150 crore claims from the Uttarakhand disaster which happened earlier this fiscal.

Referring to proposed natural disaster fund, Srinivasan said discussions are going on but something concrete is yet to emerge.

Meanwhile, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, T Nanda Kumar, addressing the conference also said the government is looking into this issue of setting up a natural disaster fund.

He also laid emphasis on the importance of insurance for rehabilitation purposes post-natural disasters.