Hyderabad: As flood waters recede in areas across India, insurance companies are bracing for claims over damaged vehicles and property.
The initial estimate is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, but insurers expect this figure to rise after surveyors have assessed the damage.
In fact, the first few claims have already begun to trickle in. Within the next few days, insurance companies anticipate a deluge.
The worst hit appear to be small traders, shopkeepers and vehicle owners in Gujarat.
More than 1 lakh vehicles have been reported damaged in Surat, which will cost insurers at least Rs 700 crore.
In Surat, for instance, an estimated 30,000 Maruti vehicles, 12,000 Hyundai vehicles, 3,000 Honda vehicles and over 50,000 two-wheelers were damaged in the floods.
Initial estimates of damage all over India peg the losses to the insurance industry at Rs 2,000 crore.
That's even though the damage in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh is largely restricted to the agriculture industry and insurance cover is not very high there.
But real fears come from 'loss of profit' claims from plants in Gujarat that could not operate over the past week. Suspended transport services delayed supplies, which worsened the situation.
With each day that a factory lies idle, the claims mount.
Insurers are also concerned about damage to goods in transit, which has not yet been reported.
They are perishable and insured. The final numbers will be known only when surveyors have access to the affected areas and when the today's trickle will turn into a flood of claims.
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