General insurance provides a safety net in case of emergencies. General insurance policyholders can make claims to cover the expenses they have incurred. However, all claims filed by policyholders are not approved by the insurers.
A report by the Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI) found that the claims-paid-ratio for the general insurance industry for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, decreased marginally to 85.76 per cent from 86.56 per cent in the preceding fiscal. On the other hand, the claims repudiation ratio for the overall industry increased to 5.66 per cent in FY 2023-24 from 5.44 per cent in the preceding fiscal.
The ratio represents the number of claims rejected by an insurance company as a proportion of the total claims made by its policyholders. If an insurance provider’s claim repudiation ratio is low it indicates that the number of claims rejected by the company is low.
The IBAI classifies general insurers into four categories -- Public Sector General Insurers, Large Private Sector General Insurers, Other Private Sector Insurers, and Standalone Health Insurers.
Here’s a look at the insurance companies which had the lowest claim repudiation ratio in FY24:
Public Sector General Insurers
New India Assurance’s claim repudiation ratio stood at 0.17 per cent, the lowest among public sector general insurers in FY 2023-24. On the other hand, the National Insurance Company repudiated the highest number of claims as its claim repudiation ratio for FY 2023-24 stood at 8.3 per cent.
Large Private Sector General Insurers
The IBAI said in its report that large private sector general insurers include the top 10 companies which have the highest gross premium written in that line of business. Among large private sector general insurers, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, rejected the lowest number of claims as its claim repudiation ratio stood at 2.85 per cent for FY24. TATA AIG’s claim repudiation ratio was the highest among large private sector general insurers as it stood at 13.02 per cent for FY24.
Other Private Sector Insurers
Shriram General Insurance’s claim repudiation ratio for FY 24 stood at 4.64 per cent, the lowest among the ‘Other Private Sector Insurers’ category according to IBAI’s report. Navi General Insurance Limited’s claim repudiation ratio stood at 15.96 per cent for FY24, the highest in the category.
Standalone Health Insurers
The IBAI has classified five companies as ‘standalone health insurers', the five companies are: Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company Limited, Care Health Insurance and Star Health Insurance. Aditya Birla Health Insurance rejected the lowest number of claims in the category as its claim repudiation ratio stood at 3.99 per cent for FY24. On the other hand, Star Health Insurance’s claims repudiation ratio was the highest in the category as it stood at 18.64 per cent.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated that insurance companies need to disclose claim settlement and rejection data on their websites. The availability of such data can help customers in choosing the right insurance policy and the right insurance provider for them.
