As coronavirus leads to rise in insurance claims, this LIC agent travels Delhi-NCR on bike… and boats

Coronavirus and life insurance: Ever since the coronavirus pandemic struck last year, people have become more conscious about life insurance and many specialised policies have also been launched by different life insurance companies for COVID-19. This is in stark contrast to before the pandemic, when people used to usually ignore life insurance. Not only has there been an increase in the people purchasing the policy, but the high number of deaths due to the coronavirus is also leading to more claims being filed. Amid this, the insurance agents have had to put in much longer hours travelling to the homes of people.

According to a report in The Indian Express, 53-year-old LIC agent Binda Rawat has been travelling across Delhi-NCR for the past decade and a half due to his work. But now, an increase in the number of people availing and claiming insurance has led to him putting in longer hours at work, and travelling for 100 kms on his motorcycle on most days. Sometimes, he is also required to travel via boat.

He recently had to take a boat from DND to Uttar Pradesh’s Jharoda Khader to meet a family who lost their 12-year-old daughter due to COVID-19. He said that he has had to take a boat to the area many times because it is the most convenient way to reach there, adding that usually about 10 to 15 boats are stationed close to DND for this purpose. The family had availed a family insurance policy, and so he had to talk to them and verify and note down the details of the death. He said that he was used to this because it was the procedure. The report added that most of Rawat’s clients are located in and around Noida and Faridabad, while some are based in Shahdara area of East Delhi.

With no fixed schedule, Rawat usually has to start his work day at 7 in the morning, only reaching his rented apartment in Badarpur after 8 pm, while his wife and three children are staying in their hometown at Janakpur on the Nepal border. He said that while his family often worries about his safety due to the fact that he often has to interact with families where someone has died of COVID-19, he followed all the COVID-19 appropriate protocol and had also received both the doses of vaccine.