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Claim Settlement Record Of Indian Insurance Companies

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An insurance contract between the insurance company and the insured is one of trust. The moment of truth in this relationship appears when there is a claim by the insured (in the case of a non life policy) or by the dependents (in the case of a life insurance claim). Till that moment comes, everything is hunky dory- premiums are being paid regularly by the clients, and the insurance company is only too happy receiving them. However, the moment a claim appears, an insurance company proceeds to evaluate the claim closely, as every claim paid out is an expense for the company, hurting profitability. Thus, there is a basic conflict here: the insured wants the maximum claim to be paid, while the insurance company would like to reduce the claims outflow to the extent possible.

From a customers point of view, it is very important to study the claims settlement history of a life insurance or a general insurance company before deciding to purchase an insurance policy from that company. During the sales process, the sales representatives will be all sugar and honey so that the prospective customer signs up. But the fact of the matter is that if the insurance company you are considering has a bad history of claims settlement, there is a high probability that you will face a claim rejection or reduction when the time comes for you or your nominees to file a claim.
We had a close look at the claim settlement data of the various insurance companies. This is what that data tells us:

LIFE INSURANCE: Apr 09-Mar 10

Life Insurance Company
Total Claims (%)
Claims Paid (%)
Claims refused (%)
Claims pending at year end (%)

LIC
100
96.54
1.21
1.41

Private Insurers
100
84.88
7.6
7.48
Total
100
95.24
1.93
2.08

NON LIFE INSURANCE :Apr 09- Mar 10

Category
Public Sector
Private Sector
Total
Fire
81
73
80
Marine
76
86
78
Motor
88
80
85
Health
120
92
111
Others
57
57
57
TOTAL
88
80
86

The table above clearly reveals that the Public sector insurance companies are more generous in terms of paying claims. The life insurance data shows that LIC pays almost 97% of the claims while the private life insurance companies pay about 85% of the claims. The same pattern is revealed in the non life insurance sector also where on an overall basis, the claims ratio of the public non life companies is higher than that of the private general insurance companies. However, one needs to be careful here before jumping to a conclusion. It could very well be that in the public companies are sourcing the wrong kind of business with lax underwriting norms, whereas the private companies would be more stringent at the entry time itself. However, the worrying part is the claims denied ratio of the private life insurance companies which is over 7%. In the case of a life company, the claim is a death. There can be no ambiguity here- someone is either dead or alive. The repudiation figure of 7% seems mysteriously high here.

In the next post, we will delve deeper and look into the claims breakup at the individual private company level.

Is Your Iphone Insurance Worth A Criminal Record

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Claiming your new iPhone has been stolen when you really lost it could land you in hot water. Unfortunately, some iphone insurance company’s do not provide full protection in the event that an iPhone is lost, so when a consumer finds themselves in the situation where they have missed placed their iPhone, many take the decision to claim that their iPhone has been stolen, simply so they can make a claim on their iPhone insurance policy.
An error of judgment like making a theft claim rather than a loss claim can haunt the consumer and bring problems in future years, who may think that no one would ever know about their manipulation of the truth. Unfortunately this may not be the case any more, as iPhone insurance cover providers are now actively trying to seek out customers who they believe may be making a false claim by stating that their iPhone has been stolen.
Many insurance companies now have more intelligent claims procedures where customers have claimed an item has been stolen, with trained advisers asking claimants certain questions about the alleged theft and how it took place, these advisers are trained to spot certain re-occurring patterns that are common among false insurance claims.
|Fake insurance claims have cost the insurance industry millions over the past 5 years, and many companys are now fighting back. Fraud such as iPhone insurance theft claims are getting relatively easy for insurance providers to spot and stamp out, taking the customer claim over recorder phone calls, certain questions are asked that will route out many of the rouge claims of theft, which many insurance providers now insisting in taking legal action against its red faced clients.|Bogus insurance claims are becoming increasingly easy for the modern and forward thinking insurance company to detect. By interviewing claimants verbally over the phone during the claims process, similar patterns of deception have become easily detectable. Fraudulent claims, such as declaring your iPhone stolen, when it was really lost, have reportedly cost the industry over a billion in revenue over the last few years. [/spin]
Unfortunately, many people seem to be unaware that making a false claim on something as small as the insurance policy for an iPhone is classed as insurance fraud, which if convicted, could land you with a criminal conviction. Now that must be a real wake up call for the average man in the street, a criminal record can have all sorts of negative affects on your future, from job applications to being refused insurance in other areas, such as laptop insurance, automotive and even home insurance products.
Due to an estimated one in ten theft claims for iPhone Insurance being suspected of being fake, think again before you make a false claim. iPhone insurance providers require a Police incident number before they will start to process your iPhone insurance claim. In order to get a Police incident number you will have to report your iPhone as stolen to the Police and make a statement to that effect, the Police are also actively getting involved with insurance fraud of this nature. So not only could you end up with a criminal conviction for insurance fraud, you could also add wasting police time or even attempting to pervert the course of justice, all because your iPhone cover did not cover you for loss!
A couple of simple ways to avoid this uncomfortable situation could be not to make false claims of theft and secondly, check before you take out any iPhone insurance, that the policy will actually cover you in the event that you are careless with your favourite Apple device, after all, that is why we want insurance protection, to offer cover for us in our moments of need.

