Major Insurance Companies Extend Help To Chennai Flood Victims

To make things easier for those affected in Chennai floods, most prominent insurance companies in the state have announced a slew of measures.

Last week, torrential rains created havoc in Chennai, Puducherry and the surrounding areas.

DHFL has announced that the company will not levy any penalty for the delay in paying EMI for the month of November.

Also, the company will waive off cheque bounce charges for the mentioned period. The customers will get an extension of 30 days to pay their EMI for November.

"We understand the current difficulties that our customers would be facing; and would like to extend our support to the families by rest assuring them on the housing finance front," said Harshil Mehta, CEO, DHFL.

The company will enable affordable housing finance at competitive interest rates to the LMI segment in Chennai metropolitan whose homes have been impacted due to heavy rains and floods. This will be valid for all applications submitted before December 31, 2015.

SBI Life Insurance has set up a process for speedy and hassle free settlement of claims for which the company has appointed 5 nodal officers across Chennai and Puducherry.

Similarly, Max Life Insurance has set up special claims helpdesk to expedite claim settlement process for all the people affected by floods.

It has simplified death claim requirements to any evidence of death from government agencies and with a Photo ID of nominee.

"TATA AIG General Insurance has witnessed an increase in the number of claims post the second spell of rains in Chennai which is 382. We received gross claims of approximately Rs 50 crore," said M Ravichandran, president, Insurance, TATA AIG.

Maximum number of claims have been received for automobiles (cars and two wheelers) followed by small business units, telecom towers and ATMs, he added.

Policybazaar.com has also set up a dedicated round the clock call center assistance to help Chennai people with guidance and support on any kind of insurance specific queries, including claims registering and settlement processes. This service would be provided free of cost for Chennai people, irrespective of whether they have purchased policy from Policybazaar website, or not.

This helpline would be available in 3 different languages including Tamil, English and Hindi. The helpline will provide guidance and assistance on claim related matters for all types of insurance, including life, motor, home and health insurance.