ICICI Lombard offers weather insurance

Friday 18, November, 2005 ICICI Lombard has decided to offer weather insurance cover to the states of Punjab and Haryana. The insurance provided will cover the wheat crop against the possible losses faced due to the extreme weather conditions. The farmers can look forward to insurance cover when there is lower productivity. The insurance schemes are being distributed through channels such as RMS India, which is involved in marketing and distributing agriculture inputs, and a Sangrur-based NGO Indico Hitech involved in contract farming. The policies will be distributed through both these channels in Punjab whereas in Haryana it will be distributed through RMS India only. The cover will be made available for a period of three months, starting from January 1 2006 up to March 31, 2006. The company asserts that the claims arising out of extreme weather conditions will be settled within a span of 28 days after the expiry of the cover period based on the temperature data collected from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and reference weather stations located at Delhi, Amritsar and Hissar. The insurance cover provided is hassle free wherein the wheat growers will not have to file any claims. As per the details collected by the IMD, ICICI Lombard will make a payment within 28 days of the expiry of the cover. This period of 3 months is divided into 6 fortnights wherein the each fortnight has benchmark average of minimum and maximum temperature figures. Any difference in the benchmark temperatures in any of the six fortnights would lead to a yield loss and the claims would be paid based on the payout chart. The premium per acre including service tax would be Rs 375. The weather insurance for wheat crop can be bought by farmers in any of the districts in Punjab and Haryana who cultivate wheat on the land either owned by them or on the land which is leased. There is no limit on the acres of the land to take insurance cover.

[ Back to News Room ]

Back to Top^