“More than P11 billion insurance claims” – PIRA
Posted on October 10th, 2009
As an aftermath of the damage caused by the recent onslaught of tropical storm Ondoy in the country, the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) said that they now have initial claims reaching P11 billion. This is broken down into P10 billion for damage to property claims and P1 billion for automobile damaged. PIRA did not say if there have been insurance claims for damaged crops which were earlier estimated at P6 billion.
“Bear in mind that a lot of factories and warehouses are located in Marikina, Pasig and Cainta. These factories have million of pesos worth of machineries while the warehouse are full of stocks for the Christmas season,†said Michael Rellosa, PIRA vice chairman.
The heavy rains the Ondoy brought to the country last September 26 has caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, which took the lives of more than 300 people and affecting over 3 million residents. Hundreds of cars were submerged in flooded communities, while big factories were also damaged by floodwaters.
The amount of claims however, is expected to increase once the claims for damages attributed to typhoon Pepeng are added. “It is one of the largest pay-outs in recent history for the country’s non-life insurance industry,†said Pedro Benedicto Jr., vice chairman of the PIRA’s ad hoc committee for post calamity response, and also the president of Republic Surety Inc.
The ad hoc committee is composed of representatives from the non-life insurance companies and the Insurance Commission (IC), which is tasked to respond to the recent disasters, brought about typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
PIRA said its members are capable of dealing with the claims using their own funds. Insurance companies also get insurance from reinsurance companies as a precaution to bigger claims beyond company reserves. “We (PIRA members) have a combined net worth of P57 billion at the start of the year,†Rellosa said.
PIRA’s membership is composed of 86 non-life insurance industry in the country.
Prior to the recent calamity, the two biggest non-life insurance payouts in recent history were recorded after the 199 earthquake and the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
