Tata-AIG Insuring Riches at a Premium

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Insuring the rich and their riches is a tough  ask. Often, it’s hard to fix the value of rare paintings and jewellery, so fixing premium is hard work. What’s more, often the HNIs don’t see the need for insurance.   

Tata-AIG has decided to tackle the problem head on. Aided by the experience its parent American Insurance Group or AIG has overseas, the company has been offering policies for high-value items. The service available to a select group of customers comes bundled along with the home insurance policies. At the moment, AIG offers it in only eight countries, including the US, some European nations and the UAE.

Here’s how it works: When customers take a home insurance, the company offers some clients the option of insuring their valuables as well. In addition to painting and jewellery, they can also put down TV sets and expensive clothes. Valuations are done independently and premium fixed as a percentage of what it costs to insure the house.

The company has sold about 100 policies since 2009 and collected Rs 6.5-7 crore as premium, taking the total value of goods insured to Rs 700 crore.

According to Gopa Menon, national manager for the private client group that sells these policies, customers usually take two months of persuasion to come on board. Once they’ve signed up, the renewal rate is 100 percent. Tata-AIG is very careful about whom they offer the policy to as making it a mass-market product could result in suspicious claims.

And the most common item they receive claims for: High-end TV sets, which seem to have the highest breakdown rate.