Child Support in New York

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Any couple that goes through a divorce has to deal with many issues, but those that have children usually go through even more acrimony when dealing with custody and support for their children. Child support is financial support provided by the noncustodial parent. Child support includes, cash payments (based on the parent’s income and the needs of the child), health insurance for the child, payments for child care, and payments for reasonable health care costs that are not covered by health insurance. Family Court determines the amount of child support the noncustodial parent will pay. Under New York State law, parents are responsible for supporting their child until the child is 21 years old.

There are guidelines in which the court uses to determine the amount of child support that is owed to the custodial parent, based on the noncustodial parent’s adjusted gross income and on the number of children involved. The court first determines the noncustodial parent’s gross income. The court then multiplies the adjusted gross income by the standard guideline percentage for the number of children. These percentages are as follows:
17% for one child
25% for two children
29% for three children
31% for four children
at least 35% for five or more children.
Then the noncustodial parent’s share of child care, medical, and educational expenses is added to the income percentage amount. The combined amount, percentage of income plus share of expenses, is the basic child support amount.

For incomes over $130,000, the court determines whether or not to use the percentage guidelines and may consider other factors in setting the full child support payment.

The main problem that many noncustodial parents have an issue with is that many fill out long and tedious expense forms and when it comes time to determine the monthly the courts do not take into consideration the expenses of the noncustodial parent. If you cannot pay your child support you can file a “petition for modification” with the court that issued the support order. Only the court can change what you owe. Just because you think you cannot pay, do not stop paying. Continue to pay what you can while you wait for the court to make a decision. You should know that the court will only change the amount of support you need to pay if there has been a substantial change in your ability to pay.

Dealing with child support and child custody it can be very emotional, remember that in the end you want what is best for your children.

What To Do With Your Life Insurance Dividends

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Life insurance dividends are paid out by mutual life insurance companies. The dividends represent a return of premium payments that you’ve been overcharged. Overcharged? Yes, life insurance companies overcharge you, then return the difference later at the end of the year – but you’re not being ripped off. In fact, that excess amount is used to ensure the long-term viability of your policy.

You see, at some point, your dividends will exceed the premium payments you make – that’s the result of the insurer investing most of your premium dollars. While dividends are not guaranteed, you should know what to do with them when you do get them since most mutual insurers have a consistent track record of paying them out every year.

Take as Cash

One option you have is to take your dividend as cash. This option treats the life insurance policy like an investment – you take the dividend as it’s paid out. It doesn’t help the cash value growth much, but the dividend tends to grow each year. Admittedly, this isn’t the most attractive option since dividends are taxable once you’ve recouped your cost basis (the sum total of your premium payments).

