IDRA asks Standard Ins to pay insurance claim soon

Syful Islam | Published: December 13, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has asked the Standard Insurance Ltd (SIL) to immediately pay the insurance claim of Standard Group whose garment factory was burnt in a devastating fire on November 29, sources said.
The regulator in a recent letter asked the SIL to appoint a surveyor soon to evaluate the insurance claim properly for making the payment.
Standard Group Managing Director A K M Mosharraf Hussain at a press conference after the fire incident said his company sustained losses amounting to Tk 12 billion due to the fire.
Miscreants set fire to three buildings and two packaging sheds of the Group's factory complex in Konabari under Gazipur district after vandalising the same. Some 31 vehicles, including seven clothes-laden covered vans, were also torched. The factory employed some 18,000 workers.
According to the IDRA letter, the group has insurance coverage of Tk 4.45 billion with the SIL.
In the letter IDRA Chairman M Shefaq Ahmed mentioned that there is directive relating to immediately informing the regulator about the loss of wealth of company director covered by his own insurance company.
But, he said, in this case the SIL did not inform IDRA about the loss at Standard Group before the regulator made the query. Owner of Standard Group AKM Mosharraf Hussain is one of the directors of the Standard Insurance.
"Your company was not attentive to following the directive. You sent us the information after being notified from the regulator," Mr Ahmed wrote in the letter.
He asked the SIL to immediately inform the regulator about appointing a surveyor and taking necessary steps with the advice from the re-insurer.
Mr Ahmed told the FE that there is specific directive as to how much business the insurance companies can do with the other companies their directors own. Some companies are violating the rules, "but we are closely monitoring it."
SIL Managing Director Amar Krishna Saha could not be contacted immediately for comment despite repeated attempts by the FE.