Insurance firms face surge in flood-related claims
Insurance firms face surge in flood-related claims
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Insurance companies are facing multi-billion rupiah insurance
claims in the wake of severe flooding in Jakarta and elsewhere in
the country, according to an industry executive.
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian General Insurance
Companies (AAUI) Frans Y. Sahusilawane said that some of its
members have reported mounting numbers of flood-related claims.
"We can't predict how much money will be needed to cover the
insurance because each company is still calculating the claims.
But we estimate it will be billions," Frans told The Jakarta Post
on Monday.
According to Frans, most of the claims were for housing,
office buildings, vehicles and factories affected by the flood.
He asserted that consumers should not be worried about not
being covered by their insurance claims as local insurance
companies are backed up by reliable foreign and local reinsurance
companies.
"Our insurance companies are very healthy and always have
double protection," Frans said.
AAUI currently has 105 members and almost all reside in the
capital, which has been hit hard by the ongoing floods.
Fathia Syarif, communications manager of German insurance firm
PT Asuransi Allianz Utama Indonesia, disclosed that, as of Feb.
5, the company had received a total of 225 flood-related claims.
She said they consisted of 170 claims on properties and 55
claims on vehicles, with an estimated total value of Rp 17
billion (US$1.6 million).
She added that almost all the claims came from Greater
Jakarta, while the rest were from Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang and
Medan.
"We will try to handle all reported claims as soon as
possible, including claim payments," Fathia said.
In anticipation of raising claims, Allianz has opened a
hotline number for its clients in the Greater Jakarta region,
manned by a surveyor and a risk engineer, Fathia said.
Allianz has 31,000 policy holders across the country, 90
percent of them are corporate holders. The remaining are personal
and commercial holders.
Garda Oto, an insurance company specifying in vehicle
insurance, revealed that between Jan. 30 and Feb. 4, it received
more than 300 claims for vehicle damage due to the floods.
"We are still calculating the value of the claims. But we
estimate they will reach Rp 5 billion ($484,590)," said Tedy P.
Utomo, marketing general manager of Garda Oto.
The company is a subsidiary of the publicly listed auto giant,
PT Astra International.
Meanwhile, state insurance company PT Jasindo said that, as of
Tuesday, it had only received two claims related to the floods.
Both claims came from personal policy holders.
"Maybe our clients are still too busy dealing with the floods,
that's why they have not yet made many claims," said Dewi
Poedjiastuti Mashnif, Jasindo's public relations manager.
Jasindo has more than 370,000 customers nationwide.