Buy More Insurance

The most popular option – the default option with most companies – is to buy additional paid up insurance. Why is this popular? Because additional paid up life insurance grows the death benefit, grows the cash value, grows the dividends exponentially, and defers tax on all of this growth as long as the policy remains in force. It’s also an excellent option if you want to supplement your future retirement income since the policy’s dividends, and the rest of the base cash value, may be accessed income tax-free as long as the policy remains in force (check with your tax adviser to make sure that your situation would not prevent tax-free access to cash values).

It’s also an ideal option if you just want to ensure a growing death benefit. While dividends are not guaranteed, most insurers have an excellent track record, so there’s a reasonable expectation of growing the benefit amount over the long-term.

Reduce The Premium

If you don’t want to be stuck paying a premium for the rest of your life, consider using the dividend to reduce the premium. Be careful of this option though. Back in the 1980s, something called “vanishing premiums” hit the market. This was a concept sold by many life insurance agents.

Basically, agents back then told customers that they could make a few years worth of premium payments, and their premiums would be covered by the dividends generated by the policy. In essence, the premiums would “vanish.” Well, as interest rates fell, customers realized that dividend rates were not guaranteed. Premiums never “vanish” unless you buy a limited pay policy – which means you must make all premium payments outlined in the policy.

If your dividend isn’t enough to cover the premium, you may have to resume payments later on in your life. If you’re fine with that, this is a decent option to lessen the burden of payments.

Invest Them

You can let the premiums sit in the insurer’s general investment account and accumulate interest at a fixed rate. You may also be able to invest them in the insurer’s separate account for a non-guaranteed return based on the performance of mutual funds. In both instances, you will pay income tax on the investment gain.

Pay Off Previous Loans

Sometimes, you need to borrow money against the value of your policy’s surrender value (the cash value). If you don’t want to repay the loan, or can’t make repayments, you can use the dividends to repay the loan. This way, the interest doesn’t accumulate and put your policy in danger of lapsing.

Why Has My Insurance Company Appointed A Loss Adjuster

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The answer to why an insurance company has appointed a loss adjuster is actually a fairly simple question to answer. For anyone, loss adjusters are appointed after there has been a claim made by you to your insurance company, who then brings the adjuster in to assess that validity of your claim. Basically, if you are in an automobile accident or any other kind of situation where you need to claim on your insurance, then an adjuster is brought in to use the proper technical and financial terms to figure out how much the insurance company is truly liable to cover.

For you, the consumer, it can be difficult to handle a loss adjuster, so the important thing to remember is that the loss adjusters arent there to help you, but rather to look at the interests of the insurance company employing them. So, that means you need to find a group who will assist you in helping to prepare your claim for the adjuster, because otherwise, that responsibility falls on you. The worst thing you can do for your own claim is to be unprepared when the adjuster arrives, so make sure that you find someone who can help you with that.

While it may seem like you can talk to your insurance broker about this claim in order to help you, the grim reality is that your broker is probably going to be very pressed for time as well and may not even have the expertise or the resources to truly assist you with trying to prepare your claim for the adjuster. Always look for professional assistance if you arent sure what to do, as there are plenty of groups out there who want to help you get the most of your claim, instead of letting the loss adjusters intimidate you into not getting you what you deserve. In the event that your claim is then rejected because of that loss adjuster, then you should immediately seek professional assistance, because there are also companies willing to help you get the money you deserve. The different companies out there tend to charge fees, but there are some out there who only want a percentage of your claim value. That way, they are just as invested in making sure you have just as much gain as they do and they will work as much as they can. Sometimes, claims can take a few months to process, but it might take even longer if you encounter problems, so by making sure that you hire professional assistance will really pay off in the long run. Quite a few times, working with a third party will actually get you more from your claim than what you would have received working alone.

Also, make sure that when you look at different groups to help you work with a loss adjuster that you see what exactly will happen in the event that you still lose, meaning that the insurance company establishes that no party is liable for the losses you receive. Some groups wont actually charge you anything at all and some still charge you a nominal fee for having used their services in the first place. Either way, make sure you are the one who does the checking.