While non-life insurance companies blame surveyors for delaying submission of assessment reports, surveyors say they have not received damage estimates from policy buyers.
Fatta Bahadur KC, chairman of Beema Samiti, said insurance companies and surveyors were simply passing buck on others.Officials of Beema Samiti, the insurance sector regulator, feel companies are dilly-dallying with the intention of transferring claim settlement to next fiscal year, which begins from July 16, to protect their balance sheets of the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year.
Sixteen non-life insurance companies have received 12,862 damage information, most of which includes damage on houses and assets, from policy-buyers so far. They have settled only 240 claims by paying Rs 66.98 million till Monday.
According to estimates, insurers' liability due to the earthquake hovers above Rs 9 billion, according to Beema Samiti.
Meanwhile, Beema Samiti on Sunday held a meeting with surveyors and asked them why they are not submitting assessment reports promptly. In the meeting, Chairman KC warned them of serious action if they do not submit damage assessment reports promptly. I
Insurance companies pay policy-buyers on the basis of surveyors' report. There are about 500 registered surveyors in the country.
KC also accused companies of being selective while providing tasks to surveyors in a clear intention to delay claim settlement process. "Some surveyors have lot of works but others are not getting any work at all," said KC.
President of Nepal Insurers' Association Vijay Bahadur Shah said the settlement process was going on without any obstacles. "The problem is we do not have sufficient surveyors. Also we are also facing shortage of technical hands like engineers," said Shah.
Shah, who is also the CEO of NLG Insurance, said his staff members were working overtime to settle claims. "It is too early to blame insurance companies," Shah said, adding that many policy-buyers are yet to file application or even submit estimates based on which the surveyors start assessments.
According to Shah, NLG Insurance has already settled 65 claims out of about 900 damage reports received. It has already paid Rs 7.15 million to policy-holders.
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