Vimo SEWA

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Vimo SEWA Asset Insurance
SEWA
VIMOSEWA
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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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Claims data
Year Total no. of Claims Approved Rejected Payout
2006 6418 6078 340 10425122
2007 2182 2088 94 3304441
2008 1199 1111 88 1363697
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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.

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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

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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.

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Thanks!