Is ‘terrorism risk' in India coming down? The insurance industry thinks so. The General Insurance Corporation of India has brought down the premium rates for ‘terrorism risk insurance' and has also increased the cover limit. The revised terms will be applicable from April 1, 2012.
Following the recommendation of the Underwriting Committee of the Terrorism Pool at its meeting held in January, GIC, which is the administrator of the ‘Terrorism Poll' has raised the cover from Rs 750 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
Premium rates under various categories have also been brought down.
“The experience under the ‘terrorism pool' has been good and we also felt there was a need to provide larger cover to Indian customers,” Mr G. Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of United India Insurance, told
Mr P.V.R. Krishna Rao of Premium Insurance Brokers pointed out that with the “LTTE and Al Quieda gone, the risk perception has become better”. The Terrorism Pool was formed after 9/11, when international insurers were refusing to offer cover.
But since then, the pool has collected substantial amount of money and by far, the only major incident has been 26/11.
Asked whether this meant that India has become a safer country, Mr Srinivasan said that it essentially meant that the insurance industry thinks that the insured properties are less at terrorism risk.
mramesh@thehindu.co.in