NITF steps in to rescue disaster victims from cash and property ruin
View(s):Thousands of flood victims whose homes and businesses were ravaged in the floods and slides will be rescued from cash and property ruin through the rapid response of Sri Lanka’s sole re-insurance agency, the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF). National Natural Disaster and Emergency Relief Insurance scheme launched in April this year has given the affected people the legal right to affordable insurance and relieve misery on families whose lives have been devastated by the torrential downpours, NITF Chairman Manjula de Silva told the Business Times.
This insurance scheme provides an aggregate cover of Rs. 10 billion a year with the backing of some of the world’s largest reinsurance companies such as Alliance and Munich.
It will cover all uninsured Sri Lankan citizens and uninsured properties through a catastrophic reinsurance cover of up to Rs. 10 billion from major reinsurance companies in London and other parts of the world, through Crescent Global and its subsidiary Strategic Insurance Brokers (SIB). Under this reinsurance cover for 2016/17, NITF has the capability to settle claims up to Rs. 2.5 million for any uninsured property that is affected by a natural calamity. He disclosed that the NITF has already provided over Rs.145 million to the Ministry of Disaster Management to cover costs for emergency relief measures to over 400,000 people displaced by the recent floods and landslides.
“It was blessing in disguise that the Treasury had allocated Rs.300 million to the NITF to implement this insurance scheme,” he said adding that the fund is ready to meet costs of rebuilding and repairing houses and small business premises affected by the floods and landslides. He said that NITF will have to meet larger claims on its portion of compulsory reinsurance provided to other insurance companies and there won’t be no delay on their part to assist policy holders as such companies had been re-insured with foreign reinsurance firms. He added that the government’s national disaster insurance scheme which was implemented through this year’s budget will cover reconstruction and relief exceeding Rs.2 billion. - Bandula