General insurers are anticipating major claims from industries in Visakhapatnam following severe damage to property caused by cyclone Hudhud.
G Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director of New India Assurance, the largest general insurance company in the country, said, the company is expecting major claims as Visakhapatnam is a commercial hub and industry is expected to make big claims.
One of the affected companies in the region, State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has temporarily shut down its 8.3 million tonnes per annum or 166,000 barrels per day refinery.
Port operations were suspended at Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports on Sunday due to the cyclone, and power generation was affected at the Simhadri thermal power station of NTPC.
Last year, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were hit by Cyclone Phailin and the general insurance industry received agricultural claims exceeding ₹1,500 crore.
Ashok Kumar Roy, Chairman and Managing Director of reinsurer General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re), said claims from Cyclone Hudhud will exceed the losses industry suffered during Phailin last year as insurance penetration is higher in the region and major industrial losses are expected.
Claims from J&K region Currently, insurers are also saddled with large claims from the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir region, where according to industry estimates overall claims could exceed ₹4,000 crore. Srinivasan said his company has, so far, received claims of around ₹200 crore, mainly from shopkeepers, vehicle owners and small corporates.
According to a senior official from tUnited India Insurance, the company expects overall claims to be around ₹350 crore in the Jammu and Kashmir region.