Vimo SEWA – Asset Insurance

SEWA VIMOSEWA

The Need

• Evolved in response to the needs and demands of its members

• House is not only a roof over the head often it is the place of employment for home based workers

• There was also a need to protect the work equipments in case of a damage to the house

The Product

• Offers reimbursement for losses suffered due to natural calamities like earthquake, fire etc.

• Also covers man made calamities like riots, arson etc.

• Limits for coverage are up to Rs.10,000 to Rs. 20,000, as per schemes chosen

Evolution of Asset Insurance

• 1992 -1997 – We partnered with UIIC and NIA for assets insurance

• 1998 -2001- SEWA retained the assets portfolio as a mutual, but then the earthquake happened

• 2002 onwards we have partnered with different insurance companies like ICICI Lombard, New India Assurance and NIC

• 2006 – Floods in Anand• 2007 – Floods in Bihar

Claim Processing

• Claim Intimation – either directly by the member to the Vimo office or through Aagewaan

• Registration -The claim is registered with documents – esp. a photo of the damaged house, a news report in a local news paper or an FIR

• Survey of the affected area – To assess the extent of damage and survey of the house affected

• All the documents and the visit report are put in front of the claims committee

Claim Processing

• Committee may approve, reject or ask for further details

• If rejected – the member is intimated

• If approved – the committee decides upon the amount of claim

• The claim is settled with the member receiving the reimbursement.

Loss Assessment

• Trainings are arranged with insurance company for loss assessment capacity building of our staff.

• Insurance company's surveyors accompany our aagewaans in field for loss assessment.

• Training for photography arranged for Aagewaans

• Criterions/indicators for claim settlement is set through a dialogue with the insurance company as well as with the local team members

Claims data

YearTotal no. of

Claims Approved Rejected Payout

2006 6418 6078 340 10425122

2007 2182 2088 94 3304441

2008 1199 1111 88 1363697

Challenges• Gujarat is risk prone area • Disasters, both natural

and human, one after the other between 1999 to 2008 has lead to increase in premiums.(2 cyclones, 4 floods, 1 earth quake, 1 communal violence)

• STFI had to be excluded.• Geographical

concentration of members has exposed us to co-variate risks.

Challenges

• The documentation process is difficult as the insurance companies insist on news paper information or an FIR for the loss.

• Assessment of losses is a challenge.

• We have seen cases of fraudulent claims in case of a disaster/natural calamity

New Features/Products

• Stock in trade insurance: A lot of our members comprise of street vendors and their stock in trade is exposed to a lot of risks, we are looking at developing a product to safeguard their stock.

• Livestock insurance: As we expand in Rajasthan, we have received a lot of demand for a livestock insurance products especially for goats.

Thanks!