From hotel cancellation to loss of baggage, Ahmedabad air crash victims opted for array of insurance

Ahmedabad: From hotel booking cancellations to loss of baggage, and from accidental death coverage to trip plan withdrawals, insurance companies have received a range of claims from the kin of the Ahmedabad Air India plane tragedy victims.

The incident has triggered claims under various insurance categories like travel, personal accident, and life insurance, including those from Kisan Credit Card holders.

"We have received claims primarily under travel insurance and personal accident insurance products. These include accidental death, trip cancellations, loss of baggage and hotel cancellations.

"At ICICI Lombard, we are working on a priority basis to provide seamless assistance and ensure timely settlement. We remain committed to supporting our policyholders and their families during this difficult time," Priya Deshmukh, Head Health Products, Operations & Services, ICICI Lombard, said in response to a query by PTI.

On June 12, the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner began to lose thrust almost immediately after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport and ploughed into a medical college hostel in Meghaninagar area, killing all but one of the 242 onboard and another 19 on the ground in the deadliest aviation accident in a decade.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said it has received claims related to personal accidents and marine cargo.

"We have received three claims related to travel personal accidents coverage and one under marine cargo insurance," Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said in response to a PTI query.

Marine cargo insurance typically covers goods in transit via road, rail, air, sea, or courier.

Personal accident claims have emerged as a significant category, second only to life insurance.

However, most insurers have refrained from disclosing the exact number or details of claims, citing the ongoing process of receiving formal requests from the families of the deceased.

In one notable case, a group personal accident policy covering 4,000 people in Mehsana district resulted in a claim settlement within a week of the crash, a representative of the insurer said.

A New India Assurance official said the company has settled seven claims related to personal accidents and five group personal accident claims.

One claim of Rs 50,000 was availed under the Kisan Credit Card scheme.

Immediately after the accident, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued directives to fast-track the settlement of claims.

In a circular dated June 14, the IRDAI asked all insurance companies to submit weekly updates on claims from June 16 onwards and further directed them to appoint nodal officers, waive formalities such as FIRs and postmortem reports, and expedite disbursals under life and personal accident policies.

Company representatives said they have been expediting the claims received from the families. They said several kin are still grappling with the loss and would eventually approach them if there are any claims.

Axis Max Life Insurance COO Manu Lavanya said that under the company's InstaClaim process, "we were able to settle a claim for one of the victims of the tragedy within just three hours, which reflects our focus on empathetic action when it matters most."