Kathmandu. Due to weak regulation and poor institutional governance, 24 non-life insurers in Bangladesh have not been able to pay more than 50 percent of claims. According to data published by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority on Tuesday, only 22 of the 46 licensed non-life insurers have a claim payment ratio above 50 percent.
According to the authority, non-life insurers have yet to pay 26.34 billion taka (rupees) of the claims registered until 2024. Only four licensed non-life insurers have a claim payment ratio above 90 percent. The claims payment ratio of Rupali Insurance, Janata Insurance, Sonar Bangla Insurance and Eastland Insurance Company is above 90 percent.
According to the regulator, the government-owned General Insurance Corporation itself has not been able to pay claims to 80 percent of its customers. Its outstanding claims amount is Rs 14.17 billion. This amount alone is 54 percent of the outstanding claims paid by non-life insurers. To strengthen the weakening confidence in the insurance sector, the government has seen a need to improve the claims payment ratio of government-owned insurers first.
The claims payment ratio of eight non-life insurers is below 20 percent. The claims payment ratio of Meghna Insurance, Continental Insurance, South Asia Insurance, Bangladesh General Insurance Corporation, People’s Insurance, Dhaka Insurance, Nodarth Insurance and Sikdar Insurance is below 20 percent. This means that 80 percent of the insured of these insurance companies have not received any claim payment.
According to the authority, Pragati Insurance has outstanding claims of 88.77 million taka, Reliance Insurance has 98 million taka, Eastern Insurance has 85 million taka, Pioneer Insurance has 27.8 million taka, Northern Islamic Insurance has 61.46 million taka, Pulse Insurance has 74.12 million taka and Continent Insurance has 71.86 million taka.
In contrast, among the 4 companies that have paid claims of more than 100 million taka in 2024, Reliance Insurance has paid 157.2 million taka. Green Delta Insurance has paid claims of Rs 139.27 crore, Pioneer Insurance Rs 122.4 crore, and General Corporation Rs 195.13 crore.
