[PHNOM PENH POST]
The number of flood-related insurance claims has been fewer than
expected despite the Kingdom’s worst flooding in a decade, industry
insiders say.
Although the floods, which began in late August,
had affected large sections of the country, few claims had been made,
Infinity Insurance chief executive David W Carter told the Post.
“Flood-related
claims have made up less than one per cent of total claims [since the
flooding began],” he said, adding that these were relatively minor
losses. “Claims are in line with budget expectations, and we have not
received any major claims that would affect our financial strength,”
Carter said, with the majority of the claims derived from the Siem Reap
area.
Infinity had maintained a strong financial position, supported by re-insurers including Swiss and Munich Re, he said.
The company’s total premium revenue rose 20 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2011, hitting US$3.9 million.
Other
major insurance compan-ies stated that while premium revenues had
increased this year, the percentage of flood-related claims had been
nominal.
“We have had some claims since the flooding, but very
few. I’d say they have accounted for about 0.5 per cent of total
claims,” Cambodia-Vietnam Insurance chief executive O Cao Minh Son said.
The
majority of claims the company received came from Phnom Penh’s Chbar
Ampov commune, primarily affecting construction and engineering
companies.
Other representatives in the sector believed that
flood-related claims have been marginal, as the flooding has not fully
receded.
“Some were affected, but we don’t have exact figures
[for claims] to point to because the floods are only just beginning to
slow,” General Insurance Association of Cambodia chairman Chhay Rattanak
said yesterday.
While the exact number of claims received could
not be provided, he estimated that flood claims had accounted for less
than 10 per cent of the total.
Most claims hailed from the Siem
Reap province, Chhay Rattanak said, adding that while the tourism and
services sectors were slightly impacted, the railway in Banteay Meanchey
province experienced $1 million worth of damages, he added. The value
of total claims throughout the insurance sector has hit $32.5 million
for the first nine months of the year, compared to $13.7 million in
2010, according to CIAC figures. Chhay Rattanak said that claims had
increased as a result of recent factory fires, while the flood’s impact
remained small.
Premium revenue throughout the industry increased 18 per cent year-on-year to $20.4 million in the first nine months of 2011.
A
breakdown of these figures showed that fire insurance comprised 27 per
cent, motor insurance 20 per cent and health insurance 16 per cent.
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