Death claims made on state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) crossed the 8-lakh mark between April and December 2020, reversing the decline in their numbers over the previous three years.

As many as 8,16,652 death claims were made on LIC in April-December 2020, up 17.11 per cent from the 6,97,314 claims in the corresponding period of 2019. It was not specified how many of these death claims related to Covid-19. In the nine months of 2020-21, LIC settled 8,08,575 death claims and paid ₹16,945.96 crore. The data indicate that the number of death claims made rose sharply in the October-December period. Between April and June, as many as 1,68,301 death claims were made and they increased to 4,50,849 in the six months between April and September 2020. Insurers have pointed out that the nationwide lockdown in the first quarter of last year had delayed filing of claims.

The surge in death claims in 2020 came after a decline in the previous years from 2017. The death claims made on LIC dropped from 7,57,463 in April-December 2017 to 7,15,389 in the same period of 2018.

The data must be seen in the context of the fact that though India was among countries earliest to report Covid, its death rate due to the infection has not been very high.

Claims up for private insurers

According to a Motilal Oswal report in March, SBI Life Insurance registered about 5,000 Covid-related claims and paid out about ₹340 crore. “A similar rise in death claims was seen in other insurers as well,” the report said.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also settled claims of about ₹340 crore. HDFC Life paid off Covid-related claims of 1,271 individuals and 542 group settlements. Death claims were the highest at 10,525 as against 7,313 for Max Life Insurance in the third quarter of 2019-20, it said. In recent weeks with the surge in Covid infections, non-life insurers, too, have been reporting a rise in claims.

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