Insurance regulator IRDAI on Monday directed the Chief Executives of insurance companies to take steps to ensure immediate registration and settlement of all eligible claims from the kin of those deceased or in the train accident at Balasore in Odisha.

Claims would have to be processed proactively, if the insured name is in the list of deceased or injured persons, and was travelling in the trains which met with accident as identified by the appropriate/Govt. authorities, IRDAI said in a circular issued on Monday.

Also, insurers — life, non-life and standalone health insurance companies — have been asked to to launch extensive awareness campaigns explaining the simplified process to file a claim, to enable the public to file the claims at the nearest branches or through online.

Insurers have also been directed to ensure that claim payments/on account payments are disbursed at the earliest. 

Dedicated helpline

The chief executives have been asked to designate a dedicated helpline under the supervision of a senior officer at the insurer level who would act as a Nodal Officer for the affected people. The Nodal Officer would be coordinating the receipt, processing and settlement of all eligible claims. The details of the Nodal Officer and the helpline number of the insurer may be given due publicity including hosting on the website, IRDAI has said.

Also details of offices/special camps set up for the purpose and other relevant details may be publicised through your website, media and through State Government channels to enable filing of claims, the IRDAI has said.

In order to gauge the magnitude of loss, all life and non-life insurers (including Standalone Health Insurers) have been directed to publish the information on their website concerning insurance claims related to the accident on a daily basis till one week and thereafter on weekly basis for a month in the format specified by regulator.

Meanwhile, under the optional travel insurance for e-ticketing passengers of IRCTC, the legal heirs of those deceased in the tragic train accident can claim a fixed amount of ₹ 10 lakh per person allowed under the scheme. At the time of booking train tickets, the option of availing travel insurance (accident insurance) at a nominal premium of ₹0.35 per person is provided along with the fare for the journey.

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