Insurance compensation from the effects of “Shaheen” exceeds 62 million riyals so far

Registering more than 9,800 claims and the property insurance accounts for the largest share of the total claims by about 45.8 million riyals

The weekly reports that the Capital Market Authority (CMA) monitors to follow up on the insurance companies settling the claims and paying the compensations left by the tropical “Shaheen” revealed that the volume of the claims amounted about 62,.373 million Omani riyals so far through the registration of more than 9,800 claims distributed over a number of the wilayats affected by the tropical in the governorates of Muscat, North and South Al Batinah.

The data indicate that most of the claims submitted to insurance companies were accepted for all those affected by the tropical “Shaheen” who hold insurance policies that cover the risks of natural disasters, whether to insure vehicles, property, transportation and other various insurance coverages. The data also indicated that about 51.7 million Omani riyals are still under settlement, as reparation for these damages requires some time because they are houses, buildings and facilities, while insurance companies paid about 10.6 million riyals to redress other damages, and the indicators of the size of The compensation is expected to rise and reach approximately 69 million Omani riyals by the end of the settlement of all claims related to the tropical "Shaheen".

As for the amount of compensation for each insurance product, the data indicates that property insurance acquired the largest share, as its total compensation exceeded 45.3 million Omani riyals, which represents insurance of homes, buildings, facilities and other properties, followed by motor insurance with a total amount of 8.9 million Omani riyals. Then comes the engineering insurance with a share of about 7.5 million Omani riyals, which is the insurance that is concerned with securing industrial sites and facilities and the devices and equipment. The rest is distributed to other types of insurance.

On the other hand, the data of the geographical distribution of insurance claims as a result of the tropical “Shaheen” shows for a number of wilayats of the governorates of North and South Al Batinah that are directly affected, as well as the rest of the regions and states of the Sultanate in a cumulative way to determine the affected spatial dimension and its concentration in the states and governorates. The largest number of claims of all kinds was registered in the Governorate of Muscat, with 4,391 claims, followed by the Governorate of North Al Batinah, especially the Wilayat of AL Suwaiq, with a total of 2,632 claims, and the Wilayat of Al Khaboura, with 1,023 claims, while the rest of the claims were distributed among the various Wilayats such as the states of Sohar, Saham, Rustaq, Al Musanah and Barka.

It is worth noting that the total amount of claims paid by insurance companies since the beginning of this year until the date of December 16, 2021 amounted to about 173,514 million Omani riyals, as these figures reflect the size of the role played by the insurance sector in managing risks at the level of individuals and institutions as one of the available means to enhance the principle of protection and security Social and economic.

In order to mitigate the effects of the tropical “Shaheen” on insurance policyholders and speed up the process of reparation and payment of compensation, CMA has taken many steps and procedures, such as holding several urgent meetings with the CEOs of insurance companies to discuss the current situation, determine the extent of the damage caused by the tropical and approve the mechanisms to be taken in order to facilitate the procedures for accepting and settling claims for those affected, with an emphasis on the insurance companies performing the national and humanitarian duty to stand with those affected in these exceptional circumstances. CMA also directed all companies to donate one million riyals, in cooperation with the Oman Charity Organization in order to show the social aspect of the sector under these exceptional circumstances.

CMA also issued some circulars and held several other meetings with customer service officials and claims managers of insurance companies, urging them to highlight the great role played by insurance companies and enhance confidence among the public, as well as evaluate work procedures and develop them to facilitate and expedite all procedures followed in the registration and settlement of claims and work to open branches or send representatives to Wilayats directly affected by the cyclone to be in direct contact with policyholders and to provide the required services as soon as possible. CMA continues to play the role of monitoring the performance of insurance companies by issuing weekly reports on all claims related to cyclone “Shaheen” and making sure that all necessary steps are taken.