Second wave increases settlement claims for Covid-related health insurance
Covid claims constituted 45% of the overall health claims during the first quarter of the current fiscal compared to 17% in the same period last year
The intensity of the second wave of the pandemic has increased the settlement of Covid related health insurance to about 60% of the total claims made. According to the latest data from the industry as on July 19, 2021, total reported claims stood at Rs 27,640 crore of which, only claims worth Rs 16,396 crore have been settled. On an average, the settled amount ranges between 55% and 65% of the claims.
Second wave increases claim settlements
In the first wave of the pandemic (up to February 22, 2021), insurers reported claims Rs 13,376 crore of which Rs 7,125 were settled. In the second wave, from February 23 to July 19 2021, general and standalone health insurers received claims worth Rs 13,905 crore, of which Rs 9,271 crore have been settled.
“The number of claims we received during the first few months of the second wave are higher than the claims reported during the entire first wave of Covid-19”, said Sanjay Datta, chief-underwriting and claims, ICICI Lombard in an interview with The Hindu Business Line.
According to TA Ramalingam, chief technical officer, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Covid claims constituted 45% of the overall health claims during the first quarter of the current fiscal compared to 17% in the same period last year.
A chief of a private general insurer said that “settlement of Covid claims has been a challenge as most customers tend to claim much higher than what they are eligible for under various schemes.”
He also added that, in some cases claims are not supported by valid documents, and in a few cases fake documents like Covid certificates have been identified.