JOIN USThe government has asked the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to constitute a special team to settle claims of those affected by the natural calamity in Uttarakhand.
Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked the state-owned insurance company to open a camp office in Dehradun and relax norms for settling claims.
“The LIC should not insist on the normal condition that requires seven years period in case of missing people before death certificate is issued in a normal situation,” he said.
An indemnity bond can be taken from the claimants in such cases and the claims may be settled on priority basis, Chidambaram said after inaugurating 300 mini offices of LIC spread throughout the country.
The minister inaugurated these offices through video-mode and also interacted with people in a remote area through video conferencing.
To enhance insurance penetration in India, the minister during his Budget speech had announced setting up of LIC offices in all towns with a population of 10,000 or above by end of March, 2014.
Insurance penetration in India is still at a nascent stage. Twelve years after the sector was opened for private competition, a little over 4 per cent of the population invests in health insurance products, while general insurance penetration is a miniscule 0.7 per cent.
“Through opening of these branches in smaller towns, the LIC will be able to provide various insurance products to people living in remote areas,” Chidambaram said. The LIC has been asked to publicise its relaxed norms to all concerned through advertisements in newspapers.