Insurers, including SBI Life and PNB Metlife set up helplines for J&K flood victims

NEW DELHI: Insurers, including SBI Life and PNB Metlife, have set up helpline numbers for J&K flood victims so as to enable easy settlement of death claims.

SBI Life Insurance has put in place a mechanism for quick settlement of death claims, exclusively for victims of Jammu and Kashmir floods.

As part of this outreach program, all SBI Life Insurance offices have been instructed to handle the death claim intimation sympathetically and expeditiously, SBI Life said in a statement.

The company has also introduced a special toll-free helpline number 1800-22-9090 for victims, it said.

Another private insurer PNB MetLife said it has settled its first claim from Ramban district through a special claims help line.

In response to the recent calamity that has hit the state, PNB MetLife and Jammu & Kashmir Bank has set up dedicated claim processing camps in the valley.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has also simplified the claim settlement norms for victims in the flood-hit state. It has also announced helpline numbers for the flood-affected people for all claim related queries set up a special team to handle these cases on a priority basis.

Private sector non-life insurance firm, Bharti AXA General Insurance has taken steps to ease the claims process.

"We are proactively trying to establish contact with our customers to check on their safety and to note the extent of loss in order to ensure a speedy claims settlement," it said.

The measures taken by insurers coincide with recent IRDA directive to life insurers on taking immediate steps for expeditious settlement of claims