Insurance surveyors & loss assessors' numbers may decline

Insurance surveyors and loss assessors (SLAs) — who investigate and quantify the losses arising out of any incident — might see a decline in their numbers with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) increasing the size of claims for which their services will be engaged.

This is because of an expected business drop owing to smaller claims going out of their purview. SLAs are appointed to investigate, manage, quantify, validate and deal with losses (whether insured or not) arising from any contingency, and present a report on the same.

According to Irdai, the services of insurance surveyors and loss assessors can be taken only for claims above Rs 50,000 for motor insurance and above Rs 1 lakh for other products except motor. The Insurance Act, 1938, mandated licensing of SLAs for settlement of losses above Rs 20,000 reported under a policy of general insurance.

Policies with lower amount of claims will now be out of the ambit of SLAs, said experts. “Their business may take a hit due to this and some exits may be seen,” said the head of claims in a public general insurer.

In its Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors Regulations, 2015, the regulator said the license of these entities would be valid only for three years. If there is an appeal, the insurance surveyors and loss assessors can move the Securities Appellate Tribunal against the decision of the Authority. Foreign investment allowed up to 49 per cent according to the rules of the Central government will be applicable for insurance surveyors and loss assessors.

“There is a dearth of surveyors and loss assessors. Now that they will be appointed only for larger size claims, renewal of licences may be impacted,” said the chief executive of a mid-size general insurance company.

The responsibilities of surveyors and loss assessors include conducting inspection and re-inspection of the property in question to find the causes of the loss, extent of loss, nature of ownership, insurable interest, etc. They also conduct spot and final surveys and advise the insurer and the insured about loss minimisation, loss control, security and safety measures, to avoid further losses. The surveyors and loss assessors also look into the admissibility of the loss and observance of warranty conditions under the policy contract.

In FY14, there were 535 fresh licences issued to surveyors and loss assessors, while 1,942 licences were renewed.